Carmen Paul - Horse´s Hoof and Heaven

I don’t remember granddad ever losing patience with me trying to explain something to me. His black-rimmed eyes would grow rounder when he really was excited about something he was explaining. I inherited these dark eyes from him, these seemingly being the only thing feature of his I had; however, his way of approaching things left a lasting impression on me.

I remember especially how he explained to me just what sunspots were. This was simply too advanced for me; I just couldn’t grasp this concept at all. However, my granddad wasn’t to be defeated. He took me to an old, but very interesting looking man – he was small in stature, virtually bald, had a long, bent nose, a awake look in his eyes, and was virtually hunched backed. I’d certainly heard about him before, but this was the first time I actually saw him in the flesh.

This old man had a telescope through which one could look directly at the sun. As I actually saw that there were spots on the surface of the sun, and that around the edges of the sun there leapt out great walls of flame akin to the sun having wings I was simply unable to contain my excitement. This old man was an artist. Later on, I went to him alone just to see him at work painting pictures.

At that time I wasn’t yet at school; however I learnt such a lot from my granddad and this old man about the sun and other aspects of life than I ever did at school. Now I realize that my granddad really enjoyed teaching me all and sundry, and no wonder that we had such a close relationship to one another. Sometimes I feel that I can even hear what he is thinking.

I have also to thank my granddad for having all the horses, cows, pigs and poultry as he introduced me to another important adult in my life. All his livestock and poultry required the presence of a vet from time to time. This happened to be a lady, called Doctor Elenore Rau – she was young, with dark hair, self-confident, and warm-hearted. She formed a deep impression on me, well before I started school. There was no kindergarten in our village, and thus I spent many a happy hour with “Mrs Doctor”, who took me along when animals had to be ‘got well again’. We were very alike in our thinking. Mrs Doctor would pick me up with her Wartburg 311 and drive me to the respective cow shed. These could be the huge ‘modern’ ones run by the LPG, or the small old ones like that of my granddad, these would be the remaining private ones.

That the LPG farms effectively were appropriated from the small farmers compulsorily at that time; many were the tears shed by the farmers at the loss of their private property. The Farms had all been declared “state property”, there being “no private ownership in the communist system”, something that I didn’t appreciate at my age. I was only interested in the welfare of the animals there, seeing them get better, whether they were the property of the state or in private hands.

I got a wonderful feeling when livestock was visibly ‘made well’ by my Mrs Doctor. Already as a child I was allowed to fetch everything from the car that the vet needed – I already knew what everything was: the stethoscope, the syringes, and of course the drops and ointments that the cows, the sheep, and the pigs needed. Looking back, I’m convinced that everything was already laid out for me to fetch from the car, enabling me to rapidly learn just what the bits and pieces were, and when they would be needed.

The first piece of equipment I became familiar with was the stethoscope – that was the easy one. Mrs Doctor explained to me just what she was going to do, what a stethoscope was, and why it would be needed. It was always to be found in the same place in the car earning me a “well done” from her once I’d fetched it from there. Then there were all the bandages. These were more complicated, being of various sizes and material; some of them were elastic, and these we had to be economical with. Then there were the syringes for taking blood samples, and the smaller ones for injecting against pain and fever. For cows one needed a thicker cannula than for lambs. Even as a five-year-old girl this presented me no problems at all as I was in a position to differentiate between all these pieces of veterinary equipment, and I cannot ever remember bringing her the wrong item. For the times when I had to bring a lot of things at the same time out of the car there was a little basket to help me out.

One day there was an emergency, with a calf about to be born prematurely. It was touch and go when we arrived; things had to be dealt with right away, with Mrs Doctor grabbing everything out the car herself to assist her with this birth. I had the privilege of watching it all happen. ‘Watching’ is maybe the wrong word – I was simply spellbound witnessing the calf move around in the cow’s womb and how it was eased out into the real world. I was little and very young, but even then, I was able to appreciate that something quite amazing had happened; this almost brought tears of joy to my face. What about the mother of the calf? She was far too weak to stand up on her own, nevertheless she would not let go of her little newborn, turning her gently over licking her dry with a soft “moo”. This just seemed the perfect end to this emergency, and I was overjoyed at the fact that we had saved the mother of this calf.

Due to what I had learned on that day I was able to help my father-in-law some twenty five years later save a sheep giving birth to her two lambs. The first lamb was so wedged against the coccyx that it had to be turned right away otherwise the lambs’ mother would have died, taking the two lambs with her. It was fortunate that we had a telephone (not every household had one by any means in the DDR times). I phoned Frau Rau needing to know whether sheep did the same sort of things in this respect as cows did. “Good question, next one please!?” ”No more, Mrs Doctor”, and she subsequently proceeded to instruct me precisely what I was to do and not to do. Above all she was able to give me the confidence to assist with this birth with her clear instructions. I did exactly what she told me to do, and, lo and behold, all three survived the ordeal. These lambs were large ones, and it goes without saying that they were my absolute favourites from then on.

Back in the car again en-route to our next patient, with Mrs Doctor praising me for my actions, it was as if I had just grown three inches taller. Her praise really boosted my confidence, giving me courage to try out more complicated things, and to admit my mistakes, taking responsibility for my actions.

It became a matter of course that the farmers, whose livestock we treated, became used to Mrs Doctor never coming alone, but being accompanied by her ‘assistant’. Without having to ask, it was obvious to all of them just what I would do as an adult. This was likewise a matter of fact as far as I was concerned – I would grow up to become a vet; nobody questioned the logic of that.

Once I started school, I was unable to accompany Frau Rau on her rounds so much; to make up for that I loved visiting her at home. It was superbly furnished, and Mrs Doctor seemed to have rows and rows of books, more than one could possibly read in a lifetime; perhaps if one started early enough in life one would be able to get through them all ? Anyway, I started right away to plough into her collection. Looking back over the years I did not really appreciate just how much I took after this dear lady, not really being aware just how much I had learned from her over time.

Even today I feel this great respect for this lady, there really being a strong bond of friendship between the two of us. Fifty years on things haven’t changed much in thisrespect, although we’ve long since gone our own separate ways.

The finest memories I have of my granddad were when he cooked apples in the oven. In my grandma’s kitchen there was a tiled stove with a hatch for the flames, and a warming plate accessible via a grille. When I think of this oven it reminds me of the chilly weather then, the burning wood which crackled away and finally the apple peel with the wonderful aroma of baked apple.