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Last year we bought a boarding facility and were not able to compete due to
time and money issues.? We tried for one local ride but got our dates mixed
up.
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This year I planned Kenlyn and had a last minute change of horses and
decided it would be unwise to take a 4yo that had only been ridden 12 times
(although I did that the year before with an 8 yo mare that had only been
ridden 10 times and we did the 15).? So we did a local charity ride instead
(horse would have been fine at Kenlyn I bet).
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Then we planned Colfax Coal Rush and my feral paint mare pretended to go
into labor an hour before we loaded up.? She was with a stallion from
February to September with her previous owner, so we had no good
expectations.
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So now we have Shamrock planned ? and at 2:30 on Friday and we were still
hoping to leave and ride Saturday.? We had a horse come in for training last
Wednesday, arab stallion, owner has done NATRC and wants to at least go out
on trails with the guy.? Trainer was finding that he has a few issues and we
all agree the owner would be much happier with a gelding.? The owner came to
visit him and before I could even say anything happened to mention that she
planned on gelding him after training.? I told her the training would be
much more valuable with him already gelded, even if some of the time he was
still on testosterone.? So she agreed to have him gelded because she lives a
hour from a vet and doesn?t even have a phone.
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It was easy, done standing up, very little bleeding, we monitored the horse
all day and he was fine.? Talking to the little pony across the aisle.? When
I started feeding, I saw him just fine at the end of the barn.? By the time
I got to him, he?d started to roll and looked a little funny.? I fed a
couple more horses and hollered at the trainer since he was still rolling
and tried to get him up.? His intestines were starting to come out the
incision.
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Apparently there is a genetic ?defect? where the ring through which the
testicles originally descend is a little larger and allows the intestines to
sag through.? I think I have this right, but might have misunderstood some.?
Our very experienced vet has only seen it once before and it happened
immediately upon gelding.? He said there was nothing he could do and was too
far away anyhow.? We called our other vet (meantime horses is thrashing
violently and my husband is trying to put things back in place and avoid
being killed) and he came out and did surgery to get the intestines cleaned
and back in place.? We knew there was still a very low chance of survival
(and all the while could not get in touch with the owners).
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The trainer slept in the barn that night.? Owners came out the next day and
were very happy with all we were doing and very understanding about the
whole thing.? The woman slept in the barn the second night ? at which point
the horse started drinking and drinking.? We thought that might be a great
turning point.? He?d pooped a couple times but wasn?t eating yet.? He was
alert and annoyed with the incision.? His temp was good although legs were
cool so we tried walking him out and about to help circulation.

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This morning the legs were cold, nose was cold, gums were purple, cap refill
was zero, skin tenting was 5+ seconds.? My husband and I knew it was over,
but we called every vet in 2 counties and none could come with an IV bag.?
The horse had to be tranquilized to get here and couldn?t walk as far as the
trailer anyhow, so getting him to a clinic wasn?t an option.? And it
wouldn?t have mattered because it was too late.? It might have been too late
the night before when we noticed his legs were initially cool, but I don?t
know.? 
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He refluxed and my husband tried to help by preventing flow in the carotid
artery (don?t know if he had an impact or not but we didn?t have any other
means of euthanasia).? All that fluid he drank didn?t make it to the
bloodstream.? The owners went home (2 hours away) to get their trailer so
they can bury him at their place.? We thought about loading up to get to
Shamrock after they left, but just didn't feel like it.
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I thought I?d write this in case the only symptoms we had the night before
(the cool legs, abnormal drinking) can help someone make a decision to get
IV fluids sooner than we did.? I always want to make sure we learn something
from any bad situation so if there are any other (kind) comments on what we
could have done differently or things that can help other people, I?d sure
like to hear it.
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I have offered to give this lady one of my very steady trail horses.? She is
not getting ridden enough because I have 4 young horses that need real
training and she has so much to offer someone.? All this lady wants to do is
ride on the dozens of miles of trails out her back door and all this horse
wants to do is head down the trail and they will love each other and that is
enough for me.? I have 14 horses and she has now lost 2 this year, plus
other really unfortunate and uncontrollable bad events since January.? I
couldn?t watch her lose this horse and then decide not to have a horse
again, so I?ll give her some time, but I think she already likes my little
mare so I hope it works out.
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Maybe I?ll make it to the next ride!
Marlene
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Marlene Moss
Saddle Fitting - www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com
Boarding/Training - www.LosPinos-CO.com 
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