Heather was uncomfortable one morning and was lying down in the pasture. We gave her Banamine, moved her into a stall, and checked in with our veterinarian.
For a while, she seemed to be doing well. But later that day, she started showing signs of pain again.
We knew it was time to get her checked out, so we quickly loaded Heather into the trailer and headed to Weems & Stephens Equine Hospital. 
Dehydrated & Impacted
At the hospital, Heather’s bloodwork showed that she was dehydrated, and her physical exam revealed an impaction.
The veterinary team started her on IV fluids and monitored her closely overnight. Heather is a quiet girl, but she is also incredibly resilient and strong.
We were so thankful for our team at the Ranch who took care of her and got her to the hospital quickly, and for the veterinary team at Weems who watched over her around the clock.
A Few Days of Recovery
Heather stayed at the hospital for a few days while she received fluids and mineral oil to help resolve the impaction.
Thankfully, she began feeling much better and was finally ready to come home!
She spent one more night on stall rest as we carefully transitioned her back to small amounts of grain and hay before returning to her normal routine, which includes 24/7 access to hay while grazing.
Welcome Home, Heather!
Everyone was so happy to see Heather come through the gates at the Sanctuary again (especially Elsa and George!).
There is nothing quite like seeing one of our animals walk back onto the Ranch after a scary trip to the hospital.
Three Colic Cases Have Us Asking Questions
The past few days have been especially tough because three of our horses (Heather, Delilah, and Izzy) experienced colic and needed hospitalization.
When something like this happens, we immediately start asking ourselves: Are we doing everything we can? What should we change? How can we better protect our herd?
We work hard to make sure our horses have plenty of opportunities to stay hydrated. They have fresh, clean water available in different forms, including buckets in the stalls, water troughs throughout the barns and pastures, and misters hanging from one of the barns.
We even make them “soup”—their regular grain mixed with A LOT of water. They love it!
Always Learning, Always Improving
We checked in with our veterinarians to ask what else we could be doing to help prevent situations like these.
While it was reassuring to hear that the three horses had colicked for different reasons and that this appeared to be an unfortunate coincidence, it was still difficult to hear. And in cases like these, it can be impossible to know which came first—colic or dehydration.
That doesn’t mean we stop asking questions. Caring for our animals means constantly learning, evaluating, and looking for ways to do better.
So Thankful They’re Home
We are incredibly thankful that Heather and Delilah are back home with us. Izzy is also doing very well, and we’re hopeful she’ll be back at the Ranch soon, too!
A huge thank you to Dr. Chenail and the entire team at Weems for taking such amazing care of Heather.
And thank you to everyone who followed along, sent messages, and kept our sweet girl in your thoughts. Your support means so much on the scary days.
Most importantly, we’re just so happy to have our resilient senior girl home where she belongs.
