Doldrums

I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while. Winter has me a little down. I love sunlight and while I know that the sun is still shining behind the clouds (I'm gagging on cliche-ness right now), I still find it hard to be cheerful on a cold, grey, and gloomy day.

Monday was exciting. I got home from school and received a phone call from the barn owner saying that Gambler was colicking again, and it was more serious than the last time. Of course, I start freaking out, with a thousand worse-case scenarios rushing through my mind. We arrived at the barn, and went through the typical motions. Walking, waiting for the vet, pumping mineral oil, etc. In the end, he was okay. He pooped and perked up, so everything is okay. It sure gave me a scare though.

My wonderful friend Arianna came out to the barn with me and stayed through the whole thing. It was entirely last minute and we both were freezing our faces off, but it was good to have her there. I'm so blessed to have friends like her to rely on when I need them.

I didn't bring the camera, which in retrospect would have been a good idea, no matter what the outcome of the night, but obviously I was a tad bit distracted. I did get a few pictures on Arianna's phone after it Gambler was out of the danger zone.

I got out to see him yesterday afternoon. I didn't stay for long, because I had plans for the evening (Mockingjay part II was just as depressing as I expected), but I spent some time just relaxing with him in his stall while he was eating. I also took many pictures of my very-much-alive horse. I am especially thankful for my horse this thanksgiving. 

Speed Bump

A new complication has risen out of the ashes of the last. A few months ago Gambler had a small case of sand colic. I noticed that something was wrong when I tightened the cinch and he grunted (although at the time I thought he was coughing). Since then we have been giving him Metamucil every Saturday and he hasn't acted colicky at all. The grunting, however, has not stopped. Back in September he continued to grunt when I tightened the cinch. Then, a few days ago he started grunting when I put pressure on his back in preparation for mounting. Today I set the saddle on his back and moved it a little to get it centered and he grunted. I shook it around, and he grunted. I barely tightened the cinch around him, and he grunted. So either somehow Gambler has back problems again (although the chiropractor was just out a little while ago) or he's getting colicky again (although he is pooping fine) or he's just too smart for his own good. I'm hoping for the latter. Other than that interesting development, Gambler was good today. There wasn't much light, but we managed. We got some good pictures too.

Playing the friendly game.

A practice one-rein stop.

Standing ground-tied to be groomed.

An artistic shot.

Oh, I remember this thing.

The saddle goes on . . . 

Check out those gorgeous Arabian ears!

More pretty ears as Gambler watches Kezi come galloping toward the fence.

Watching Kezi and hoping that she will stop - at least I was, I'm not sure what Gambler was hoping.

#grumpymareface
She doesn't appreciate it when Gambler gets all the attention.

Right here I was shaking the saddle. At first he was grunting, but then he stopped and yawned which is a release of tension. 

Tightening the girth . . . 

The face Gambler making when he is grunting.

Simulating the cinch with the rope while Gambler grunts and makes the "grunting face."

More "grunting face."

Big yawn!

The more I think about it, the more it seems like Gambler is just pulling one on me. I hope that is the case. I'm just going to continue the mounting preparation and saddling. If he's being a smart alec, then the grunting will stop. If it gets worse, I'll go back to groundwork and seek the advice of a vet or the have the chiropractor out again.

Colic

Every horse person's worst nightmare. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, there are many other horrible things in the horsey world. Thankfully, Gambler's first experience with colic (that I know of) was minor. *deep sigh of relief* He just had a little bout of sand colic. The first thing I noticed was how quiet he was, and then he started grunting and stomping his feet. I walked him until he stopped grunting and began eating. He also perked up quite a bit and started acting like his spooky, goofy, self. Finally, a few hours later, he pooped! Yay poop! In the end, we didn't even have to call the vet.

It was actually a great experience. Once I knew Gambler was not in dire straits, it was fun just hanging out with my horse, walking him down the trails and hand-grazing him. I'm extremely thankful to the barn owner for staying with me through it all. She knows so much more about these things than I do. Plus it's nice to have someone to talk to.

Obviously I didn't play with Gambler today, but here are some pictures from yesterday.