All Eyes on Julian

[Julian still seemed "normal" when checked at lunch. Collective sigh of relief...]

Got a call early this morning from the stable owner. Julian was lying down and refused to budge. If you've ever tried budging a 1600# horse, you can see where this would be a problem.

The main cause for not getting up is colic. Colic is the number one cause of death for horses. Needless to say, I was dressed and out the door within moments, headed for the barn with my vet's number in my back pocket.

Julian was still lying, though sternal, when I got there. He was in the large barn with the other horses, who were all milling about and finishing up the morning hay. Occasionally Jack would stop and sniff at Julian, who looked over at me when I went in.

Asking him to get up had no effect, so I leaned over his massive frame to listen for gut sounds which, luckily, I heard. No gut sounds in a colicking horse is a very bad thing. He turned his head to sniff my hair as I lay across him. When I stood up, he groaned slightly and rolled onto his side, laying his head on the floor. This was not encouraging. I went and got his halter, put it on him, and tried to get him up again. Jack was right under my feet the whole time. Julian did roll back sternal and place his front feet out in front of him as if to get up, but that's as far as we got.

As I stood in the tack room calling my vet's emergency service, Julian decided to get up on his own. He also pooped right then which is a very good thing to see when colic is involved. While I waited for the vet to return my call I walked him around the property, and he seemed to return to his normal self, even trying to pull me over to the front yard to graze. His temp was normal and, after talking to the vet, we decided he seemed okay for the moment. I will head over at lunch to check on him again, and I can say this morning has really dragged. This is definitely one of those times I wish I could see him from my window.