My family usually doesn't call, or even text much, when I go to the retreat, but this year was different. I got a text to pray for Toy Pony because "she is sick, sick, sick." My husband is a joker, so I wasn't sure if he was serious, but I soon found out that she was indeed sick.
The night before was one of those rare nights that we left the pony out in the pasture, instead of locking her up in her barn stall (to keep her from getting foundered). We had a snowy winter this year, though, so we figured she couldn't dig up enough green grass to make her sick. When Thomas went out that morning (after I left) to give the animals food, Toy Pony did not come to the barn. He made all kids of noise and called her. He looked all over for her to come running, she is usually beats the human to the barn, and she always beats the horse. He considered getting on the 4-wheeler to go look for her, until he thought he saw her head pop up in the snow in the treed area of the pasture. She still did not come, so he went to her.
When Thomas went out to the pony, she was laying in the snow. She was wet, cold, shaking and have enough strength get up on her own. He went back to the barn for her lead rope, and brought her back to the barn. The going was extremely slow at first, but he didn't have to pull her as much when they got half-way across the pasture.
We he got the pony back to the barn, she would not eat, which is not normal for her. Then she collapsed, and began shaking again. Thomas went into the house and woke up Wyatt. He sent Wyatt out to warm the pony up with a blanket, and stay with her while he called the vet.
Thomas called one of large animal vets in our town. They wanted pre-payment since we were new customers and could not commit to any certain that they could be at our house. The secretary would not make any commitments for that day. So, he called our neighbor's daughter who is finishing vet school and interned with a vet clinic in the area. The vet clinic she interned with is in the town north of us, so Thomas put a call in to them. The second clinic put him through to the actual vet right away so that they could figure out how urgent the call was. They diagnosed it as colic over the phone, but would be out to see her in person asap. What confused Thomas was the additional shaking she had, but later found out that was due to Toy being wet and cold from laying in the snow.
Wyatt and Toy Pony are the best of friends. Having the pony has been a great experience in responsibility for Wyatt. He happily mucks out the barn and feeds the pony and horse. He enjoys training the pony and learning about the animals. He has even studied the Shetland Isles, because Toy Pony is a Shetland Pony.
So, Wyatt went out to the barn and put the blanket on the pony and prayed for her to be able to breath easier. Thomas saw her take a deep breath right away, and the boys were sure she would be okay. We still needed the vet though.
Colic was the confirmed, which the vet said lots of horses had gotten this winter. When they don't drink enough water, they get constipation which can be deadly. We had also changed her diet, because of the weather, which did not help things. The vet had to give her a shot to relax her, pump some stuff out of her stomach, fill her stomach with water and mineral oil.
We all prayed hard. I knew that Wyatt was be devastated if the pony died. I would be pretty upset myself. Prayer and the work of the vet gave us a healthy pony. We never so thankful for pony poop!
Here's are a couple of pictures from this last winter, before and after colic:
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| This is our muddy, furry pony before colic. |
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| This is Wyatt out in even deeper snow feeding the pony in the garden area after colic. |
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