I mentioned Koda's odd sluggish behavior to Brad, he attributed it to me. I've been reminded lately that my riding has been let's just say less "polished", and it has. I thought perhaps Koda was feeding off my low energy. After all, I spent the three days prior at home nursing a bad cold. But something was really off. Koda was not very willing, to a different extent. It was uncharacteristic of him. We managed to fumble through a short ride, it wasn't pretty.
I asked our wonderful barn help if she had noticed anything off with Koda. Nope. But come to think of it, he didn't run off to eat his hay after getting turned out. Hmmm, that got her started thinking. I also asked our trainer if she noticed anything off with Koda, she attributed his sluggish behavior to the humidity. Okay then, if everyone else who knows him thinks he's okay then it must just be me. I tucked my boy into his stall and headed home.
The next morning I got an urgent message from Brad, that our trainer was trying to reach me. The barn help noticed Koda wasn't behaving normal, thank goodness. Koda had a high fever of 105F and the vet was on his way...I was angry! At first because nobody ever listens to me, but mostly at myself. When am I ever going to trust my instincts?? I may not know how to train horses, or ride them perfectly, or know the best way to patch them up, but I DO know how my horse normally feels & acts!! I rely on others help for the rest. I felt terrible about riding Koda, when the poor baby wasn't feeling well. Lesson learned, take temp ask questions later.
I have very good instincts and am an observant person to a fault. I honestly wish I didn't notice half the things I did. It's a blessing, and a curse. Feeling something is wrong, not acting (enough) upon it, resulting into something being really wrong - keeps happening over & over where horses are concerned - and it makes me mad! At me!! Poor Brad got an earful. Good thing I had a 40 minute drive up to the barn to cool off. Breathe in, brrrreathe out. The barn knew I was on my way. I received a phone call just 10 minutes away that the vet had left...say what?? I checked on my lethargic boy, hand grazed him and gathered the second hand story, and then promptly called the vet on my way home to get the information first hand. That crap doesn't fly with me. It was a new vet who apparently had no idea I was on my way, he did a nice job answering all my questions.
The vet observed none of the usual Ehrlichia symptoms, but said Koda was breathing & sweating heavy. They got his temperature lowered, and Koda continued eating & drinking. Not the norm with such a high temp (the indicator). He never did stock up, some horses do. Everyone seems to have an Ehrlichia story, but this was our first experience with it.
Apparently Ehrlichia is common in this area, so they treat it right away with an antibiotic while waiting for the blood test results. We should have results early this week. We just finished day five of consecutive vet visits & antibiotics, and yes I made damn sure I was at the remaining four visits. It took a couple days for Koda to snap out of it and act more like himself. He is feeling much better and that's all that really matters. The rest, is living and learning.
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| Snapshot yesterday, happy to be together again. (Koda-Nemo-Cierra) |
