targetsmom
Well-Known Member
As elsewhere we are in a heat wave with temp last Thursday breaking our ALL TIME high, and a horse show Saturday. Friday night I opened a brand new feed bag of Blue Seal Carb Guard for our insulin resistant mare Princess, who is the one being shown. Everyone else gets either Nutrena Senior or Safe Choice. Anyway, there were BUGS in the grain, so I immediately called the feed store and was assured that while they LOOK bad, there is NO danger to the horses!! But they will give me a credit for the bag. Not really having an extra hour to replace the grain, I removed the top 10# or so, dumped the rest of the bag and doled it out for Saturday morning's feed. Fed the horses at 4:30 AM Saturday, load up at 5:30 and headed for the show (a 2 hour drive), all perfectly standard procedure. Princess has been doing this for 5-6 years and LOVES to show.
Get to the show, get her ready for her first class and realize she isn't right - she is parking out just like Max did when he was so sick!! Despite 50 years of horses, I have very little experience with colic - except for the kind that ends in surgery or death. Anyway, she was treated by me at the show (with support and advice from others), figuring she was better off there than trying to bring her home in the heat. We got her a stall (disinfected it and installed a fan), and by early afternoon after much walking, watching, and worrying, she pooped and felt better. By 6 PM we actually took her in a trail class to see how she was, because she was reluctant to walk back toward the trailer. She seemed OK, so we actually hooked her and did an obstacle driving class too, once we saw how happy she was to be harnessed!
Anyway, just wondering if you think the colic and the grain are related??? When we got back from the show I found she had only eaten about half of it (I saved the rest). I do plan to contact Blue Seal and the dealer! Or was the colic from the heat and the show itself???? If so, what can we do to prevent a future occurrence? (It seemed like a gas colic; at one point she actually shot up in the air and someone watching said it seemed like gas. She was treated with Maalox.) We used to love to show but a day like yesterday has us really rethinking our priorities.
Get to the show, get her ready for her first class and realize she isn't right - she is parking out just like Max did when he was so sick!! Despite 50 years of horses, I have very little experience with colic - except for the kind that ends in surgery or death. Anyway, she was treated by me at the show (with support and advice from others), figuring she was better off there than trying to bring her home in the heat. We got her a stall (disinfected it and installed a fan), and by early afternoon after much walking, watching, and worrying, she pooped and felt better. By 6 PM we actually took her in a trail class to see how she was, because she was reluctant to walk back toward the trailer. She seemed OK, so we actually hooked her and did an obstacle driving class too, once we saw how happy she was to be harnessed!
Anyway, just wondering if you think the colic and the grain are related??? When we got back from the show I found she had only eaten about half of it (I saved the rest). I do plan to contact Blue Seal and the dealer! Or was the colic from the heat and the show itself???? If so, what can we do to prevent a future occurrence? (It seemed like a gas colic; at one point she actually shot up in the air and someone watching said it seemed like gas. She was treated with Maalox.) We used to love to show but a day like yesterday has us really rethinking our priorities.