At 2:00 a.m. last night a horse was heard calling for her friends in obvious distress - enough to send Tiffany outside to check on her. She found Plucky standing alone in the dry lot area, unwilling to walk due to extreme pain. It took nearly two hours of a lot of pulling, bribing, and encouraging to get Plucky from the pen to the medical barn, but she finally did and we loaded her up with banamine and a soft place to stand. All signs point to front hoof pain - and likely a bout of laminitis.
But.
About a week ago Mona was observed to be very lame in her hind - unbalanced and uncoordinated, not necessarily painful. A thorough exam of her points mostly to either a muscle strain around the hip or maybe even a stroke - she is 30 years old after all.
Alone - they are simple, normal things. But together ... we worry about a pattern. Though they have no other symptoms - no fever, nasal discharge, gastrointestinal upset, no lethargy or loss of appetite - we have to consider a toxicity or a neurological disorder.
After consulting with both Cedar County Vet and Nebraska Equine, we are hauling both of them to Nebraska Equine tomorrow for a work up. Hopefully these are exactly what they appear - unrelated - but if not, we need to take steps to protect the rest of our herd.
So ... if there are signs of toxicity, we need to pull the big herd off of pasture NOW. Which means we need hay! Our round bales have not yet been delivered and we only have about 2 weeks worth on hand if we are feeding everyone. I've reached out to our hay supplier to see if he can schedule delivery of the first load BUT we're also asking our local friends if they can spare a round bale or two.
We are available to accept delivery in the evenings and this weekend OR if you are willing to use our tractor to unload during the daytime (we work, so while we can meet you we can't take the time to unload.)
OR ... Bubba Startz of Startz and Endz - the fabulous band who performed at the Showdown and is from Tyndall - has offered to pick up bales in the local area.
If you have 1, 2 .. 10 round bales to spare you can make a huge difference for the horses. Please message the page and we'll get you a number to call to make arrangements!
And please send lots of good thoughts for both Mona and Plucky. As always, donations to the vet bill and feed fund are always appreciated.