Once he was back at home, Kent Cox cut the affected horn back and found that it was hollow. When he realized that it was not healing and that Ranger Pride was not eating well, he had veterinarian Lisa Willis, DVM, of Stephenville, Texas take a look. His rapid action ended up saving Ranger Pride’s life.
Dr. Willis found an infection that had gone into the bone of the horn and then into the sinus. For those of you unfamiliar with cattle anatomy, the horn is a “shell” made of keratin that covers a bony core that is connected to the bull’s sinus. The sinus, which is thin, is in direct contact with the brain. A horn infection that gets into the bone is a life-threatening situation.
On young bulls with a fast-growing infection the danger is great.
“Ranger Pride worried me because even though it didn’t seem that bad at first, the bone was dying really fast,” Willis said.
Course of treatment:
Willis provided the following description of Ranger Pride’s treatment. In addition to the surgeries, he was also on daily lavage, antibiotic treatment, and assessment. (Note: the following descriptions are in her words.)
- When Ranger Pride presented, lavage of the sinuses produced very bad smelling pus and since that did not clear with repetitive lavages (liters and liters of sterile saline), surgery was indicated.
- The first surgery was when we removed entire right horn and entered the sinus and removed all of the affected bone (from what we could ascertain by look and odor and feel) until both sinuses were draining well.
- The second surgery was after rechecking him we were able to smell some infection again and we opened original surgery site and located even more dead bone which extended over into left sinus.
- The third surgery was when the sinuses quit draining and fluid was retaining in them. There has been no odor or pus but secondary inflammation led to a functional blockage and we had to place some drains and enter the sinus below the surgery site to regain drainage and keep fluid buildup from instigating brain swelling.
After the surgeries
After the first surgery, Willis says, she thought Ranger Pride would die. For five weeks she was guarded about his prognosis. Now, 2 ½ months after the injury, he’s out of the woods.
“He’s doing great,” she says. "He’s mentally sound. All the infection is gone. He’s eating well, and is running around.”
Will he buck again? That remains to be seen.
Bulls who have a horn or both horns removed often return to bucking quickly, Willis says. But, she notes, Ranger Pride’s injury and the extent of his treatment, are far from common.
“This was much more complicated than a simple horn removal," she says. "It’s impossible to know how this will affect his ability to buck.”
There’s one thing everyone involved agrees on: Ranger Pride has a lot of heart. If it weren’t for his will to live, says Long, he would not have made it. The other certainty is that whether he bucks again or not, he has a full life ahead of him.
An owner’s commitment
Asked why he made the decision to proceed with treatment when some might not have, Long writes:
“When I reflect back on the circumstances it was an easy decision. Here is a calf that was born on our ranch that is now reaching man(bull)hood in the competitive world.
"As a breeder you become very attached to these athletes as if they are your children maturing in their favorite competitive sport. When they have a great performance you are so happy for them and take pride in their achievement. Likewise when they become sick or injured its your responsibility to do whatever is possible to help them. RP gave it his all, so now it’s my time to give it my all to help save him. To have let him die without trying to save him in order to collect his life insurance would have been a complete violation of my life's code of conduct.”
Long says, “Kent, as you know, is an outstanding individual who puts his bulls interest above his own. The recent article in the New York Times gives a great inside look at Kent's concerns about the bulls he has responsibility for. If he hadn't been paying attention to the horn injury Ranger Pride got in the Pueblo PBR event the resulting infection would have gone untreated and would have resulted in his untimely death.”
He also has nothing but praise for Lisa Willis, who, he says, “definitely gets the credit for saving Ranger Pride’s life.”
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Lisa Willis, DVM practices just outside of Stephenville, Texas. She opened Mid-Texas Veterinary Associates in 2009 and provides services for bucking and beef cattle, horses, and whitetailed deer.
Gary Long is a breeder and rancher. In addition to owning Ranger Pride and others, he is also the co-owner of Dr. Proctor and the Dr. Proctor clones.
Kent Cox’s bull pen includes Ranger Pride, Bushwacker, Back Bender, among others. He is widely considered one of the best bull men in the business.
703 Ranger Pride is a four year old, unridden in 5 PBR outs and as of July 18th, he was 4th in the ABBI 2011 Classic standings. He is a son of Raspberry Wine and MS20 (Houdini daughter). On the sire side he is a 224 Spook grandson. He was an embryo transfer calf. Long bought the embryo from Clint McGuire at auction.
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Notes on horn injury
- Horn injuries can be caused by fights, hitting horns against gates, fences, chutes and cracking them, sometimes they are caused by bulls rubbing their heads against the ground, or can get a start during tipping (cutting the horns back as required by bull riding organizations to prevent goring of riders.)
- Willis says that “tipping is probably most common reason I see so many horn infections. But with all of the hundreds of bulls that get their horns tipped, the actual number that get infected is small. Tipping during the heat of summer and bulls rubbing dirt and bacteria into the tipping site increases the chance of infection. Blood is a great medium for bacteria growth.”
- Any horn injury that involves bleeding carries the danger of communicating infection to live bone.
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