Wednesday, December 1, 2010

That's enough drama for this week, thanks

The last two days have been just a little too real for me.

First we had to off our cat.  Who, admittedly, was only going to live a day or two longer anyway, but it was still traumatic.

Then I got the call nobody wants.  The farm owner.  "It's about your horse."  The dreaded C word.  Colic.  I drove home, ran upstairs to put on warm clothes, ran downstairs, grabbed a few essentials, and drove like a bat out of hell for the barn.  It was pitch black out when I got there.  I saw eyes reflected in the field.  Sergio had Pluto up and walking, but the horse kept trying to go down.  NOT GOOD.  I thanked Sergio and took over so he could go inside.

JD and I walked Pluto to the arena where we could turn on the lights and walk him around in a cleared area.  And that's what we did for a really long time.  A couple of calls to the vet, texts and phone calls to friends, and a lot of walking.  Finally Pluto's gut relaxed and he stopped trying to dive for the ground. 

Liza was a real lifesaver.  She came and got JD.  I wasn't thinking too clearly when we left the house or I'd have asked JD to drive a separate car.  But, I didn't.  So she drove him home, then he got supplies and came back to meet me again. 

In the meantime I had put Pluto in Mystery's stall (1)(which was hay-free, unlike Pluto's) and was watching him.  I took him out for several more walks, but he was looking a lot better.  When JD arrived with food for me, Pluto begged goofily for it.  And I'm pretty sure he would have eaten that burrito given the chance.

JD went on home, but I stuck around until eleven per the vet's recommendations.  At 10:30 Pluto finally drank some water, which was my last worry taken care of.

As I drove away, Pluto shook his head at me angrily.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to pay for locking him up alone at night with no hay.  Oh yes.  But I don't mind too much.. as long as I still have a horse.

1) A stall which I will be cleaning thoroughly after I let Pluto out.  Anybody know where the fresh bedding is?

1 comment:

  1. I had no idea that horse colic was such a significant issue...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_colic was very informative.

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