For those of you who don't already know, I have a horse that I bred, raised, and broke myself. He's a 5-yr-old black and white paint gelding named Strider, and he's like a child to me. <br /><br />Last night, he developed colic. This is a general term that basically means a stomach ache, that can be caused by many things. Since horses can't burp or vomit, if they get gas, nausea, constipation, etc, it can cause severe pain. When a horse is in that type of pain, they can injure themselves by rolling or thrashing around. If it gets too bad, they can actually "give up" and die. So when a horse colics, it can range from mild to life-threatening. The initial treatment is pain meds and walking them around to see if things will resolve on their own. When that doesn't work, you have to call the vet. So at 1:30 am this morning, I found myself at the barn while the vet examined him. He had been given two rounds of pain meds, but he was still in distress, and his abdomen was noticeably bloated. So, we had to haul him to the equine hospital. They tried to treat him with further meds and fluids, but they called this morning at 9 am to tell me he was getting worse, and wasn't passing anything, not even gas. This meant he most likely had an intestinal blockage, and that they needed to do surgery. <br /><br />They found an impacted section of his large intestine, that was sitting on and had blocked off his small intestine. They removed the blockage, and he seems to be recovering fine. But as you can imagine, the situation has been very stressful. Not to mention expensive. He has to stay in the hospital for 10 days, until the stitches come out, and so they can monitor for infection or other complications. At minimum, we're talking $6000. Ouch. Not what I needed, expecially this time of year. =(<br /><br />Somehow, I have to come up with the funds in the next two months to pay the booth fee for several major events next year, including Gen Con. The credit card I had planned to use if I didn't sell enough during the holiday season had to be used to pay for his surgery. So, I'd really appreciate any good thoughts, prayers, blessings, etc that y'all can send my way, both for him to pull thru, and for me to not have a nervous breakdown. <br /><br />Thanks.
Honorary Pixie/Tavern Wench Emeritus/The Chainmaille Wench
