05/09/2025
Well today was another one of those days 😔. Luckily everything turned out okay (for now).
Hank, a newish to us mule and an absolute sweetheart, decided today was his turn to test my true strength.
On Tuesday Hank got his hooves done and while enjoying his pedicure and also enjoyed lots of delicious fresh wet grass.
When I got to the farm Wednesday evening to do afternoon checks and nightly feeding I noticed he was laying down by the gate. I didn’t think much of it as most days when I get to the farm one of the horses is enjoying a death nap (code for let’s freak mom out and make her think we are dying, but really are just enjoying a quick snooze) 😴.
I went in and got him up and made him move around which he did with ease and went on to eat his dinner.
This morning when I arrived at the farm to check on everyone, I notice Hank was back in his same spot laying, again most mornings when it’s nice out, there are usually multiples partaking in this activity. But again I went and got Hank up and watched him walk away. 👍🏻
Fast forward to this afternoon when I showed back up! Hank was once again back in his same spot laying down. At this point I knew something was off so I went right into colic mode. Colic is when a horse gets bloated and unlike humans they cannot burp to expel the gas. It ends up building up and if not caught in time will lead to death.
I quickly went in and got him up. First thing i did was administer Banamine (im a pro at this point) and kept him up for about 15 minutes. After that we went on a walk… and kept walking and walking and walking and walking for about 45 Minutes. The Banamine Is to help with inflamtion and the walking is to help ease the stomach and hope that they p**p or at least pass gas 💨. However the walking didn’t help.
Next step was load him in the trailer. If anyone knows anything about horses, the second you load a horse in a trailer they will leave you a nice stinky p**p and that was exactly our hope and goal💩.
I tied him up and went on to tend to the mini horses eye. I gave him about 20 minutes in the trailer and bam! He left us the present we were hoping for 💖.
Thank god it all worked out cause I don’t think I could handle another emergency vet visit.
Mr. Hank, you tested my knowledge and I am glad it all worked out in the end.
