Skippy

Last Tuesday I went out to do chores and noticed that Skippy was lying down. He wasn't all sprawled out or rolling. He was simply curled up but jumped up when I walked near his pen. I proceeded to do chores and threw hay into his feeder.

Normally Skippy dives into the hay. Tommy acted like he'd been starving (he's fat by the way). Skippy nibbled at a few blades of hay and that was it.

Red Flag.

Skippy has never coliced before so I was shocked to see that he wasn't feeling well. Other than his skin allergy, he's been picture perfect healthy so I was taken by surprise that he was "off". I don't know if he was actually colicing or if he was a little off.

I pulled him out and walked him around in hopes that walking would help. He didn't act like he was going to roll. He kept his head down but with no snow, he was trying to grab a few  bites of dead grass. So I was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. Usually when I pull Skippy out, he's prancing and whinnying to Tommy and acting like a big shot. In most cases, he's usually pushing me around. But he walked along. Walking was my sign. He's always trotting when he's being led somewhere.

I decided I'd better get him a dose of banamine to see if that would help. Since I already had him in hand and was by the house, I decided to take him into the house. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. It'll probably be the only time any horse is actually IN the house. Yup, that's right. I let Skippy into the house. That's how much I thought he wasn't feeling well. I gave him a dose of banamine and out the door we went for some more walking.

He didn't poop while I was talking him but I didn't know how much walking we could/should do. I also needed to get ready for our church (Cowboy Way Church had their Christmas session a day early so that we could enjoy our Christmas Eve).

I checked on Skippy right before we left for church and again when we got home. He seemed ok but I still was worried. When I went out to do chores in the morning, Skippy dove into his food. I'm not sure what it was. Nothing had changed. The feed was still the same, the water was the same, and the weather was the same. So who knows. I'll be keeping a closer eye on Skippy now that he's felt "icky".