Friday

Sally and I had made the decision to bring Cheyenne back to the vet clinic on Tuesday afternoon as she was showing some more signs of colic. We were going out of town for a day and didn't want her to have to be brought in by volunteers when we were gone. Cheyenne has sand in her intestine, which is causing her colic pains. Out here in the West, a horse can ingest a fatal amount of sand in as little as one month. This is one of the reasons that we free feed grass hay, which keeps things moving through, and try to keep as many horses out in a pasture type situation as we can. This keeps them eating and moving more naturally than if they are living in small corrals. Cheyenne has been living in the Mare Motel for the last few months as she is being worked and ridden a few times a week as she looks for her new home. Cheyenne was brought into the clinic at the first sign of colic and was put onto fluids to keep her well hydrated to get the sand moving. The worst thing that can happen with a sand colic is to let the horse dehydrate, this causes the sand to harden into almost concrete in the intestine which can be fatal. Cheyenne is doing much better, and is now passing sand out in her manure now and will continue to be treated aggressively with Psylium, which helps to push sand through. Cheyenne will return to Shiloh on Monday morning.

Here are some pictures from today:


Slew, the crippled goat, shows us what he thinks of his pain medicine!

Sy, in Little Vacation Village, looking cute.

Tattoo and Will out in the Cuckoo's Nest Pasture. We have turned all of the "teenagers", Will, Crusoe, and Tattoo, out with the herd so they can learn "horse things" from their older herdmates. All three of these young geldings are friendly and love attention from people, but they need to also learn how to behave around other horses. We will keep them out in the pasture, where they have plenty of room to play and run, and bring them in a few times a week for attention in one of our round pens. They are all looking for new homes and the right person will come along eventually...

Will wanders with some of his new friends...

While Tattoo and Crusoe hang out by a Mesquite Tree... It's very important emotionally (and physically) for young horses to stay stimulated and they should be given plenty of room to explore and get their energy out as they interact with other horses.

Stetson in Assisted Living, he is looking great.

What will become the Shiloh Store and the Bunkhouse...

Sally brings Jimmy Dean out for a walk. Yes, I said a walk. He is so tiny that we just can't let him wander yet, he will get hurt. He will live in the barn stall and be allowed out when we are there to keep an eye on him. He loves to walk on a leash...

Shiloh's very own St. Francis, Sally, feeds Jimmy Dean some cabbage while all the dogs watch!

Sally, the Pig Wrangler, has some trouble getting Jimmy Dean back into his stall! Listen to him!

Sharil and Sally try to soothe him, but it doesn't help! He sounds like they are murdering him!