Balance Point Training had an emotional month in April. Our sweet Mustang, Kokopelli, was in the clinic for 6 days being treated for something which was hard to diagnose, maybe a virus, maybe an impaction colic and maybe an enterolith. Exploratory surgery seemed to be the only hope to find what was causing his pain. The staff at Comstock was very concerned and adamant about getting to the root of this mystery. When it finally happened, we received the call we were all waiting for and they said it was ULCERS (detected by testing for blood in his manure). Since this was our first experience with ulcers, we had so many questions, like the how, why and where?
Our horses are grazers and nibble netters, with access to forage all day and Kokopelli is not a symptomatically stressed horse. We had to shift our focus from understanding why this happened to making sure we treated him and controlled his pain. It’s been over a week since Pelli has shown any signs of pain. The medications are working! We are all sleeping better now that Kokopelli is feeling better. Since this episode we’ve been studying diet and digestion to keep these situations at bay! Dried cabbage and pumpkin seeds are now a staple in our feeding program. Personally, I want to thank Comstock for their diligence with our precious Kokopelli! And to everyone who came to visit him when he was hospitalized, all those love and prayers helped! Ride On!
