Scout

I guess I should start at the beginning. Scout is my 3 year old mare. We got her when she was about 6 months old I think. She was actually quite the runt, and didn't think she'd amount to much.


During the first year she was really just a big dog that wanted to be loved and groomed. When I'd be at home for the weekend and I'd be out in the barn, she would just follow me around.

As she grew, I was able to play a part in some training. She needed to learn how to lead and trailer. Was not an easy task, but we did it. She learned.

Sent her to Wyoming for a winter, and when she got back she was a totally different horse. She was HUGE! Definitely not the runt that I remembered. Not to mention, her color had changed. She was more roan than the buckskin color. Still as beautiful as ever. Back home she got some more training, well I guess you could say that is when she got broke. She continued to learn.

Last summer she went on her first cattle drive. She certainly didn't have any problems with cows. She did fantastic, especially for a 2 year old.

January came, and that's when colic started to become an issue. Colic can be brought on by a bunch of things. I took many classes while I was at SUU where we learned about colic. So here is a short lesson about it. Basically colic is when a horse has abdominal pain (aka a stomach ache). However, the thing about a horse is that it is physically impossible for them to vomit. So a horse will do whatever it can to get rid of the pain by either rolling, laying down, restlessness, etc. Once you realize your horse has colic, generally you keep them up and moving because you want to get what is going on in the digestive system to work itself out. Often pain killers are given, generally bantamine. If colic isn't dealt with right away, it can kill the horse. (If you want more details http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/info/colic.html is a good source of information.) So being aware of what colic does, in January we did all the normal stuff to get the problem resolved. She pulled out of it, after being given tranquilizers (she was pretty funny on them) and given bantamine.

Well Scout spent the last month up in the Logan, Utah area getting a tune up job. On Monday night she started showing a few signs of colic, and the trainer dealt with it. We got her back yesterday (Wednesday) and were informed she had been acting that way. Mom stopped by the vet office on the way out of town and had her checked and everything sounded good. Well this morning I went out to feed everyone, and found Scout laying down. I walked over to her, she wouldn't get up. Of course not a good sign. So I went to get the halter to get her up and moving. By the time I got back she was up and eating. Listened to what was going on in her stomach, and was a little uneasy about it so I decided to check on her in a few hours. Well a few hours later, we noticed that she was down again. Mom went out and decided we would take her to the vet. Kept her walking and got her in the trailer, she was not doing well.

The vet listened to her, did a blood test, and checked to see if there was sand in her manure. Had his hand in and said he could feel her small intestine bunched up and looped around, which it's not suppose to do. A twist or impaction in the small intestine is not easy to fix, unlike in the large intestine. Here is what the digestive tract of a horse is like:

He checked to see what kind of pressure she had in her stomach. To do that, he ran a tube up her nose which then when down into her stomach. She was really good, considering. After getting an idea where we were at mom and I had to make a decision. We could do surgery, but horses that have been in a similar situation haven't lived more than 2 more years and the surgery is $6,000. As much as we love her, she is not worth that much. We could also take her home and watch her, but would end up back in a day or 2. Of course we had one more option, to put her down. We put her in a stall there at the vet's to see what she'd do. wasn't long before she was laying down again. You could hear the pain in her breathing, and see it in her eyes. She was in so much pain. I knew right away that we had to let her go. She was suffering. So mom and I talked, I explained things to her and told her that I thought the best thing would be to let her go. That it would be better overall. So... we told Scott (the vet) what we decided. Said our goodbyes. And that was it.

Scout and I certainly bonded, and saying goodbye to her is one of the hardest things I've had to do. But I know without a doubt that was what needed to be done. She wasn't going to pull out of this on her own, and surgery didn't seem to be the best option. So now to push on.

Goodbye my baby girl. I'll miss you dearly.