I saw several of the retirees enjoying the sunshine and taking lazy naps this weekend. Faune was out cold on Saturday afternoon and soaking up some rays. I hope he had a nice dream or two as well.
With the way things started off on Friday it looked like we might be in for a rough weekend. When we were feeding breakfast on Friday Traveller was not acting like himself at all. He sloooowly made his way over to get his feedbag for breakfast instead of coming on the run or standing at the gate waiting on our arrival. He proceeded to eat his usual breakfast of a hot mash of alfalfa cubes and senior feed in slow motion. He wasn't acting exactly what I would describe as colicy but he definitely wasn't acting right either.
Amy, one of the two wonderful people named Amy who helps me, wondered if the removal of his cribbing collar had caused him to have a gassy stomach. He had gotten a couple of rubs from his cribbing collar so we had pulled it off of him to give him a break from it for a few days. I put a halter on him and led him to the barn. As we were walking to the barn I called my vet from my cell phone and described the situation and mentioned the removal of the cribbing collar and Traveller's ensuing crib-fest. He agreed that it was possible he could have given himself gas and told me to administer 6cc's of banamine and call him in thirty minutes.
As I was having this conversation with the vet while leading Traveller into the barn he passed a big and very normal looking pile of manure. Yeah! Amy carried on feeding the other horses while Jason took Traveller from me, put him in a stall and put his cribbing collar back on. I went and got my bottle of banamine out of the fridge in the barn and drew up Traveller's shot. I swear I hadn't even finished depressing the plunger when Traveller started acting very normal again. He began demanding his breakfast be returned to him which was ok'd by the vet since it is a well-soaked mush. He ate his mash with his usual enthusiasm and then began demanding hay. We gave him hay which he proceeded to hoover up. Clearly he was fine. The banamine hadn't even had time to kick in yet but apparently the cribbing collar was doing the job. Now that Traveller hadn't cribbed for a little while he was feeling much better. I called my vet back and told him it looked like our crisis was aborted and thankfully short lived.
We kept him in a stall to observe him for a few more hours. He ate several flakes of hay, passed several normal manure piles and drank several gallons of water. We returned Traveller to his pals out in the field mid-afternoon. When I took his halter off he went tearing across the field at Mach 10 screaming for his friends. He has acted 100% his usual self ever since but of course I've still been on pins and needles. I also got creative with Jason's sock drawer and cut the toes out of several socks (Jason if you are wondering where a bunch of your socks went I took them) and seriously padded up Traveller's cribbing collar. He now looks like he is from the 80's with a big sweat band around his forehead and is on his way to aerobics class. Hey, it was the best I could do on short notice.
Traveller back with two of his pals on Friday afternoon. Poco the shetland pony and Sparky the donkey were happy to welcome Traveller back to the group.
The rest of the day on Friday through the weekend was uneventful, just the way I like it. We enjoyed the weather and took our time with all of our chores this weekend. We lingered with the horses over breakfast and dinner and spent extra time with the grooming tools because it was just so pleasant to be outside. I rode Lexi in the arena two days and just walked along out in one of the fields on a loose rain enjoying the weather one day. Jason and I went to check on Bonnie's progress with the trainer on Saturday. I rode Bonnie for a few minutes after watching her undersaddle with the trainer. She is coming along slowly but surely.
Buds on the trees
Jason also did some minor tractor repairs and seemed to have lots of reasons to be driving around in the Kubota utility vehicle. He also took lots of pictures of us carrying on in our short-sleeved shirts to send to all of his family and friends in Ontario. He also took pictures of the many buds on the trees and the daffodils which are only about a week or so away from blooming to send to everyone in Ontario as well. All in all another very pleasant weekend!
Jason driving the Kubota utility vehicle and doing something (performing tractor surgery maybe?) to the tractor
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7 comments:
Traveller looks so much like General it is freaking me out! I would so think it WAS him if he was just a TAD taller say at about seventeen hands or so. HEY! He WAS a Warmblood after all. I'm not even really sure what happened to him other than that my dad (who is a farrier) hasn't trimmed him in about five years. Of course, if he IS alive it would make him about thirty years old but hey, that is nothing since I have one that's THIRTY-SIX!
I saw Sport yesterday by the way and he looks fabulous! I got the coolest picture ever of him gaiting across the pasture an for once NOT LIMPING! YAY! He is now my desktop on my computer and I LLLLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEE IT!!!!!!
BTW: Still wanting a meet Traveller post :) :) :)
You really do take such care of those horses! If I'm ever lucky enough to own a horse of my own, I think I'll ship him all the way over to the states to be retired with you guys.
I hate colic scares. Anything out of the ordinary is scary. Glad it was just some gas :)
You didn't go running over to see if Faune was still breathing?? Oh wait, that's only trees. hehe, just teasing :))
Glad to hear Traveller is ok, what breed is he? He reminds me alot of Bonito, the Arab we lost on Christmas.
Faune looks so cute in that picture! Glad to hear you are enjoying the weather- we certainly are here. Hoffy and I had a VERY lovely ride yesterday.
Ezra I had complete control of myself the whole time. The only thing I did was place the mirror I always keep in my pocket for just these occasions in front of Faune's nostrils to make sure he was breathing - LOL!
For all who have asked Traveller is a large pony. I'm not sure if he is all welsh or a welsh cross, I can't remember. He is a real cutie and such a sweet pony - very unlike Poco! I will write a "meet Traveller" post as he is a super nice pony that won at some of the biggest shows prior to his retirement.
A large pony that looks like the best Warmblood in history? Cool!
We had a great weekend too - it's wonderful to see that the end of winter is in sight - those trees in bud in your picture are a sight for sore eyes (we're a lot further north than you). I especially like your photos of the sleeping horses - the fact that they lie down so much and feel safe lying out flat is a compliment to the care you give them.
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