When Skiving Saves Lives!
I was selfish this morning and decided, since I had to run errands, to go, oh, 45 minutes out of my way to the barn to see Felix the pony. Never mind that I had walked and groomed and bathed him on Friday and walked and groomed him yesterday. (My Mother's Day treat.) He is now "my" project and I wanted to work with him again. So off I went. At the barn, Mike, another horse owner and one of the board members, was on for feeding and turnout and mucking.
When I walked in, he had the thoroughbreds Peanut and Max still in their stalls - Peanut because he had developed a swelling near his right eye, and Max because he has swelling in his front left leg that needed therapy.
Mike was mixing up a small bucket of extra feed for Peanut in which he had cleverly hidden some medication to help with his eye. He deposited that with the grateful equine (second breakfast!) and went outside to do some other work before coming back for Max.
Me, I grabbed a leadline and headed out to get Felix. Just outside of the barn I realized I had forgotten Felix treats, so I went back to get them. I passed Max and the busily munching Peanut, passed them again, paused at the barn door to shuck the wrappers off the peppermints, and heard a really odd noise. Maybe Peanut has kicked his door? Heard it again and realized it was a cough, of sorts. Went back and found Peanut standing stock still with his head stretched out low, mucus pouring out of his nostrils, sides heaving as he gathering himself for another cough. Horses don't puke but it sure looked like what he wanted to do. He coughed again, blew an impressive nose bubble, rubbed his snout on the sides of the stall to get rid of the river of mucus, and I zipped off to find Mike.
Within half an hour we had a vet on site, gently sliding a tube down a semi-sedated Peanut's esophagus to find a blockage, then pumping in water to break the blockage up. A couple of really nasty horks later, (one right on the vet) and Peanut was fine, if a little tired and sore. He had bolted his food, and it stuck in his gullet. I walked him around while Mike cleaned out his stall, removing all hay and any leftover grain. Once the sedation wore off he clearly wasn't feeling well, which is why the vet had left painkillers (think of a very bad, very long sore throat) and also antibiotics.
Would choke, as it's called, have killed him if I hadn't heard him? Nah, he could breath. But vets treat it as an emergency because it can cause dehydration, can damage the esophagus, and he clearly can't eat or drink with it there.
So see, it was a good thing that I listened to the little voice that said "yes, shirk your responsibilities, go to the barn this morning!" At least, Peanut thinks it was.
When I walked in, he had the thoroughbreds Peanut and Max still in their stalls - Peanut because he had developed a swelling near his right eye, and Max because he has swelling in his front left leg that needed therapy.
Mike was mixing up a small bucket of extra feed for Peanut in which he had cleverly hidden some medication to help with his eye. He deposited that with the grateful equine (second breakfast!) and went outside to do some other work before coming back for Max.
Me, I grabbed a leadline and headed out to get Felix. Just outside of the barn I realized I had forgotten Felix treats, so I went back to get them. I passed Max and the busily munching Peanut, passed them again, paused at the barn door to shuck the wrappers off the peppermints, and heard a really odd noise. Maybe Peanut has kicked his door? Heard it again and realized it was a cough, of sorts. Went back and found Peanut standing stock still with his head stretched out low, mucus pouring out of his nostrils, sides heaving as he gathering himself for another cough. Horses don't puke but it sure looked like what he wanted to do. He coughed again, blew an impressive nose bubble, rubbed his snout on the sides of the stall to get rid of the river of mucus, and I zipped off to find Mike.
Within half an hour we had a vet on site, gently sliding a tube down a semi-sedated Peanut's esophagus to find a blockage, then pumping in water to break the blockage up. A couple of really nasty horks later, (one right on the vet) and Peanut was fine, if a little tired and sore. He had bolted his food, and it stuck in his gullet. I walked him around while Mike cleaned out his stall, removing all hay and any leftover grain. Once the sedation wore off he clearly wasn't feeling well, which is why the vet had left painkillers (think of a very bad, very long sore throat) and also antibiotics.
Would choke, as it's called, have killed him if I hadn't heard him? Nah, he could breath. But vets treat it as an emergency because it can cause dehydration, can damage the esophagus, and he clearly can't eat or drink with it there.
So see, it was a good thing that I listened to the little voice that said "yes, shirk your responsibilities, go to the barn this morning!" At least, Peanut thinks it was.