Something's Got to Give

"Horses are different from humans. We have to take responsibility for horses simply because they’re always in our care. They can’t get along without us. They’re forced to live in our world. That’s why the rules have changed: an adult horse in our world is still our responsibility. This doubles the burden for us humans. A human must be responsible for himself and for his horse. And when you succeed in both of those areas, life will be pleasant for you as well as for everyone around you." - Buck Brannaman

Mantra for the day. Actually the past few weeks. Rugby is not doing well again. Were it not for the magic of banamine which he's now needing on an almost daily basis we'd be in deeper trouble. Once he gets the shot, within 20 minutes he's up, alert and looking for food and water. This can last for 24 hours and then he gets uncomfortable again. He's having no problem passing manure or gas so though the symptoms say "colic" it's not exactly the case. Something is bothering his insides and the "phantom colic" episodes are starting to increase. Today an ultrasound specialist is coming to work on him with my vet and see if we can get a non-invasive idea of what in hell is causing him such discomfort.

This was taken last night as I watched Rugby while waiting for the vet to come and give him some relief. He may look cute but don't let that fool you. Prior to this shot he was flat on his side and kicking at his belly.

Holding my Breath

Rugby's situation keeps improving but I'm not relaxed about it yet. When I went to see him after work yesterday I was thrilled to find him back in his home stall and out of the medical barn. The I.V. port was out of his neck and he was as alert, standing up and bright as he was the day before. I took him out to graze for 5 minutes and he was devouring the grass with a good appetite. He's been eating bran mashes every day and I don't know that he's being offered much hay. My poor Big Guy looks so skinny to me. You can tell he's lost weight. Now instead of looking like a draft cross, he looks like a Godzilla sized racehorse.

One thing the vet tried different was to give him the Panacur 5-day Power Pack wormer. All our horses in the vet's boarding barn are on strict rotation worming schedules. Rugby was just paste wormed a month ago. The vet felt that maybe since Rugby'd been sick, and his immune system had taken a pounding, if there was a parasite migration going on it might be what is causing him additional stress at this time. So far it seems to be helping but I still feel on high alert.

24 hours later

Rugby got through the night okay and his condition stayed the same from when I last checked on him yesterday. Vet is happy he's comfortable but everyone is baffled by what keeps making him so uncomfortable. He's staying in the medical barn and they are monitoring him and everything this horse ingests. We should have the results of his blood and stool samples by the end of today. When he's showing symptoms, it will make you think of colic but he's still passing manure and wanting to eat. The vet felt no impaction and there's no reflux into his stomach. I'm going to visit him after work and the vet said I can take him out to hand walk and graze him a little.

My poor horse. I think he's tired of being sick, too. He got shoes on Saturday and was a doll for the farrier. I was looking forward to a return to light work under saddle and now this. Many thanks for your "get-better" thoughts. Keep them coming, this Big Guy needs to get past this.

Happy Mother's Day, please say a prayer for Rugby

Not a good Mother's Day. My kids have been laying on the love but my horse, Rugby is very sick again. He's in the medical barn now and the vet is watching him very carefully. He's not colicing in the usual sense of the condition but he's uncomfortable and it seems to be a continuing effect from the sickness that hit him for the last month. More bloodwork being done. I just want him to get well.

Better but still not Well

Rugby has been quite sick. For weeks. For 3 weeks he had the swelling along his belly and in his sheath and occasionally behind his jowls. Every day it looked different, some days it was so swollen that it was hard for me to keep patient and stay with the conservative approach of my vet. As if that wasn't bad enough, then the nasty diarrhea started (not to get too graphic... aww, hell why not - we're talking lift the tail and spray liquid poo in a 5 foot long stream diarrhea). The bloodwork indicated that whatever it was, was attacking his G.I. system and we had to immediately pull him off everything - bute (which we were phasing out anyway from the whole lameness episode) and his usual feed supplements. Then start him on UlcerGuard to stop the irritation and the diarrhea.

Now that belly and sheath swelling has gone down but he's definitely lost weight and his blood counts are still way off. Whatever hit him, hit him like a ton of bricks. I don't know if it was in reaction to his spring shots, a virus, that he ate something that triggered this reaction or God knows what but my guess is he's a pretty lucky horse to be here now.

I feel it may have been almost a "perfect storm" of events. The bute he was on for almost a month to help the lameness issue. Then he got his spring shots, then the swelling started several days later. I'd think that the bute should have also helped control the swelling but at that point maybe he'd been on it long enough for the added stress on his immune system to cause him the stomach problems - or something else got in the mix like a virus or he ingested something. I'm not a vet, I'm speculating based on what I know and all my years of experiencing the ups and downs of horse care. I'm just hoping he's now on the upside of all this.

As for his unsoundness. Okay, at least that seems to be doing well. He's been sound on the egg bar shoes since he got them 5 weeks ago and completely off bute for almost 2 weeks. I've been mainly lunging for 15-20 minutes at the walk and jog 3-4 times a week with the vet's ok to lightly stimulate his circulation to help with his swelling condition and every time he's been sound. Yay. I feel he can go back to light saddle work (walking and some jogging for no more than 15-20 minutes) but only if he seems up to it.

So, as I close my eyes and accept the vet bills like a firing squad, I'm hopeful this is coming to an end and he gets better. I was so looking forward to spring and nice weather to get his saddle training under way after this long and crappy winter. All I seem to be able to do with this horse is lose time.

Rugby is sick

So just as it seems my horse is sound, now he's sick. Not sure exactly what. Could be a reaction to one of his spring shots or something else. Poor boy has swelling along his tummy and sheath and today has diarrhea. Vet has been watching him and did blood work today. My poor sweet boy. I just came back from checking on him and he was laying down quietly in his stall and so were almost all the other horses! I guess 11:00PM is bedtime at this barn ;) At least he was quiet, not rolling or in distress. Will go there again in the morning and check on him again. I wish I could just sleep in the barn and stay with him all night.

Memories

Ah, spring. Time for a clean sweep. Toss out the old and the broken, donate the unused but still serviceable, Ebay the good stuff. It's cathartic to do this, sometimes even fun and often a relief. Clutter follows me like a shadow. Every time I do it though, I have some feelings of melancholy.

Like this morning when my husband and I put my boys' battery operated 4-wheeler ride-ons to the curb for the trash to pick up. Yes, they were sun bleached, the batteries didn't charge well anymore and one had a broken switch so it only went backwards, not to mention my kids are too tall to sit on them comfortably but I still felt sad when I saw the garbage man heave them into the back of the truck and then they were gone.

All I could see were two smiling little boys, about 3 years old, driving around the back yard, chasing each other and having a great time. Last night, when I gingerly brought up the subject that maybe it was time to get rid of the 4-wheelers since they couldn't really ride them anymore, I was kind of shocked when they said, "yeah, you can throw them out." No hesitation. Wow.

So many memories. On my dresser I found the following pictures of my black Thoroughbred mare, Alta. She's the black horse I'm riding jumping over a fence in my profile picture. These must go back to 1998 or so. She was already retired, and probably around 20 years old. But she still looks shiny and healthy. There is hardly any graying around her muzzle. I scanned them and want to share them as you get the full range of her personality from just these 4 pictures.


That's Miss Alta to you. Yes, I am the queen and you may take my picture, now move along.


See my cuteness? You bore me so I will go to sleep now. (by the way, the red arrow points to my tack trunk, the one I had custom made with my own design of 3 horse heads on the front!)

WTF are you staring at?! If you don't have treats or scratch me in the right spot I'll show you what pisst off looks like.


Yes, pets do take after their owners. After around 16 years together, my goofy sense of humor even rubbed off on the mare!