Simon had “Mild Gut Discomfort”

February 9, 2015

On Saturday Simon and upped the anti, and doubled our ride time. We have been doing 5-7 miles or so recently to get us back into some type of trail riding condition. Saturday we did a longer conditioning ride that was about 13 miles. Saturday we were also having a winter heat wave with temperatures in the upper 50s. It was really nice and the perfect day to put on some miles. We didn’t push the pace too much, but we did step it up, finishing in a little under 3 hours. Simon was still peppy and energetic at the end. The trail head was also only about 15 minutes from home, which is lovely.

We got home and I put Simon out. He got a nice roll in, and hit up the water, than waited impatiently for dinner to be served. I did a few barn chores and then brought dinner out just a bit later. He scarfed his food down with plenty of gusto while I filled the hay barrels.

When I went back by to take his halter off and release him to the hay he looked mopey and off. He just stood there. I went about releasing the other ponies and finished filling the hay barrels and he was still standing there looking rather despondent. I did some other out-door chores, and checked in on him every ten minutes or so. The next check in he was laying down. Then he was standing, then he was laying down again. So I pulled him out of the field and hooked him to the grooming tie to observe him.

He started to kick at his belly and kept swatting his tail. I listened to his belly and heard gut sounds. He gave off a pathetic pony moan when I went to get the thermometer. Following Murphy’s law, the thermometer was not working, swell. This is about the time a horsey friend gave me a call. We briefly discussed Simon’s situation and I hung up to call the vet for some professional advice.

With the call placed, I went back to observing Simon while I waited for a return call. Simon let out a rather loud fart, and then seemed to perk back up. He nosed at my pocket for a cookie and stopped all signs of distress. The vet returned my call about 15 minutes later and while we were discussing the situation, Simon farted again and then tried to untie himself to reach the hay nearby.

The vet hedged that Simon probably had some mild gut discomfort, and the passing gas probably helped relieve this. I was careful to explain that Simon is a rather sensitive and dramatic pony, and this would not be out of character for him. The vet said to call back if his symptoms returned or I felt the need. I put Simon out in the private paddock in front of the house for the night, noting the level of water. Simon dove his head right to the ground and started to eagerly crop the grass.

I checked on him a few times, noting how greedily he was eating, that he had perked back up and that he was following me around the paddock (while I looked for fresh poo) and was eagerly muzzling for treats that he was sure were in my pockets. After he had pooped, and was clearly back to his usual self, I called it a night and went to bed.

In the morning he had drank plenty, and was eager to go back into the field with his buddies. I gave him the day off and kept an eye on him, but he seemed to remain his usual self.

What did I learn from this experience? I need to redo my equine first aid kit. I also need to refresh myself on basic equine emergency first aid.

What was I pleased about? I noticed Simon did not seem himself very quickly and was attentive and observant. I know my ponies personality and could see the changes taking place and what was normal and not normal. I did not panic or get flustered. It was really nice to have the ponies at home for this situation, and to have the ability to separate Simon into a small private and observable paddock.

The sum: Simon showed about 45 minutes of uncharacteristic mopey-ness, and then about 15-20 minutes of more recognizable colic symptoms including laying down, kicking his belly and swatting his tail. The drastic weather change and long ride, combined with Simon bolting his feed seemed to be the combined culprit. I am happy that everything worked out and both Simon and my wallet did not suffer.

1 Comment

by riderofchaos on February 9, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Tagged colic, equestrian, horse, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on February 9, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/02/09/mild-gut-discomfort/

Two Days of Road Hacks

February 2, 2025

It’s still snowy and icy so riding at home sucks. The trails and fire roads, which are in the mountains, are probably worse. And I am not sure if I can get my trailer out and back in anyway. So Simon and I hit the roads this weekend. Simon is my only stead equipped with shoes. And luckily I planned ahead this fall and upgraded him to shoes with Borium so he has nice road grip.

Saturday January 31, 2015

I repeated the loop I had previously ridden. It’s a nice mostly unpaved 5 mile loop with some good views and a few spooky critters along the way.

I was aiming to push pretty heavy for lots of trotting. And I managed to accomplish this for a good portion of the ride. Although the roads were pretty icy in some places and that slowed Simon and I down some.

There were a lot of critters along this ride. Alpaca, sheep, cows, goats, dogs and a few fields of horses. We managed all of these, even the most scary; small-dog-on-rope.

All in all a good hack.

Goat on the side of the road.

Sunday February 1, 2015

*note the straight line on the map above should follow the road. The app cut the mileage and time down and did not follow my GPS track for the end of the ride.

Sunday I headed out early and tried a new loop. This one was slightly longer. I tracked it in my car and it was just a bit over 6 miles. Unfortunately my iPhone app tracker, map my tracks, stopped tracking (as you can see on the map). This is getting very frustrating because it has done this on several trips now.

This hack also included some icy roads, cows, goats, horse and dogs. There were two cows in particular, #7 and #44. They followed us along the edge of their field for a ways, bucking and mooing along. Simon was amused and kept stopping to watch.

Another good ride.

That’s my house back in the distance.

Cool abandoned house.

Trail Report ~ 1/24/15 ~ Marshall Run 235

January 28, 2015

I rode the pink highlight to the best of my drawing ability. This is marked on map 729 for the National Forest.

*Add 1.3miles and 20minutes to the calculations

The weather was a little inclement Friday night into Saturday morning, but the roads were clear, the grass was mostly just dusted. So I decided to go for a new trail t adventure. I picked a local area that had paved road parking available and headed up Marshall Run 235. This fire road wraps quite a ways back into the forest and splits in two directions at a closed gate. Its a rough drive up with very few areas for passing. Not the most comfortable drive with a horse trailer. But there is turn around, although a little tight, and parking at this split. This is not something I am sure I will consider driving my trailer on a nice day, so I decided to try Clover Lick Run 731, which is much shorter and ends at a three way split.

Part way up Clover Lick is a trail that crosses the creek and heads off into the forest. I believe this is a trail I rode with a friend some six or so years ago that loops around and back to itself. I decided to stick to Clover Lick and headed up to the three way split. Straight ahead works its way out of the forest and to private property. The left branch does the same.

The branch to the right starts as a pretty clear trail, marking very diligently in orange marker tape and spray paint. Eventually the trail became heavily leaf littered, but the orange markers made it easy to follow. This was also true as I climbed higher along the ridge and into a frosted wonderland. All of the trees, branches, brush and leaves were coated in a layer of pristine ice. On occasion a light breeze would pass by, allowing some small ice bits to *tink tink* to the ground. Simon’s hooves crunched along, and I sat looking around in wonder. It is the one time I really wished I had a real camera along for the ride instead of just my little pocket point and shoot. It did not even come close to catching the magic wonder of the forest.

Sadly the orange markers disappeared. I was nearly to Clover Lick Knob, but with the leaf litter and ice coating, I did not feel comfortable pushing on with no markers. I did find one orange piece of tape on a branch on the ground. It would have created a switch back, and there was a big of an over grown trail it led to, but it trickled out shortly.

I was getting a bit chilly after walking along the ridge top for so long, and decided it was time to head back. Annoyingly my iPhone turned off, presumably from the cold, on my ride back. My calculation adds about 1.3miles and 20 minutes to the ride after what the app recorded.

Games Practice 1/25/15

January 26, 2015

This practice was awesome! My riding was well on, and we got through a lot of races and teammate Matt, joined us! It was a triple winner!

Our usual group, Val, Zoe, Becca and myself all showed up. We were also joined by Matt, who was a good sport and rode Simon. We were also joined by three pony club riders. There was little pony swapping while equipment was being set and changed which I think the girls enjoyed.

We blasted through speed weavers, 3 mug, mug shuffle, bottle, litter, flag fliers, two flag, balloon, joust, ring, sword, ball and cone, agility aces and pony express. I was personally happy with my bottle. I got my flying pick on the way home confidently and squarely. This put an extra big smile on my face. My litter was also on, and my turns in all the races felt great. Oh and my two flag was beautiful. Go me!

The last practice Poe was a bit strong, and was not checking like I have trained him to, nor was he giving me his excellent woes like I have learned to love. I decided I would try throwing a bit back into his mouth and see if I could *remind* him of how important his breaks are. The only bit he seemed to work well in previously was a rubber D snaffle which is what I put in his mouth. He went and he stopped, but there was no enthusiasm about it. After about a half hour I put his hackamore back on, the little S hackamore to be specific. I could feel him kick it into go gear. He was digging into his turns and jamming into his handoffs with no prompting from me. He was checking and stopping like a pro, and he put his game face on. Poe is one pony that loves his job.

Matt, being the good sport he is rode Simon. He was actually a good fit on Simon, and he got to practice his skills and enjoy some fun with us. Matt rode excellently, showing good form and strong skills. I would expect no less from him. Zoe and Petal were looking good too. Petal seemed especially on and into the job. Their 3 mug looked outstanding. Val and Sprite are always awesome. Val’s ability to compensate and adjust to changing shape is amazing. Last of our usual crew is Becca and Jiggy. This was their third practice and it was clear that something clicked for them. Their improvement is showing. This week we played balloon and joust, both of which I thought would be games Becca would really enjoy. I think I was correct!

Until next practice!