Last weekend, there was a pile of hay in Fetti's stall. My first thought was that someone gave her an extra flake of hay. Then reality kicked in.. this was breakfast. And her nose wasn't in it.
She was still willing to eat (though very unenthusiastically) when out of her stall. Clearly uncomfortable, she wasn't biting at her belly or kicking more than usual, but she was doing a cat-stretch (aka parking waaaaaay out).
Not normal. Very uncomfortable pony. Turning her nose up at hay to go stretch? Not good.
There's been a bug of sorts going around the barn, horses off their feed for a few days then back to normal again. We dealt with that once last year and that, while worrying, isn't overly concerning. Cat stretches? Very concerning. I know some horses do them normally, or do them when they get up, but I have seen this horse do them once before, ever, and Saturday was closer to 10 times, once or twice an hour. Our working theory is that she had the bug and ended up with a mild gas colic to go along with it.Good things: She never quit drinking. Never entirely quit eating, either! Normal hay would get picked at, but straight alfalfa and her grain still got inhaled. Normal poops given how much she was eating, and not dehydrated.
Better things: I did not need to have a vet come out! Bute and careful monitoring was sufficient (and yes, I was in touch with a vet Saturday evening who would have come out if we deemed it necessary).
And on Sunday, when I was painfully bored and staring at Fetti willing her to eat, I decided I might as well work on her hooves. Four feet were rasped; one dramatic chip was removed as best I could.
Best things: No colic symptoms after early Sunday. As of Wednesday, Confetti was back to eating eeeeeverything. Thursday, we went for two(!) short trail rides, one solo, both with big spooks, and I did not eat dirt. Pony is feeling just fine. (And given that she was primarily eating straight alfalfa for a few days.. I think I'm lucky she's not feeling even better.)
Other best things: she went into heat and decided to try to make friends with her new neighbor! Significantly less snarky faces, much happier human.
In less traumatic news, I finally bought a new bareback pad! One of my long-standing goals has been to be comfortable taking her out on moderate-speed trail rides bareback. I think we're just about there. My seat is not quite as good as it needs to be, but it's a heck of a lot closer than it was when I started! We even managed a handful of polite hunter-canters Thursday night, none of which involved any concern that she'd run off with me.She did nearly run me into a tree, though. New pile of scary stuff on the trail, coming back in the dark, almost certainly with strong smells. It was an honestly concerned spook-spin-TREE, in which my calf was about an inch from the tree. Good pony. At least she's feeling better.
