A Tale of Caution

[Oldwaggy@aol.com]

Never in my life did I think I would be reading out loud in the middle of the 
night to a sick horse.  In over 4,000 miles of endurance competition, my 
Icelandic horse Remington had never suffered anything more than a minor 
injury.  But last week we almost lost him.

Three weeks ago both Remington and my other Icelandic, Skjoldur, were entered 
in probably the easiest ride we've been to in three years.  The scenery was 
beautiful, the ride was well run and the vets were excellent.  Both the 
weather and footing were ideal.  We rode very slow since this was only my 
second ride back after my own broken leg and knee last New Year's Eve.

One thing I was a little worried about was all the grass clippings on the 
ground the horses were getting into all night before the ride instead of 
eating their hay.  I guess the field we were camping on had been mown not too 
much earlier.  I should have been more worried.

Both horses seemed uncomfortable when they would stop to defecate after the 
ride started.  Remington was then pulled for lameness at the first vet check. 
Although it was obvious he was very lame, it was hard to figure out why.  
When the vet tried to examine his left front leg, he wouldn't let her touch 
it. He didn't feel uneven to ride, but seemed increasingly short strided - 
more from the front than the rear.  When he stood around back at camp, he 
appeared uncomfortable on all his feet.  He had no filling or swelling 
anywhere but had a strong digital pulse on both front legs.  When I talked to 
head vet Michelle Shaw, she suggested I have him undergo a full lameness exam 
as soon as I got home.

Skjoldur was pulled later in the ride when it was clear he wasn't eating and 
had little or no gut sounds.  This was also a mystery since he normally eats 
like a pig throughout a ride.  His stools were becoming loose and he looked 
awful.  At least he was fully recovered by the next day.

I took Remington to the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Clinic near my home the 
next morning.  After a thorough exam, his mystery lameness was diagnosed as 
mild laminitis.  He was lame in all four legs, more in the front than the 
rear.  The vet surmised that both horses had ingested toxins from a radical 
change in their diet (probably the grass clippings) and reacted differently, 
Skjoldur with stomach upset and Remington with laminitis. They kept Remington 
for treatment and observation overnight and then sent him home when he was 
sound.  

By Thursday, Remington was no longer eating and had increasingly watery 
diarrhea.  I took him back to Alamo Pintado Friday morning where they became 
concerned with those symptoms as well as dehydration, an elevated heartrate 
and the results of his blood tests. Rem went into their intensive care unit 
and was put on an intravenous drip. He had a severe inflammation of his 
intestinal system.

By Saturday, he was painfully squirting water and passing little else.  A 
rectal exam revealed a small colon impaction at the same time.  His gut had 
essentially stopped working.  Although all the intravenous fluids eventually 
caused the impaction to pass a few days later,  the watery diarrhea continued 
along with the elevated heartrate and an unwillingness to eat. By Wednesday, 
Remington was moved to the isolation unit for fear of salmonella.  He was 
assigned a veterinary intern full time (she had to stay isolated from the 
other horses too).  Things looked grim. 

I had been spending nights at the clinic and was very tired and distraught.  
I remember telling my wife how horrible it felt not to know what was wrong or 
what to do.  She told me just to keep spending time with him so he wouldn't 
feel alone and confused.  I did read an Icelandic saga with a lot of horsey 
action, The Saga of Hrafnkels's Frey Godi, out loud to Rem that night just 
because I had run out of things to say.  I don't know what he thought but I 
felt better at least with the distraction.

Of course, you can never count Remington out.  By Friday morning, he was 
starting to eat. The intern and I celebrated when he passed his first 
semi-solid stool that night in a week. He was taken off the iv drip.  By 
Saturday, he was ravenously hungry, started throwing his bucket around, and 
even knocked the double gate for the isolation unit off its hinges.  Sunday 
he was put back outside in a paddock and was pooping like a Clydesdale.  He 
even bit someone.  I knew he was back.  Remington was sent home last Monday.

The point of all this, if there is one, is that you should go with your 
instincts if you have a concern about what your horse is eating.  You should 
also love your horse every minute because you never know when something awful 
can happen, even to a tough little bastard like Remington.

John Parke
Solvang CA