This February has been a bit crazier than normal since we started calving early. By the 14th I was feeling a bit burnt out from running to our cattle farm twice a day for calf checks and waiting on one stubborn heifer to give up her calf, all while knowing a winter storm was on the way. When we finally got around to 'what should we do together this afternoon' about all I had the motivation for was to take a walk up to our girls and spend some time loving on them and enjoying the peace of horses in the winter. This is something we love to do but as we accumulate more horses (and the accompanying work) we don't get around to it as often as we would like.
All began well as we worked our way through the girls, giving each some lovings and attention. As we neared the end of the bunch I walked over to visit with Sage, a coming 4 year old Brabant mare, and found that she just wasn't quite herself. We watched for a bit and observed her distracted look, wandering, and a lot of lying down then getting right back up. She wasn't in obvious distress but as anyone who has spent time with horses knows she had that colicky look to her. ***Colic is a broad term that basically means an upset stomach in the horse. However, the condition can be mild or very serious, and can even lead to death, so it's something that horse owners take very seriously.***
Fortunately we don't often deal with colic in our herd, but it does mean that when we do I have to re-educate myself quickly on how to address it. We took Sassy into the barn and did a quick analysis of her vital signs- heart rate, respiration, gut sounds, gum color. She was uncomfortable but not in severe pain and was passing manure, which is a good sign in a colic case, but showed signs of being dehydrated and wasn't interested in drinking much. We opted to give her a dose of medication to help make her more comfortable in the hopes that she would drink water and resolve any stomach troubles. Dehan stayed with her to observe while I took a trip to the farm to check for calves (there weren't any) and by the time I got home Sage was feeling much better. We left her in the barn for observation and to keep encouraging her to drink.
Sage had a minor relapse the following day but after talking with our vet we determined that one more dose of medication and continued fluid intake would be a starting point with the chance to re-evaluate in the afternoon in case she needed further treatment before the storm rolled in. Thankfully, Sage responded well and we did not have to get the vet out to treat her. As she recovered she was mad about being on a diet while her digestive issues resolved but once she decided to start drinking a lot of water we were able to slowly start her back on feed and she is now feeling herself again.
Although it wasn't the day we planned and our nice dinner ended up being late and eaten while we were both just ready to be done with the day, in the end we celebrated the way farmers always do- working hard on whatever the day throws at you and putting the wellbeing of the critters before your own. I'd love to say I had a great attitude and was thankful to be doing our work together but that would imply WAY too much maturity and levelheadedness. It's a learning process and the more we do it the more thankful I am to not be on my own. Farm life is never boring for long and if there's one thing you can be sure of it's that the holidays won't always look the way you expect. But we're thankful that this one was a mild inconvenience and that we were able to see the problem and treat appropriately to get our girl back on her feet. Oh, the things we do for the love of horses!
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