Over a week a so ago I posted for some thoughts about my older QH's lameness etc which ended up being a rock up inside his hoof. He has been moving around better since then but dropped a significant amount of weight due to him barely eating because he didnt want to walk out in the field until I got there and redid his hoof etc. Before that we were bragging how well he looked weight wise etc for his age of 26 years old.
Today I got a call from the barn owners that he was gimpy again and wasnt his normal self, so I said I would be down tomorrow to take a look at him and see if it was the same hoof. But my BF said lets take a ride down, so 45 mins later we arrived at the barn.
I saw him near the hay feeder which was near the front of the field and he was just standing there with his right leg forward like his hoof could have been bothering him again, so I was thinking "yup he is lame again". So as I started to fuss with the gate to go in my boyfriend all of a sudden says, "Max just collapsed". and I looked up and there he was on the ground.
My heart dropped into my stomach and I sprinted out towards him. As i approached him he just groaned and laid back. I grabbed a hold of his halter and attempted to get him up and he wouldnt even sit up and thats when I knew it wasnt just a lameness. He eyes were dull and he was breathing very heavy at the time. After a 1/2 hour or struggling with him I got him to lay up only with me behind him to support him from laying flat again and we called the vet.
So we faught with him for an hour and then he finally attempted to stand. As soon as he got up his rear end looked like jello, and I had to run behind him to help support his rear and as he steadied himself I noticed that he body looked like it was doing a convulsing (sp) type thing and I started to get even more frantic. Took us another 1/2 hour to get maybe 100 feet to the barn and his back legs were crossing all over the place and just all around could barely walk.
We got him into the barn and a good sign was he eating and drinking. I thought he might have coliced but there was no signs really of it.
After the vet got there and got through with him, she treated him for colic and gave him a few shots. She also found he has a pretty significant heart murmur but there was an irregular beat/pattern as well that concerned her that wasnt adding up to everything else. No temperature so thats a good thing.
We are not ruling out neurological until he starts to improve, but she said if he is the same or worse tomorrow she will come out and start to run blood tests. But with all the sedatives we had to give him to allow us to tube him, she said his heart was still racing. I know horses cant have "heart attacks" but they can have heart problems and it almost sounds like he might of had something similar to one.
He looks awful now and looks like nothing but bones sticking out, whatever happened to him from friday night to today as taken an awful toll on him. I am worried about my big baby, when I was out there trying to get him up I told him I was not ready for him to leave me and he cant do this today, not like that. I know he is 26 and getting very old but he is my best friend and we have been through so much in competiting etc for the last 16 years together but I honestly dont think after this he will make it two more years to move with my and the mini to South Carolina to my new farm.
I left him around 5:30pm after my boyfriend and I literally supported him as he walked outside for us; he was eating happily and the life looked like it came back into his eyes and his ears were perked. We are keeping him in a small paddock so that if he does go down again its not in a stall and then we have a bigger problem .
Call it by chance, call it fate but sometimes I think my horse and I communicate to each other without myself fulling knowing it. When I got the call today something told me to go down NOW, but I was thinking nah he is just lame again he will be okay for tomorrow. Then my boyfriend 10 mins alter out of the blue was like lets take a ride down (which he is never enthusiastic about going down to the barn or suggests it on his own) and then when I got there it was almost like Max was waiting for me to get there before he collapsed.
If I hadnt of went down no one would have found him until feed time. I got there at 12:30 and they feed around 5:00. Someone would have thought he was just snoozing in the field until he wouldnt get up to eat grain.
this is max about a month ago, little dark from shadows but as you can see, he looks good for 26 years old. He looks nothing like that today after losing weight from his hoof episode and now this. I think the only reason he was able to fight through is he is a former "athlete" up till about 3 years ago when I fully retired him and even the vet could see he was for how strong he was fighting us and the meds.
Today I got a call from the barn owners that he was gimpy again and wasnt his normal self, so I said I would be down tomorrow to take a look at him and see if it was the same hoof. But my BF said lets take a ride down, so 45 mins later we arrived at the barn.
I saw him near the hay feeder which was near the front of the field and he was just standing there with his right leg forward like his hoof could have been bothering him again, so I was thinking "yup he is lame again". So as I started to fuss with the gate to go in my boyfriend all of a sudden says, "Max just collapsed". and I looked up and there he was on the ground.
My heart dropped into my stomach and I sprinted out towards him. As i approached him he just groaned and laid back. I grabbed a hold of his halter and attempted to get him up and he wouldnt even sit up and thats when I knew it wasnt just a lameness. He eyes were dull and he was breathing very heavy at the time. After a 1/2 hour or struggling with him I got him to lay up only with me behind him to support him from laying flat again and we called the vet.
So we faught with him for an hour and then he finally attempted to stand. As soon as he got up his rear end looked like jello, and I had to run behind him to help support his rear and as he steadied himself I noticed that he body looked like it was doing a convulsing (sp) type thing and I started to get even more frantic. Took us another 1/2 hour to get maybe 100 feet to the barn and his back legs were crossing all over the place and just all around could barely walk.
We got him into the barn and a good sign was he eating and drinking. I thought he might have coliced but there was no signs really of it.
After the vet got there and got through with him, she treated him for colic and gave him a few shots. She also found he has a pretty significant heart murmur but there was an irregular beat/pattern as well that concerned her that wasnt adding up to everything else. No temperature so thats a good thing.
We are not ruling out neurological until he starts to improve, but she said if he is the same or worse tomorrow she will come out and start to run blood tests. But with all the sedatives we had to give him to allow us to tube him, she said his heart was still racing. I know horses cant have "heart attacks" but they can have heart problems and it almost sounds like he might of had something similar to one.
He looks awful now and looks like nothing but bones sticking out, whatever happened to him from friday night to today as taken an awful toll on him. I am worried about my big baby, when I was out there trying to get him up I told him I was not ready for him to leave me and he cant do this today, not like that. I know he is 26 and getting very old but he is my best friend and we have been through so much in competiting etc for the last 16 years together but I honestly dont think after this he will make it two more years to move with my and the mini to South Carolina to my new farm.
I left him around 5:30pm after my boyfriend and I literally supported him as he walked outside for us; he was eating happily and the life looked like it came back into his eyes and his ears were perked. We are keeping him in a small paddock so that if he does go down again its not in a stall and then we have a bigger problem .
Call it by chance, call it fate but sometimes I think my horse and I communicate to each other without myself fulling knowing it. When I got the call today something told me to go down NOW, but I was thinking nah he is just lame again he will be okay for tomorrow. Then my boyfriend 10 mins alter out of the blue was like lets take a ride down (which he is never enthusiastic about going down to the barn or suggests it on his own) and then when I got there it was almost like Max was waiting for me to get there before he collapsed.
If I hadnt of went down no one would have found him until feed time. I got there at 12:30 and they feed around 5:00. Someone would have thought he was just snoozing in the field until he wouldnt get up to eat grain.
this is max about a month ago, little dark from shadows but as you can see, he looks good for 26 years old. He looks nothing like that today after losing weight from his hoof episode and now this. I think the only reason he was able to fight through is he is a former "athlete" up till about 3 years ago when I fully retired him and even the vet could see he was for how strong he was fighting us and the meds.
