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Monday, March 11, 2013

A Scare

Given that some of you are Cuna fans on facebook, I figured you were owed a bit of an update.

What chestnut princesses are wearing these days
On Saturday morning, Cuna and I went for a trot in the hills with our eventing buddy and her fancy young thing. We've been conditioning with them this year, and Cuna always goes out hot and jiggs back to the trailer while the young thing calmly walks. He loves his hills almost as much as I do. :)

Saturday was different.

We started out normally, but then instead of racing the young thing, we followed him. When we reached the top of the hill, Cuna was huffing and puffing while the young thing bucked. As we continued, Cuna sweated profusely and lagged behind the leaping, pracing, dry young thing. He never quit or slowed down--he just wasn't racing to be at the front.

We walked down the steepest hill and started the trek back to the trailer.

Cuna was polite and slow, neck arched like a fancy western pleasure horse. He stopped to poo and didn't race to catch the young thing. He wasn't breathing hard, but his respiration seemed more rapid and shallow than normal. The lather on his neck didn't subside, even in the cool breeze.

Our eventing buddy is familiar with Cuna's proclivities and she was just as struck by his behavior as I was. He was not himself, not at all. He didn't want to step over the little gate to get out and he really didn't want to get on the trailer. I knew his hocks were getting back, but I had never, ever seen him like this.

I took him home and he almost fell out of the trailer. His steps were slow and short and his expression was dull. I almost cried as I curried him dry, picked his hooves, and looked for anything abnormal. His hocks seemed fine, but he didn't want to pick his back legs up at all and he shuffled back to his stall.

When I went home, I did cry. "I think I broke my horse," I told my husband. "I don't even know what I did."

Finally, I got a call from the barn. The possibilities were running through my head, none of them good. Cuna wasn't himself. There wasn't really a good way for this to play out.

The caller was one of Cuna's former owners and one of the most obsessive horse people I know. Nothing slips by her. We talked about Cuna's behavior and how he'd been in the hills. "I think he tied up," she said.

The pieces fell into place. It had to be a mild case, because he could still move. It explained the sweating, the lethargy, even the odd posture on the walk home. His back and hamstrings were rock hard and he was visibly uncomfortable.

I ran out to the barn and fed him all the carrots we had in the house.

The face of a horse who HATES handwalking
Since then, he's been on a steady regime of NSAIDS, electrolytes, hand walking, and warm blankets. Today, finally, he came out like a normal horse. His hips were swinging and his overreach was back. I think there's another day of handwalking in his future, but we're going to slowly start back to work after that.

We have no idea what caused it. He's never done it before. Here's hoping it never happens again. Now I have a set of data points to work with, so I know what it looks like if I see it again.

I know it sounds dramatic, but I thought I was going to lose him. I have never seen him like that before, and I am so happy to have him back.




28 comments:

  1. Poor Cuna. Will you run Bloodwork? Not an authority (quite the opposite) and don't really know what you should or shouldn't do (or telling you to) I know 2 horses tied up on the property I'm at and they did bloodwork for something.. (I'll stop talking now.. haha)

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    1. Yes yes, this. Exactly what she said! :) Including the "not an authority" bit and the "poor Cuna" bit. I know that when Macy tied up, there was a series of bloodwork that indicated the level of chemical in her blood and when it was safe to go back to work, since tying up once makes it more likely to happen again if you work too soon ... I think. Best thoughts to Cuna!!

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  2. One of my old eventers had a similar episode while conditioning years ago. It wasn't "textbook" symptoms but it was close enough that some serious muscle damage was done and it took a while to come back.

    It was super scary though! I'm so glad you found an explanation and it wasn't something worse!!

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  3. Glad Cuna is ok! I've seen a few horses tie up, one was from clearly being overworked, but the others weren't always. Sounds like your doing everything I know to do, I was always told electrolytes were key (but I have limited knowledge too). Its always scary when your animal is sick, they are a part of the family too

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  4. Ermahgawd, I would have been running for the thermometer because the first thing that popped into my mind was EHV-1. THANK GOODNESS it was "just" a mild episode of tying up. Poor dude, and poor you! I know you were sick with worry - I would have been too!

    Red did that once after a foxhunt - we gave him muscle relaxers and added some... uh... vitamin E? to his diet. It was a while ago, I'd have to go find my post on it. But I know there's a supplement that supposedly helps.

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  5. That's scary. I kind of teared up reading this, just imagining the distress you must have been in. So glad Cuna is ok. Here's hoping it was a one time thing!

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  6. Poor guy!! Very scary! Very bizarre and random, too. Will you run bloodwork? Glad he is ok!

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  7. So that's what the handwalking photo was about! I was wondering. Poor you! I've only seen a tie-up once, on the track, and it was terrible. Fingers crossed that it was a one-time thing.

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  8. I'm glad Mr. Cuna is okay. That must have been so scary for you. I am sorry that you were worried and I share your relief that he is going to be fine. I have no experience with tying up. Maybe you could share some info with us if you learn more.

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  9. I've never seen a horse tie-up first hand but I've heard it can be scary as hell. I'm glad you guys made it through and don't worry about sounding over-dramatic... I've lost it for less things. It sucks when you know something's wrong and you can't figure it out. Good luck! Hope to read more updates!

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  10. As a victim of a horse that ties up a few times a year, you can always ask me some questions. As far as the bloodwork goes, they have exertional rhabdomyolysis screens to see how the muscle function is doing. I was always told to give her a week off before picking things up slowly again. But at the track, they seem to do things differently and implement hand walking. I again was told to not move her, and to just turn her out if I could so she could move at her own pace. I started her on tye-by and the only time she ever ties up is when she is not on it. Just my two-cents!

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  11. Yikes! That is so scarey. I'm glad he seems to be doing better.

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  12. Very, very scary! Sending healing thoughts Cuna's way. Hopefully this is a one-time incident poor guy. :/

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  13. Poor Cuna man!! Fingers crossed there isnt a repeat of that. Mustve given such a scare.

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  14. Ugh, we had horses tie up at the track all the time. It's awful to watch. Poor Cuna!! I'm glad he's feeling better now!

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  15. I just had a scary incident too, and I know how worried you must have been. So glad to hear Cuna's on the mend!

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  16. Yep, that would have scared me too! Glad to hear he is ok.

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  17. I'm sorry to hear that but I'm glad he's ok! My biggest fear is that something will happen to my horse and I won't recognize the signs.

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  18. Happy to hear Cuna is back to normal! Our BO's little Arab cross has tied up several times - scary thing to see, let alone go thru. I know vet ran bloodwork and the mare is now on a special feed.

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  19. That is scary. My arab did it once after walking over a pole during warm up. After that I always used a quarter sheet until he was warmed up. Hope that was a one time thing for Cuna.

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  20. Poor Cuna! And I don't think that you're being overly dramatic at all- fear is natural when you love someone/something that much & you don't want them to be in any type of pain, no matter how mild. That said, I'm the person that's convinced her horse is on her last legs when she stocks up a bit... even though she's 100% sound and perky... so I'm probably not the best judge of crazy ;)

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  21. Poor baby! I can't tell you how scared and worried I'd be so I don't think you're being overly dramatic at all. Here's hoping it was a one time thing!

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  22. Feel better Cuna! We are rooting for ya! You have the best mom taking care of ya!

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  23. Yikes! I would have had a panic/heart attack or both lol. So scary. I'm glad he's okay. :)

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  24. How scary..glad it was quickly figured out and he's bouncing back. I hate hurting episodes.

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  25. Poor Cuna (and you)!! I'm glad to hear he's starting to get back to normal.. hopefully that's the last time you have that issue.

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  26. Poor Cuna! Glad he is on the mend. That is really scary. The worst feeling is being helpless and confused when your pony is suffering.

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