Worse than an Appaloosa...

This morning the phone rang at 8:00. It was Kim, calling to say that Sophie was colicking. She was very calm and assured on the phone, so I didn't panic, but I did scrub my teeth as fast as I could and then get dressed to head out to the barn. I made it to the barn and went straight to Sophie's stall. She was laying on the floor of her stall, listless. You could tell she wasn't feeling well, especially since everyone else around her was munching their hay and she was curled up on the floor. She wasn't rolling or thrashing, thought she would stretch out on her side and reach out with her neck every few minutes. My mom showed up after I'd been there for about 15 minutes, for moral support.

Bill came over with a tube and a bucket and I haltered Sophie. After it was fastened I stood back and tugged on the lead, fortunately she stood right up. Bill gave her a couple of shots and then proceeded to stick the tube up her nose. She did not like that, she didn't physically struggle much really, but she was preventing the tube from proceeding. At one point he told her she was "worse than an Appaloosa". (If you'd like to see pictures of a real dressage Appaloosa click here http://ararabella.blogspot.com/2008/07/amazingness-and-dressage-appaloosa.html )

He finally did get the tube to her stomach and held up the bucket so that the electrolyte/water mixture would flow through the tube into her stomach. After he was done Sophie never layed down again, but instead perked up and started snuffling around her stall for hay or grain...food of any kind. She was watching me intently and I decided to give her a good grooming. After I was done we wandered the farm a bit, looking around, and checked on Sophie again. She was still looking good though, so we decided to leave after talking to Kim and Hayley for a while and doing one more check on Sophie.

I went back at 5:30 to check her again. She was very bright eyed and alert, happy to see me, and had finished her bran mash with vigour. She was happily munching on hay and Kim stopped by to tell me everything that had happened since we left in the morning. Unfortunately, she still hasn't pooped, but she still looked good and her gum color was much better. Bill is going to check her again when he gets back tonight as well.