It has been way too long since I did my last post! Not a lot has changed at the farm, the horses are pleasantly plump and happy as ever. The snow has been fun to play in too! Georgia blends in pretty good since she is so white, but her big doe eyes give her away.
The other day it was -6 with a windchill of -25. After the wind died down, the horses went outside. Georgia was so excited to get out there she could hardly contain herself. After getting her outside into her paddock, she let out a long drawn out neigh, threw her head back and reared! It was magnificent. She was feeling great and wanted everyone to know. I chuckled to myself then turned to go back inside to get the next eager horse.
After chores were done, I went to check on Georgia to see if she needed some more water. I walked past a fellow farm hand, Charlee, and asked if she had noticed if Georgia's tank needed to be filled, she said yes. I thought that was strange considering the temperature (Horses don't usually drink a lot of water when it is so cold outside). Charlee then told me Georgia was laying down in the snow, enjoying herself. Georgia lays down all the time to soak up the sun so I thought nothing of it.
I walked over to her paddock and noticed Georgia was laying down in the snow, sprawled out like a cat. I called her name but she didn't respond, she didn't even lift her head to look at me. I opened her gate and walked in, calling to her softly so I wouldn't scare her if she just didn't hear me the first time.
As I got closer she looked at me with her eyes gleaming, a look of distress was written all over her. I reached for her halter to encourage her to stand. She finally stood up but started violently shivering all over. Charlee had ran inside to get a lead rope and brought it to me right away. I knew something was wrong when all Georgia wanted to do was climb in my pocket, she's not usually so needy. I held her close, kissed her forehead and started walking as fast as I could to the barn.
Getting her inside was half the battle, now we had to get her blanket on her to warm her up. She was all wet from the snow she was laying in, chilled right to her skin. A look of relief came over her as I draped her with a nice warm blanket. Luckily the barn manager was still there and was able to help me with Georgia. She looked at her gums, they were a pale pink color and very dry. I knew then that Georgia was beginning to colic. Colic happens in different forms but mainly it is a blockage in their intestines that stops the digestive system. (For more information on Colic go to http://ecrnw.com/colic.php)
Colic is the number one killer of horses. It is very serious and action should be taken immediately.
I went right to work, walking Georgia briskly around the indoor arena trying to warm her up. The blanket she had on trapped the heat she created from walking and her body temperature rose to its normal statues. After she had stopped shivering, the barn manager came out with some medication she had on hand to relax the abdominal muscles to relieve some of Georgia's pain.
Georgia ate too much too fast, it could have had a weed or something in it to make her sick but we will never know. When she didn't feel good, she drank as much water as she could then rolled around because her stomach hurt. I was lucky to find her, otherwise this could have been a very different story...
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