Betsy said this morning that 'doing horses' professionally is like playing soccer with your heart. It is so true. It gets ripped out of your chest and then kicked around for a while. The highs are very high, but the lows are particularly low.
This year Redbud Farm has been unlucky. We have had fat legs, ulcers, bad feet, swollen eyes, tendon injuries, punctured joint capsules, unexplained neurological conditions, and finally colic.
Yesterday afternoon Elliot had a very painful, rapid onset colic which brought us into the Mississippi State University vet school. It became clear fairly quickly that we were not going to be able to treat it medically, and so he was sent to surgery. He was under anesthesia for nearly three and a half hours during which time the team of vets and students had to untangle a huge knot involving his colon, small intestine, and cecum. He recovered well from the anesthesia and is resting for the next few days in the school. His prognosis is good ('knock-on-wood'). The gut did not have to be re-sectioned, and it looked healthy and had good motility throughout the surgery. This morning, he was alert and happy to go for a walk outside to munch some grass.
Although it may sound weird, we feel very, very lucky today. We are lucky that we live so close to the vet school. We are lucky we were at the farm when the colic started so we caught it very quickly. We are lucky that Dr. Cate Mochal and her team were so efficient and persistent during the surgery. And most of all we are lucky to have such wonderful friends, family, and clients in our life. Everyone has been very supportive and kind to us. We want to thank you all for the good wished and kind words.
And though we enjoy a good soccer match, we are very eager for the off season!
