Bad Monday

Photo by Ty Holland

When I came in to work this morning a little after 7 AM, I went out to feed the horses in pasture. After I had put the food out, I noticed that one of our horses, Charlie, was laying down near the feeders. Whenever a horse lays down at feeding time it is a sure sign of colic. I went to get a halter and pulled Charlie out of the pasture and began walking him around the stables while calling the military veterinarian.

The mil vet was out of town but she sent a couple of her vet techs to check on the horse. Charlie was clearly in pain and was taking a "saw horse" stance whenever we stopped moving. It was not a good sign. Mild gas colic is not all that unusual but it was clear that Charlie was having more than just a little gas problem. The vet techs called the military vet back and described Charlie's symptoms. It was decided to call out a local civilian vet to treat Charlie.

While we were waiting for the local vet to show up we continued to walk Charlie around the stables. His pain rapidly grew worse and he would constantly stop and try to lay down. He was also getting very sweaty. We decided to walk him around the wash rack and spray him with water to cool him down. Because Charlie kept trying to stop, one of the vet techs got behind Charlie and tried to push him on. Charlie, to his credit, gave a warning kick but when this was ignored, nailed the vet tech in the stomach with a rear hoof. The tech cried out and crumpled to the ground.

I stopped walking Charlie, who immediately laid down, and I called 911 for an ambulance. Both the horse and the soldier were laying on the ground writhing in pain. I don't remember exactly what happened next but I remember trying to explain to the emergency dispatcher where we were while trying to continue walking Charlie. I'm not sure how Charlie got back up again. The injured vet tech, a tough young woman, worked through the pain while the other tech went to flag down the ambulance. The ambulance soon arrived and I was able to turn my attention back solely to Charlie.

The local equine vet arrived shortly after the ambulance along with some people from the stables. We got Charlie up and gave him some more pain killers and then the vet asked if Charlie was a candidate for surgery. I deferred to the military vet tech who quickly got the authorization to have the surgery done. I was very surprised when it was approved as colic surgery is very expensive. The nearest surgeon was in Tucson, an hour and a half away. The equine vet asked if I preferred to take him to the clinic in Phoenix where we usually go but I was afraid Charlie wouldn't survive that long of a journey, thus I decided to take him to Tucson. Good thing I did.

We loaded Charlie into the trailer and I was soon on my way to Tucson. The vet advised me to not tie him up in the trailer as he would probably want to lie down. He did lie down and he became so still in the trailer that I feared he had died. At one of the stop lights on the way through town I jumped out and checked to make sure he was still moving. The whole journey to Tucson was frightening as I did not know if Charlie was alive or not. Every once in a while he would trash around but then he'd get still again.

When I finally arrived at the surgeon's clinic, I began to wonder how I was going to get Charlie up and out of the trailer. However, as soon as we opened the door, he jumped up and stepped out. I led him into the surgery and turned him over to the surgical staff who immediately began to prep him.

I was permitted to watch the surgery through a window. They had Charlie prepped and on the operating table within an hour of his arrival. I watched while they opened him up and lifted all of intestines out onto a table next to him. The surgeon had told me that once he looked inside, he would know whether there was any point in proceeding. Since he did not stop, I began to have some hope. The surgeon and his staff were initially very tense but after about an hour they began to relax slightly. I was relieved when they reassembled Charlie and began to close him up. The surgery had taken 90 minutes.

We got him there just in time. Charlie had a twisted colon and would soon have died without the surgery. Colic surgery is a 50-50 chance at best but somehow Charlie had survived it. Fortunately, the surgeon did not need to remove any of the colon. However, Charlie is not out of the woods yet. He had a lot of fluid build up in his gut and this all has to be drained out. If Charlie is able to resume normal bowel movements in the next couple of days, this should all work itself out. Time will tell.

Exhausted and hungry, I returned to Fort Huachuca late in the afternoon. I received word en route that the vet tech had suffered a broken rib and bruised arm but had been released from the hospital. She will be okay. I hope Charlie, likewise, recovers soon.