Interesting days

We are now once more down to one horse. For about three weeks we've had two: Peaches, our Quarter horse and Jazzy our Thoroughbred. But Jazzy's owner could no longer afford to keep such a big horse and was forced to sell her. :( To tell the truth though,I won't miss Jazzy. She was a pain. Pretty but a pain. As you might already know, she would crib, spook, was barn sour and herd bound and just not the brightest horse. But, she was a thoroughbred and thoroughbreds usually aren't the sanest breed of horse. They were bred for speed not brains. :) A few days ago Jazzy taught me something new in the horse world: What to do if your horse colics. Tuesday morning I went out to take care of the animals. Jazzy seemed fine at first so I fed her. Right after she was done eating she began cribbing, which is what she always did (sooo annoying). After a few sucks she suddenly dropped to the ground and began to roll violently. I knew enough about colic to recognize the signs and this wasn't just rolling to get a scratch, it was a Ouch-my-belly-hurts-really-bad kind of roll. When she started kicking her stomach I took action, put her halter on and began walking her in the pasture.

Now some of you may may not have the foggiest as to what colic is so I will fill you in.

Colic. A five letter word that strikes terror into every horse owner. Colic is when your horse gets an impaction or some sort of blockage in its gastro-intestinal tract. To relieve the pain, the horse will roll but the horse rolls so violently that it ends up twisting it intestines and then dies (or has to be put down). Signs of colic are:

getting up and lying down repeatedly

Standing stretched out

turning the head towards the flank

pawing the ground

kicking the stomach

and rolling.

When you first suspect colic you should immediately begin walking your horse. Walking your horse helps to restore normal activity in the intestine and allows the horse to defecate and/or relieve the build-up of pressure in the intestines. If 30 minutes pass and your horse is still in pain then you need to call the vet immediately. Often times the vet will give the horse 1 gallon of mineral oil through a tube to lubricate the tract. If the oil doesn't help then the vet will try surgery.

Now back to the story. I walked her for 30 minutes and she seemed to be doing a lot better but still had not been able to pass the blockage. So I walked her some more. Ten minutes later she was all better. She had passed the blockage and was looking around for her hay. :Whew!: