Hi all,
It just seems like it's one thing after another lately...
Special colicked today. It was an impaction colic. The vet came and
tubed her, and cleared some of the impaction. I may need to have her
tubed again tommorrow if she doesn't drink tonight. But she's fine now.
Thank God!!
It was caused by a number of factors combined, but aggravated by her
diet. I layed her off last week, to help get her weight up. On thursday
we had our trailer accident. I knew she was off from the accident, and
was going to have the vet look at her anyway. It turns out she has bruised
ribs, and her back is sore. So, she was layed off--stiffened up--didn't
want to eat cuz she was hurting--got depressed cuz we weren't riding--and
then this horrible cold spell hit!
Tuesday she drank about 2 gallons of water all day. The
water in the tanks was frozen, and I can't get her to drink warm water
from a bucket!! It's SO FRUSTRATING! The baby and Jewel both LOVE the
warm water. Last night she didn't drink any water at all. I think
the only thing that saved her, was that I gave her a really sloppy mash
yesterday, and she ate that. Also, once I knew she wasn't drinking I
didn't give her any dry grain. This morning I knew she was colicking, and
called the vet.
Anyway, I'm changing her diet. I need to start giving her good timothy
hay ($11.25 for a 125lb. bale!!!), no more than 6lbs. of grain a day, 1
cup of oil a day, and sloppy bran mash once a day for a while, and then
as needed after that. And, I'VE GOT TO GET HER TO DRINK!! Any tips would
be appreciated, I've tried everything I can think of in her water to get
her to drink it.
As far as working her goes...I think it's very important to get Special
out in the woods. I know it will help. So, the vet gave me 3
bute tabs, and said that for the next 3 rides I can give it to her, so
she's not sore. This saturday we get to go less, than 5 miles SLOOWW!
Two more rides like that, and then bring her back VERY SLOWLY over the
next 2 weeks. Then I will take it slower with her, and do a few less
miles.
Take care everybody, and MAKE SURE YOUR HORSES ARE DRINKING ENOUGH!
@-',--- MARISA ---',-@ **********************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Gravity **
purpl2@teleport.com ** Sucks! **
Portland, Oregon **********************