I cant believe if has been 3 weeks since it all kicked off and Chico was rushed into surgery to correct a badly adhered gut.
Chico has been home for 2 weeks now and remains relatively easy to handle grazing out in hand. We have had just one attack of spirit at the weekend when I lead him onto a different field than we have been using and attracted the attention of his field mates over the fence. A fit of bucking and farting and some very fancy dressage style trot (the kind of trot has has height but no forward motion!) ensued and he was dragged back to his stable in disgrace!
What they dont tell you about colic surgery is that surviving the surgery and the first few days isnt where the worry ends. Every little thing that happens makes you worry. Did he eat too much? Will he be warm enough and if not will he colic? He looks tired, is he just tired or is he poorly? Every stride of trot or every enthusiastic buck on the lead rope and you get images of internal organs bursting at the stitches, wounds opening up, everything is out to get you.
But at the end of the day you just have to take everything as it comes. When I turn up at the stables and am serenaded with whinnies and neighs from a happy patient I breath a sigh of relief, but i will feel exactly the same the next day.
I dont know if there will be a day when I finally stop worrying or if this is something that is always going to sit at the back of my mind, every cough, every runny poop, any sign of malaise and I will worry.
However, I am constantly reminded of how lucky I have been and how it could have so easily been a different blog I am writing.
After last weeks gassy colic scares for other horses at the yard this week saw a altogether more sobering occurrence.
The horse is neighbouring stable, a very talented grey warmblood owner by a young teenage girl, suddenly went off his food on Thursday night also displaying signs of colic. Vet attended and gave pain relief and horse settled so was left over night to recuperate. The following day, however, another episode of colic hit and the grey was rushed off to the same clinic that saved Chico's life. To cut a long story short, unable to eat without colicing the vets were forced to operate to investigate and a large mass was found in his stomach. The grey, who could easily have been any one of the horses on the yard, or any horse adored and much loved in any corner of the world, had a big problem. Vets advised the distraught owner that what they had found was so rare they were uncertain of how his future would pan out.
The sense of loss you all get when any one looses a horse isnt easy to describe to non horse owners. They really become a part of you, they wind their spirit into your heart and their courage into your mind, they make you a better person and when they die part of you dies too.
So to know Chico is still with me, fighting his affliction and never giving in gives me courage for his future, but life is fragile so I will enjoy every second Chico shares with me.
Standing in the pouring rain to graze him in hand is now a privilege and never a chore as is wrapping him up to keep him warm.
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