Today started out early, like 230 am early. A mix of bad dreams and not feeling well. I ended up watching The Road to El Dorado, Poirot, and How I Met Your Mother.

I finally fell asleep at 6. A little before the time I should have been waking up for class. I didn’t make it. I was to exhausted and feeling unwell. I figured it was better to stay home and sleep.

Well, that plan didn’t go as well as I wanted. At 830 I got a call from my parents saying that my horse was lying down, sweaty, no tummy noises and not wanting to eat. All signs that point to colic.

I called my vet, got dressed and rushed over to my parents. I ended up behind behind my vet for part of the drive. My parents walked Gucci out of his stall and towards me. His beautiful white blaze was dull, his mouth was in his version of a grimace, and his eyes were filled with pain.

The vet, Lance, took a stethoscope to him, listened to his heartbeat (36 bpm, normal) his stomach and intestines (silent, not normal) and his temperature (99.5, normal). Gucci tested as hydrated and his gum response was normal.

He then got 3 shots. His very expensive tranquilizer (he’s not a cheap drunk and it took 3 years to discover a formula which would knock him out enough which he wouldn’t burn through in 15 minutes), banamine which is a pain killer, and a muscle relaxer.

Part of the treatment of colic is that the vet will shove his arm up the rectum and pull out any manure that they can reach. Well, apparently, Gucci is a clincher. Which makes it difficult and painful for Lance, who wishes he has smaller arms when it comes to doing this exam on Gucci. But he pulled out some manure. Small nuggets. He also felt an impaction that he couldn’t reach.

The next part of the treatment is shoving a tube up the nostril, which connects to the throat, sliding it down the throat and into the stomach. Gucci is talented about being a bratt about cooperating, but is a total gentleman about it at the same time. Once the tube was where it needed to be, he got a bucket of warm water and a bucket of mineral oil pumped into his stomach.

After his treatment was done, we walked over to my truck, I sat on the tail gate and held Gucci’s head in my lap. It’s something that comforts him whiles he’s drunk, and/or not feeling good.

As I hung out and waited for him to sober up enough to be able to go to his stall and left alone, I started to read my book. It’s called The Empire of Night by Kelly Armstrong, it’s the second in the series. It’s a cool fantasy trilogy, I’d recommend it to people who want a new fantasy series.

He was drunk for a while. Then all of a sudden he lifted his head off my lap and started walking. So we went to his stall where he looked for food. All the food had been removed. It’s not safe for them to eat while tranquilized and we also have to control how much and when he eats for the rest of the day.

Around 230 pm (1430 for my military peps) we finally got poop! It wasn’t a lot, and it was dry and hard, but a step in the right direction. He also has a steady stream of tummy noises. His appetite has returned. All good signs.

Still waiting for a bit more poop, but I have hope.