Scary Lesson Learned

Hi y'all,

Hope this finds everyone and their critters well.  

I had a rather frightening experience the other day, and I thought it might be prudent to share what happened.  I know that if a baby is dehydrated and they drink too much, too fast, their brains will swell and they will die.

However, I didn't know that a two year old can go down just as fast.  We came home after a day in town, and Honey Bandit's water was tipped over. That in itself is quite a feat, but the puppy who normally causes all the h2o issues and splashes the water away was confined as she just had surgery.  So, I was wondering if HB could have done it.  We were gone for most of the day, and I checked him as soon as we got home.  He had no water, so of course I filled it up right away.  I noticed he was thirstier than usual, but I was actually focusing more on how or who had knocked it over.  I noticed that he had left his grain to drink, which if y'all know HB - food ALWAYS comes first.  I was really upset that this could have happened and was talking to Matt about "how could this happen when I am always filling the water troughs"?  Seems like Matt is always letting me know that I have flooded them over.  So, muttering to myself the whole way, I went back to check and my world crashed.  Honey Bandit was starting  to go down.  He was shaking and his muscles were convulsing and he kept whinnying to me.  Then he kind of ran and bucked and then came back and stood there shaking, all the while his hind end was sinking.   I was so scared and not sure what was happening.  His muscles were moving more violently and he kept whinnying to me.  I called Shirley in a total panic, all the while realizing that even though I know he may not live a long life, and have tried to always be prepared, the thought of losing him was beyond comprehensible.  

The reason I am telling you all this, is to give you life saving information in case it ever happens to you.  What happened was that Honey Bandit took on so much water so fast, that it washed all the necessary electrolytes out of him.  This can cause the brain to swell and malfunction.   Immediately after replenishing his electrolytes, - HIS MUSCLES STOPPED CONVULSING AND HE WAS ABSOLUTELY FINE!!!   Of course we watched him like a hawk for a long time after.  We were completely blessed that it was not a hot day, so he was not "heated" or "tired from working", or most likely we might have lost him.  Again, I know that it is imperative with the orphan foals we get, to not let them drink too much water or it will swell up their brain, but never would I have imagined that something like that could happen so fast with a rested, cool, 2 year old.  I PRAISE GOD FOR HELPING US WITH THIS.  ONCE AGAIN HE SAVED HB'S life, and once again he used my Angel, Shirley to give me the needed info.

It is always embarrassing when something happens that shouldn't, - like a horse tipping over his water tank.  You feel so guilty and horrible.  However, I needed to share this as it may save a life.  If that had happened after a ride, or serious exercise, it probably wouldn't have ended like it did.  It was very cool out, cool enough that we were in sweatshirts.  PTL!  So I learned another extremely valuable lesson.  I realize that most everyone knows you never over-water a "heated horse", or let it drink too much, too fast, but now we all know (and I am sure many of you did already know this) that even a cool horse can kill itself by drinking too much, too fast.  I always have electrolytes on hand for the orphans, and I thank God for that also.  I would not have had time to "go get some".  So hopefully this will help someone somewhere, and prevent another horse from "water overload" and the potassium/sodium? stripping that it causes.

Please remember that we are drawing the winning ticket for the Honey Bandit chair in December.  It would make a great Christmas gift for a youngster (or grown-up hee hee) who likes horses.  Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10.  You can go to our website at www.chillypepper.weebly.com or go to [email protected] (Paypal).  We so appreciate your help as now that we have found a "hay shelter", it is most definitely time to start filling it.  Honey Bandit is still a "special needs" when it comes to his feed.  Also don't forget we have RockY the Rock Star and Romeo and Chilly Pepper who are all up for adoption, but continuing to eat in the meantime - haha.   We are heading out soon to pick up the donated "hay shelter" and take Honey Bandit to visit "Wild Horse Robin" who was at the  fundraiser for the Wild Horse Preservation League in Virginia City yesterday. (We need more youngsters like Robin to step up and help preserve our National Heritage - our Wild Mustangs!)  It was a wonderful day and the folks were very generous, so the Wild Horse Protection League can continue to do their awesome work for the wild ones.  

We have heard news of slaughter trucks full of horses "being turned back" and American horses not being accepted for slaughter.  PTL!  However, if this continues, we still need to find homes for these horses, and there are thousands of them out there.  It is so wonderful when we find a place for a horse, but often they continue to need funds for food if they are taken in at a rescue. That is something that many people often don't realize or think about.

Soldier is settling in quite well.  He is still pretty sketchy in different situations.  It really seems like he was in some very uncomfortable situations.  I hope that his Soldier knows that we are taking care of his buddy and partner.  Maybe he is looking down from Heaven above and knows that his beloved "soldier/partner" is being cared for.  It is so easy to get caught up in all the little trials and tribulations that we are experiencing in life that we forget to think about what our service men and women go through every single moment.  God bless all of them and their families.


THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US!

Matt, Palomino & The Gang


Chilly Pepper - Miracle Mustang
Equine Rescue & More -
Rescue/Rehab Project LRTC

www.chillypepper.weebly.com
www.whmentors.org