Happy Monday everyone. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful, and we hope your holiday was as well. Momma here, with an apology for “going dark” last Friday, but our family spent our “Black Friday” walking away our Thanksgiving calorie intake by caring for my Quarter horse, Boogie, who was suffering from gas colic.
Jared did the barn chores for me this week-end, truly a holiday for me, and he noticed Boogie not eating his breakfast. It’s important to know your horse very well, and this is not normal for Boogie. Boogie is part goat. When he laid down without touching his food I sprang into action.
I grabbed his halter and lead asking him to get up for me. Boogie did, with some difficulty, and off we went for a walk. The object here: get him to poop, we don’t want an impaction, and walking gets things moving. Always keep track of time, 25 minutes later Dad took over walking up and down the driveway until Boogie pooped! This seemingly routine and unimportant action took over 50 minutes to achieve. People who love their horses are never more excited than when their colicky horse poops.
Back to the barn where Kirstin & Jared checked his respiration. It was high, but nothing to get alarmed about. Boogie’s respiration was 48 breaths per minute, it should never be above 60 breaths per minute. Again, it’s good to know your horse, this rate was pretty high for Boogie. Into his nice clean stall with lots of fresh bedding where we observed him. We offered him fresh water, but we gave him nothing to eat. He laid down in his stall quietly and rested, getting up without struggling, to pass gas. His bloated belly slowly began to recede. Boogie was up five times in five hours to poop, and we were out of the woods before bedtime. A small amount of hay before going to bed, a bran mash to keep things moving, and Boogie was as right as rain the next morning.
Cliff House Alpacas 