Eden choked last night.
Sarah came over to my place so I could dye her hair – how does this relate to Bella? Read on.
Sarah and I loaded up the trailer on the quad bike with feed buckets and hay only to discover the bike wouldn’t go – that saved Eden’s life. Muttering about having to lug feed and hay to the horses through the Muddy race (yes, an initial capital is needed – it is Muddy here), I decided that they didn’t need hay – they had just moved into a new paddock. Sarah and I trundled down the race and distributed feed buckets. As the bike wouldn’t go and I’m lazy (hey, at least I’m honest!) I wanted to wait for them to finish their feeds so I could take their feed buckets then and there, rather than make another trip down the Muddy race to collect them later.
All my horses like their feed and I’ve always said if one isn’t eating, it is a definitely a sign to call the vet. All were happily eating when Eden stopped eating and looked blank. She stood still for a little bit then moved away from her feed – definitely out of character for her. When she started drooling I knew something was wrong – I figured it was choke; something I have read enough about to identify, but not read enough to know what to do.
I called the vet then Sarah and I moved Eden and Bella into the race. I found a lump in her throat and massaged that in between pulling out as much food out of her mouth as possible. Sarah distracted Bella by giving her cuddles. It was quite scary – while you can help a person who is choking, there isn’t much you can do for a choking horse. Eden coughed up food and goo came out of her nose – it was rather gross. Occasionally she gave huge straight-legged whole body shudders – that is what scared me the most; it reminded me of the horse I saw that had a heart attack at a competition. I can deal with life (including blood and gore) and I can deal with death, but I struggle with the process of death.
Mum came down with the vet so once the vet had done her thing (checked her stats and gave her a couple of jabs), Sarah and I led Eden and Bella up the race to the yard so I could keep an eye on her during the night. By this stage, it was dark and Eden was feeling better so was stepping out. Bella wasn’t too sure about following the strange lady (Sarah) in the dark and dithered. Eden didn’t call to Bella – I’m guessing due to having a sore throat (is that, a hoarse/horse throat??) – so pulled back and away. I called to Bella and she came straight up to me. I’m very impressed with that. Unfortunately, just as I was about to grab her leadrope, Layla whinnied and Bella took off. She came back again though and I reunited her with Eden in the yard. While Bella was upset, she didn’t panic so I am very pleased about that – I particularly like how she came to me when I called her.
I have been weaning Eden and Bella but decided that Eden had had enough stress for one night and I would rather disrupt the weaning process than upset her any further by separating her completely from Bella. I did separate them in the yard though – Eden wasn’t to have any food and Bella needs to eat so I put Eden in the yard and Bella inside. I checked on Eden a couple of times during the night. Bella isn’t bothered by my nocturnal wanderings with the flashlight – as far as she is concerned, the flashlight means people and possible carrot handouts. She loves being inside so I think travelling away with her for future competitions will be a breeze. Eden is ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’ today and happy to be back in the paddock where she is making up for lost eating :)
Enjoying the sunshine
