"Mother pus bucket!"
— Peter Venkman (Bill Murray)
Ghostbusters (1984)
It's a rainy, gray day,
with temps in the mid 60s.
I've been puttering, doing
some oft-procrastinated chores.
About 10:30 this morning,
I looked out the dining room window
and what do I see?
I see Jazu, head down,
backing around the pasture,
stopping every few feet to look
back at his belly.
Then he went over by the round bale,
dropped and rolled.
>sigh<
I feel like Sisyphus.
Suited up, armed with Banamine,
my stethoscope, and my phone.
Brought him to the hitching post
just as the heavens opened up.
Yeah.
He was not shivering.
Gut sounds were a tad faint,
but not alarming.
Poked around his back to see if
maybe he was sore from yesterday.
Nope, but he was a little tender just
behind the last rib on his left side.
The most pathetic thing wasn't Jaz.
It was Poco.
He stood right next to his buddy,
with that big ole head across Jaz's back,
brows wrinkled.
I had to push him away to get to Jaz's right side.
As soon as I'd move, he was right back against Jaz.
Anyone who doesn't think horses have emotions
can kiss my tattooed butt.
Gave Jaz some Banamine and we walked.
Good, normal-looking poop
in less than 5 minutes.
Fantastic gut sounds.
Heather and I were periodically
talking on the phone
as all this was happening.
What would cause him to be fine at the farm,
but every time he comes back here,
he tries to colic?
We think we figured it out.
Up there, he's kept in a pen with no grazing,
a tiny portion of grain once a day,
and a portion of hay twice a day.
Here, grazing is pretty paltry right now,
but it's more than he gets up there
AND
he has free access to a round bale.
We think the little piggy is overindulging;
too much, too fast.
-- SO --
We'll ease him back into
the life of plenty at
Casa Fry,
a few hours a day
at a time.
Maybe if I stick my head
all the way in the hay bale.
I'll try flinging it, too.
I see the hay.
I smell the hay.
I feel the hay.
WHY CAN'T I EAT THE HAY?
Poco, HELP!
Bummer, dude.
If I had opposable thumbs,
I'd get you out.
Guess you'll have to wait until
that Bucket Woman
takes it off.
— Peter Venkman (Bill Murray)
Ghostbusters (1984)
It's a rainy, gray day,
with temps in the mid 60s.
I've been puttering, doing
some oft-procrastinated chores.
About 10:30 this morning,
I looked out the dining room window
and what do I see?
I see Jazu, head down,
backing around the pasture,
stopping every few feet to look
back at his belly.
Then he went over by the round bale,
dropped and rolled.
>sigh<
I feel like Sisyphus.
Suited up, armed with Banamine,
my stethoscope, and my phone.
Brought him to the hitching post
just as the heavens opened up.
Yeah.
He was not shivering.
Gut sounds were a tad faint,
but not alarming.
Poked around his back to see if
maybe he was sore from yesterday.
Nope, but he was a little tender just
behind the last rib on his left side.
The most pathetic thing wasn't Jaz.
It was Poco.
He stood right next to his buddy,
with that big ole head across Jaz's back,
brows wrinkled.
I had to push him away to get to Jaz's right side.
As soon as I'd move, he was right back against Jaz.
Anyone who doesn't think horses have emotions
can kiss my tattooed butt.
Gave Jaz some Banamine and we walked.
Good, normal-looking poop
in less than 5 minutes.
Fantastic gut sounds.
Heather and I were periodically
talking on the phone
as all this was happening.
What would cause him to be fine at the farm,
but every time he comes back here,
he tries to colic?
We think we figured it out.
Up there, he's kept in a pen with no grazing,
a tiny portion of grain once a day,
and a portion of hay twice a day.
Here, grazing is pretty paltry right now,
but it's more than he gets up there
AND
he has free access to a round bale.
We think the little piggy is overindulging;
too much, too fast.
-- SO --
We'll ease him back into
the life of plenty at
Casa Fry,
a few hours a day
at a time.
Maybe if I stick my headall the way in the hay bale.
I'll try flinging it, too.
I see the hay.
I smell the hay.
I feel the hay.
WHY CAN'T I EAT THE HAY?
Poco, HELP!
Bummer, dude.If I had opposable thumbs,
I'd get you out.
Guess you'll have to wait until
that Bucket Woman
takes it off.
Woe is me.
Mom always liked you best.
Mom always liked you best.
Posts
12 comments:
Poor Jaz! Poor you! I hope things get back to normal again soon and Jaz can feel better and not have to wear the muzzle.
Oh, and since you let the cat out of the bag, you are now obligated to tell us what tattoos are on your butt.
hah!
~Lisa
Oh Jazz you silly goose...you have certainly gotten yourself into a pickle this time!!! Feel better soon!
Might be the ratio of hay (dry) to water - does he drink enough? Glad you caught it early, and that he seems to be OK!
No, Kate, he doesn't drink enough. We've had so much rain, though, that the hay is wet, at least the surface is.
After getting rations while penned with a bunch of kiddos for a couple of months, to have as much as he can eat all of a sudden, not having to battle for it ... it makes sense that he's just gorging himself.
I gave him a handful of grain and some bran last night and left the rain water in his bowl so at least he'd get that much liquid. He's turned into my high-maintenance, fair-weather pony.
The tattoo question is answered over at Lisa's ;-)
Oh man! Poor Jaz (and you!)! Glad you were able to catch it quickly and treat him yourself...
That poor guy. Real sweet of Poco though, to take such good care of his buddy!
Hang in there- sure hope for your sanity Jaz can ease into life at home easier!!
Have to head over and check out the tat answer too! LOL
Jaz, be careful your mommy is worrying about your tummy. Hard to have food around and not eat it. Take care and get back to normal soon
Wait. Wait. You're butt is tattooed? Okay, I just had to write that. Now I'll go back and read the rest of the post...
That's got to be so heartbreaking to keep seeing these relapses. Yeah, even the slightest change in diet can trigger colic. When you change either the amount a horse eat or they type of hay or grain. Changes in diet have to be gradual. Hopefully, this will fix it.
I switched to round bales once, thinking free choice grass hay was the healthiest way to feed. This was at the old place, when Lyle was 3. He coliced every few weeks because he was being such a pig. Once I went back to my old ways, of doling out grass hay 4x/day, he was fine. I hope you and Jaz find your groove soon. It sucks being an expert on what to do when your horse colics.
Oh no! Poor Jaz, so glad you caught it in time and were able to deal with it at home.
Hopefully he eases into life at Casa Fry and you all can get back to normal.
Love how sweet Poco was with his little buddy.
I agree, horses definitely have feelings :)
Now I have to go to Lisa's and see if your comment is up... lol
Oh Jaz! Hopefully you guys have come up with the solution to keep him from colicing.
Poco is so sweet to hang with his buddy and make him feel better, I also feel horses have some type of emotion. They just have too!
I had to back track a little and get caught up here!! I'm glad you caught it early!!! It is strange how some horses tend to have issues switching feed...We change our hay types fairly often because of the vast variety available around here and we only have problems with our oldest gelding once in a while...But his is usually "sand colic", or impaction...Do you have sandy ground there??
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