Large animal internal medicine resident Sally Alpini and Dr. Amanda Trimble examine Vicky, a German warmblood filly who came to the Texas A&M University Large Animal Teaching Hospital in need of intensive care immediately following birth.
Photo by Jason Nitsch ’14/Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Queen Victoria, the German warmblood filly, proved her strength at a young age, just like her namesake, the United Kingdom’s former monarch who took the throne at only 18 years old.
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Almost immediately after birth, the foal, nicknamed Vicky, became separated from her mother, Queenie, after rolling into an adjoining stall. Their few hours apart would have serious consequences because Vicky missed out on some of the special care a mother horse, called a dam, provides in the first few hours of a foal’s life.
When her owner, Dr. Gavin Britz, learned of the incident, he turned to the Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital (LATH) to nurse Vicky back to health, a two-week process that involved intensive care, special techniques and surgery.
While Vicky came to the LATH in great need of exceptional veterinary care, she left a healthy, spunky filly thanks to her talented veterinary team and dedicated owner.
Building A Legacy
Britz, a Houston neurosurgeon, has loved horses since he was a boy. He has participated in jumping and dressage competitions over the years, and his current focus is on breeding, specifically for the German warmblood.
“I’m setting up a warmblood breeding operation and bringing some of the best horses in Europe to America,” Britz said. “One of my close friends, a world-class German breeder named Stefanie Lohmann, owned Queenie before and said she wanted me to have her because she’s such a special mare.”
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When Britz purchased Queenie, he wasn’t just getting the mare; she was also pregnant with a foal sired by Vitalis, a famous warmblood stud.
Because of transportation delays, Queenie didn’t arrive at Britz’s stable in Chappell Hill, Texas, until about two-and-a-half weeks before her due date. She then went into labor sooner than expected, giving birth a week early — late in the night on Valentine’s Day.
The barn manager found Vicky in the adjoining stall only hours later, but the foal had already missed out on colostrum — a preliminary form of milk that contains extra nutrients, antibodies, and antioxidants that is normally passed from mother to baby in the first few hours after birth.
“When we found her, the baby was not doing well,” Britz said. “We contacted the local vet, who said to bring her down to their hospital. After we took her there, they said she probably wasn’t going to survive, but we could try and take her to Texas A&M.”
Britz knew that the Texas A&M School of Medicine graduates whom he helped train at Houston Methodist were talented and dedicated to their craft, so he trusted that the veterinarians, staff and students at the LATH would exhibit the same qualities and would have the skills and determination to save Vicky’s life.
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Faculty, staff and students at the Texas A&M University Large Animal Teaching Hospital played a critical role in returning Vicky to health. The foal was weak and lethargic after being separated from her mother shortly after birth and required two weeks of intensive treatment.
Photo by Jason Nitsch ’14/Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Every Trick In The Book
When Vicky arrived at the LATH on Feb. 15, she was extremely weak, not nursing well and showing an abnormally lethargic demeanor.
“Vicky had what we call neonatal sepsis and failure of passive transfer — basically, she had a bacterial infection that was making her sick. She also hadn’t nursed and wasn’t getting the nutrients she needed for energy, so she was very weak,” said Dr. Amanda Trimble, a clinical assistant professor of equine internal medicine at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
“If a foal doesn’t get colostrum in the first few hours of life, developing sepsis is a huge risk, because they are born without an immune system, so they can’t fight off any insult to their little bodies unless they get important antibodies from the mare,” Trimble said.
Because Vicky was so young, Queenie accompanied her to the LATH and proved to be a very dedicated mother. The two were kept in a special stall that allowed the veterinary team to begin stabilizing the foal while remaining in sight of the mare.
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Vicky received intravenous fluids and supplemental glucose to make up for the loss of nutrition; plasma for antibodies and immune system support; and antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to address the infection and pneumonia.
Once Vicky was stabilized, the veterinarians noticed that she still had a dull demeanor and decided to also apply a technique called the Madigan squeeze, which can stimulate neural pathways that are normally stimulated during birth.
If the natural process doesn’t happen correctly, which can occur during a rapid delivery, the foal is left in a lethargic, sleep-like state, similar to how it was in the womb — a condition known as neonatal maladjustment syndrome.
“Essentially, it’s like we re-birthed her,” Trimble said. “We apply a nice, steady pressure around the thorax for 20 minutes, and it feels like going through the birth canal again and something resets.”
After several days of intensive, around-the-clock care, Vicky’s overall condition began to improve, but a new problem also arose — her umbilicus, the location where her umbilical cord had been located, started showing serious signs of infection.
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“Her umbilicus wasn’t completely normal the first week, but we weren’t as concerned as we were about the sepsis initially. We wanted her to stabilize before we took her to surgery,” Trimble said. “But during the second week, it got really big — almost tripled or quadrupled in size — so I called Dr. (Dustin) Major and our surgery team. Together, we concluded we couldn’t wait any longer and that it needed to be removed immediately.
“The thing that we worry about with umbilical infection is that abscesses can form internally, and because of where all the blood vessels go from the umbilicus, the infection can spread to other organs as well,” she said.
Major, a clinical assistant professor of large animal surgery, removed the now-unnecessary umbilicus and its internal vessels to ensure the infection was gone, after which Vicky improved and was soon fully recovered.
Aptly Named
Vicky had not received her official name during her time at the LATH, but once she was discharged and sent home, Britz knew just what to call her.
“She was born on Valentine’s Day, so that was part of the ‘V,’ along with having the sire Vitalis,” Britz said. “Because you always name the baby after the mother, you then get Queen Victoria. You’ll know she’s from my line because my other top mare is called Queen Elizabeth.”
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Many faculty, staff and students were involved in ensuring Vicky’s recovery. In addition to Trimble and Major, Drs. Bridget Savitske, Jake Trautmann, Sally Alpini, and Abigail Blanton contributed, as well the internal medicine and soft tissue surgery teams and several fourth-year veterinary students.
Reflecting on the experience, Britz is thankful that he trusted the LATH with Vicky’s recovery.
“I was very impressed with the veterinary care and, particularly, with the communication,” he said. “I told the CEO of my hospital that we, as physicians, can learn something from the way Texas A&M handled the communication and made sure I was informed about everything.”
Likewise, Trimble is grateful that Britz and his barn manager ensured that Vicky arrived quickly.
“Infants can get sick really quickly; they can be fine one day and then the next day they might need this level of care,” she said. “Fast recognition is important, as well as knowing the normal milestones that a healthy, happy foal should be meeting. If they’re not meeting them, having the owner or the caretaker recognize that and getting them veterinary care is key to the foal surviving.”
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Vicky nurses her mother while on the way to recovery during a two-week stay at the Large Animal Teaching Hospital at Texas A&M University.
Photo by Jason Nitsch ’14/Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following the bipartisan passage of Senate Bill 21, Establishing the Texas Bitcoin Reserve, by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown:
“President Trump has stated unequivocally that he intends to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the world. His visionary leadership on Bitcoin and digital assets has paved the way for rapid American innovation, and Texas is leading the way.
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“I promised to make a Texas Bitcoin Reserve a priority to solidify Texas’ leadership in the digital age. Today, the Texas Senate delivered on that promise by passing SB 21 with both Republican and Democrat votes to create the Texas Bitcoin Reserve. Some have called Bitcoin “digital gold,” and I believe its limited supply and decentralized nature make it a critical asset for Texas’ future.
“Creating the Texas Bitcoin Reserve is a bold step for other states to follow. I stand with President Trump and hope to make Texas the epicenter of America’s digital future.”
Senate Bill 21, by Sen. Charles Schwertner, establishes the Texas Bitcoin Reserve, administered by the Texas Comptroller. The fund will contain Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of at least $500 billion. SB 21 also authorizes appropriations into the newly created fund and can be funded through the budget.
SB 21 also creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Advisory Committee to provide guidance and recommendations for administering the reserve. Additionally, a biennial report will be required to detail the reserve’s holdings.
Learn more about the Battle of the Alamo with John Richardson, a historian with Alamo Trust, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Thursday marks the 189th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo, where the Mexican army’s rout of Texas revolutionaries would later inspire the fateful defeat of Mexican forces under the battle cry “Remember the Alamo.”
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The Spanish mission-turned-battleground is one of Texas’s most iconic locations, symbolizing state pride and independence and one of its most popular tourist attractions. Established in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero and relocated to its current location six years later, the site that came to be known as the Alamo was one of five Spanish missions built along the San Antonio River in what is now South Texas.
“The Alamo battle is part of the fabric of who we are as Texans,” said Kolby Lanham, the Alamo’s senior researcher and historian.
But it’s also a source of debate over how history is recalled and by whom, as some strive to offer perspectives that counter the mythology surrounding the event.
The buildup to the battle
Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Texas was a contested territory, and by 1836 the Alamo had become a military outpost as Texans fought to win independence.
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That February, 189 Texan soldiers commanded by James Bowie and William Travis had locked themselves inside the mission walls as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s Mexican army approached, intent on a siege. Among those inside taking up arms against the Mexican forces were folk legend Davy Crockett, a Tennessee congressman, and Texans of Mexican descent, or Tejanos.
On Feb. 24, as Mexican troops amassed to several thousand strong and the two sides traded sporadic gunfire, Travis wrote a now-famous missive “to the people of Texas and all Americans in the world” pleading for reinforcements.
“I shall never surrender or retreat,” he wrote. “…. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country.”
Travis signed off, “Victory or Death.”
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Why was the Battle of the Alamo significant?
By the morning of March 6, Santa Anna’s troops, numbering nearly 5,000, attacked at dawn. They quickly breached the mission’s north walls, overwhelming the occupants and killing nearly all of them.
“It becomes a rallying call for the Texas Revolution,” Lanham said. “Many people who maybe weren’t involved or who had sat on the fence joined the cause.”
Six weeks later on April 21, led by Sam Houston’s army and shouting “Remember the Alamo,” the Texans defeated Mexican forces at the Battle of San Jacinto, capturing Santa Anna and forcing the withdrawal of his troops.
The victory earned Texas independence. The territory would remain independent until 1845, when its Legislature approved United States annexation.
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“With that final battle, Texas becomes a nation,” said Lanham, whose ancestors fought in the conflict. “When it joined the union, Texas already had this big, bold identity that came along with it, and people haven’t lost sight of that.”
Three years later, after the Mexican-American War, the U.S. would obtain most of what is now the American Southwest with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Why has the site ignited controversy?
The Battle of the Alamo has been depicted in film and pop culture for over a century, most notably in the 1960 John Wayne vehicle “The Alamo.” But such retellings have been criticized for oversimplifying the conflict with racial overtones and the myth of martyred white heroes, with damaging reverberations.
“The Mexican army won the battle of the Alamo, so you would think that would make it a point of pride for people of Mexican descent, but that’s not the case,” said Sarah Zenaida Gould, executive director of San Antonio’s Mexican American Civil Rights Institute. “Instead, over time the Alamo becomes this symbol of Texas greatness. … Many Mexican Americans have stories of growing up in Texas and feeling shame about the Alamo and their ancestors defending their own country.”
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Scholars such as University of Texas anthropology professor Richard Flores have recently examined how characterizations of the site have both reflected the state’s struggle with its Anglo and Mexican identity and distorted the reality of what occurred. Such reexaminations have drawn scorn in recent years amid ongoing culture wars.
Meet the ‘Angel of the Alamo’: Adina De Zavala’s grand stand in 1908 saved a landmark of Texas history
“History changes and adapts over time,” Lanham said. “Some people don’t really want the story to change. They love the way the story was told, and as things are added to the story they get uncomfortable.”
In 2021, authors Bryan Burrough, Jason Stanford, and Chris Tomlinson released “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth,” exploring how racism and the desire to practice slavery played roles in Texas history. That July, an event promoting the book was set for Austin’s Bullock Texas State History Museum until Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a member of the State Preservation Board, pressured museum directors to call off the event just hours before it was to take place.
“This fact-free rewriting of TX history has no place @BullockMuseum,” Patrick posted on social media. The move was criticized as censorship.
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Gould said research bears out the book’s premise.
“A lot of Anglos who were at the battle were pushing to expand slavery,” Gould said. “That wasn’t the sole reason why it happened, but it was a complaint they had against the Mexican government, which had outlawed slavery in 1821.”
Historic site nearly lost to development
Following the Texans’ victory, Lanham said, the mission was vacated, its cannon disabled, and the outer walls torn down. As noted on the Alamo website, the site fell into disrepair until the U.S. Army took it over in the 1840s as a supply hub, only to be abandoned again with the building of a more permanent military garrison at Fort Sam Houston.
According to Gould, San Antonio experienced a power shift in the aftermath of the battle, with the site roughly marking an east-west divide between white residents and those of Mexican descent, who had become marginalized as the city grew.
“Until 1836, every mayor of San Antonio had a Spanish surname,” she said. “Not until 1980 would there be another.”
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San Antonio expanded across the river as German immigrants moved into the area, and many mission buildings were lost. The chapel and long barrack are all that remain of the original compound, Lanham said, thanks to early 20th-century preservationists who fought to save them from development.
How is The Alamo remembered today?
At 6 a.m. Thursday, the Alamo was set to host an annual ceremony commemorating those who lost their lives in the historic battle. Jonathan Huhn, the site’s senior communications director, said this year’s 189th anniversary is special given that it marks the number of soldiers who fought to defend the site in 1836.
Today, the Alamo is one of Texas’ most popular tourist sites, visited by 1.6 million people annually. In March 2023, the 24,000-square-foot Ralston Family Collections Center opened at the site, part of a $550 million project to restore and revitalize the historic location that site leaders predict will raise annual visitor figures to 2.5 million.
The collections center houses Alamo artifacts, including items donated by rock legend Phil Collins, who became enthralled by Alamo lore as a child. The items will eventually move to a new visitor center and museum, expected to open in 2027, with the collection center available for traveling exhibits.
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The future museum will feature eight galleries chronicling the 300 years of history encompassing the Alamo and the surrounding area, from the Indigenous inhabitants who settled along the San Antonio River thousands of years before European arrival, to the role adjacent businesses played in civil rights struggles.
It’s a step toward acknowledging the complex history around one of Texas’ most iconic structures.
Gould said the shame once felt by Texans of Mexican descent “has evolved into an understanding that the myth of the Alamo as a cradle of liberty was created for particular ideological purposes, and we shouldn’t just accept it at face value. These days people are more attuned to the idea that history has multiple perspectives and that it’s not a single narrative.”
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A Texas City man was sentenced to probation after he hid a woman’s body in the trunk of her car, according to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.
On Tuesday, Christopher Lee Maldonado, who was accused of a second-degree felony, was indicted for tampering with a corpse for concealing the body of Angela Mitchell in the trunk of her car.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Maldonado was a former jailer and relieved of duty after being arrested and charged with assault by Texas City police in 2019.
Former GCSO deputy arrested in connection to woman’s body found in her trunk, police say
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In 2022, Mitchell’s decomposing body was discovered in Texas City in the trunk of her own vehicle. Her friends started to worry when she did not come to pick up her baby boy.
Her cousin used the Find My Friends app to track Mitchell’s iPhone to its last known ping, which was near Maldonado’s home.
On May 11, 2022, Texas City police found Mitchell’s body on 4th Avenue in Texas City.
According to Texas City police, Mitchell was a sex worker whose last known employment was on May 5, 2022, at Maldonado’s home in Lago Mar.
Because of the decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to identify the cause of death. Nonetheless, they ruled out overdose and death from natural causes. The cause of Mitchell’s death is still unknown.
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Maldonado’s trial began on Feb. 26. Judge Jeth Jones ordered Maldonado to serve 120 days in jail followed by 10 years of probation.
