Just a Little Farther...

(I started writing this post from Deuce's point of view, but given how life worked out, I'm going to tell his story.)

We plugged away at the Tevis ride.  Most of our miles were at home
which has been nice - we've watched the seasons change here at the farm, the dragonflies are gone, some of the songbirds, too.  The spiders are spinning webs all over, and sometimes when we ride near the woods we end up coated in sticky web.  We watched the goldenrod bloom and stopped to look for my honey bees.  We started to enjoy the crunch of leaves under Deuce's feet, and the more golden sunlight in the afternoons.

Deuce shed out his summer coat, started looking like black velvet.  The miles helped him trim down and I was starting to look for smaller sizes in his clothes.

We switched from early morning rides to mid day.   With hunting season we tried to stay a bit closer to the pasture fence, less riding in the woods, especially mornings and evenings.

We met a friend and her horse for a ride at a state park.

We were on track to finish our Tevis ride by the original date:  November 9.  Every ride I'd ask him to go just a bit farther, and he'd do it.  We had this.

Silly me.

The morning of November 4th, hubby looked out the kitchen window and said that's weird, Deuce is flat out in the pasture.  It's not unusual for him to nap in the morning, but it was odd for him to be flat out.  So we just kept an eye out.   A bit later I was outside, and saw Deuce was again flat out in a different spot.  Something was wrong.   I grabbed his halter and walked out to check on him.  He didn't want to get up.  He's the type of horse who doesn't greet you laying down - he always jumps up and is ready to go.   I had to strongly encourage him.  When I walked him to the barn, hubby thought Deuce looked like he was walking oddly.   We took vitals, Deuce seemed ok except he had no sounds coming from his stomach at all (which is not normal or a good sign for a horse) and was looking pretty droopy.   Emergency call to the vet.   While we waited, I took Deuce for short walks, gave him some medication according to vet instructions, tried to encourage him to drink, and if he was quiet, let him lay down in his stall.   Deuce never lays down in his stall.   When he'd lay down, every so often he'd kick at his belly.   He had colic.

Horse are fun because they cannot vomit.  Whatever they eat has to either be pumped out the front or passed out the back.   A stomach ache can be very serious.  Another fun thing about horses is they are designed stupid.  Their organs pretty much hang from their backs, there's nothing that keeps them in place from the sides or bottom.   Remember that, it's gonna be important.

Vet came, found that Deuce's large intestine had become displaced.   Pumped out his stomach through a nasogastric tube, and what came out looked and smelled normal.  Added some fluids back in.   Suggested we give him a drug and then jog Deuce for 10 minutes to see if we could essentially shake his intestine back into place.   No luck.  Another quick exam showed that Deuce's gums were quickly getting white - this was a BAD sign.   Our vet said we could try treating medically at home, but recommended we take him to the vet school if he was going to have a good chance to survive.  I'm glad hubby stayed in the barn to hear all of this, because at this point my brain was mushy with the very idea that my buddy was seriously ill.   We already had the trailer hooked up  - we had tried loading Deuce a few times because the trailer usually works as a horse laxative, but no luck.  Hubby said ok, let's go, please call them and let them know we are on the way.

Once we got to the vet school, they had a team waiting in the parking lot for us.  One tech took Deuce into the building while the vet and another tech got all the info they could from us, said they would take a look at Deuce, ultrasound his stomach, and report back.  Because of Covid restrictions, we couldn't go into the building with him.  So we waited.   Yes, his large intestine was displaced.  It was agreed they would try to support him with medication, fluid, etc and see if it would move back into place on its own.   There's a "shelf" near the spleen and kidney and they feared his large intestine was stuck in that space.   So we left Deuce at the vet school, and headed home for a night of worry.

He did not improve overnight.  By the next morning the staff couldn't get him comfortable.  It was decision time.  Surgery or euthanasia.   A friend worked at the vet school and stopped to see Deuce,  said he still had some fire in his eyes, but was in pain.  Knowing Deuce is a fighter and hadn't given up yet, we agreed to surgery.   The vet offered to let me come see him for myself before the decision, but that would have delayed things for a few hours, and we felt that time was important.   I knew there was a chance that they would call and say his intestines were necrotic, and I would have to say "please don't wake him up".   

But it didn't happen that way.   The vet called during surgery, said it was going as well as it could, that his large intestine had twisted 360 degrees so our quick decision on surgery was the right one.  No damage to his intestines, they just needed pushed back into proper place.   No other surprises.  And no, they would not add liposuction while they were in there (really, I did ask, because I'm tired of fighting Deuce's flub).  

Still groggy from surgery, but looking alert!

A few hours later they called to say Deuce woke up "intelligently", which is a really good thing.   No flailing around damaging himself further.   He was recovering, and they sent me a photo of him back in his stall.   So, the big worry is out of the way, right?   All went well, he's recovering well, he started the refeeding program like a champ, bright eyed and sassy.    Again, what was I thinking?

The first bites of hay!

Three days later, the vet sent me a video of Deuce being so excited about being offered a carrot that he missed and shoved it up his nostril.   We talked about him coming home.   Everything was fine.  And 2 hours later the vet called again, Deuce was colicking.   They would treat him with fluids, walking and meds, see if they could get him comfortable.   But we should talk about if a second surgery would be something we'd consider.  We raced through evening chores and got ready to head to the vet school if we got the call.   When the vet did call, her first words were "this is not a bad phone call, he's doing better".  They think Deuce simply didn't drink enough water, got a small impaction and was very uncomfortable.   But it set him back a few days.   In all total, he was at the vet school for 8 days.

We finally got to bring him home.   The recovery time for colic surgery is 3 months:  a month of stall rest, a month where he can go out in a very small pen by himself (no running or playing) and then a month where he goes back in the pasture and does his thing.  Then he can start getting legged up for work again.  It's a long road.   He hates being stalled.  He hates being heavily managed.   We keep a buddy in the barn with him all the time, but  he's just  tired of it all.   We clean his stall 4 times a day (he's such a slob!) and fill water buckets, hay nets, etc, so we are just tired.

But, back to our Tevis ride, because if you've ever met Deuce, you know he's not a quitter.

Three times a day I take Deuce out to graze in the yard a little, and we go for a short walk.  It keeps the swelling down in his legs and belly, it helps keep his GI tract moving along, and lets him stretch his legs, have some routine, feel like he's doing something.   Out of curiosity, I paced off the part of the yard where we walk laps.  330 feet.  There's 5280 feet in a mile.  That means that 16 laps = 1 mile, and if we did 160 laps of the yard, we'd do 10 miles.   I double checked the distance with my watch.   I had hubby check again.   16 laps to a mile.

Walking, walking, walking...

Deuce needed 10 miles to finish his Tevis ride.  And because of wild fires and other weather issues, the ride organizers had extended the deadline to December 31.   He could actually finish.

So we walked.  One quarter mile at a time.  Morning, dinner, bedtime.  Some days we walked a little more, some a little less.   But we kept a tally.   And early Sunday morning, November 29th,  Deuce crossed the virtual finish line.

First some carbs, then we walk

The tally of his laps around the yard

The only horse in history to have colic surgery in the middle of his Tevis ride, and still finish.  Ok, so this one was virtual and at our own pace, not on the actual trail for 24 hours, but still...if there was ever a horse to hold that unique title, it would be the Deuce.

Does he know what he managed to accomplish?   Nope.  He just knows we go for walks a few times a day.  He gets stronger as the days go on, and I try to remember his incision knits a bit more each day.  Keeping the blood flowing helps I'm sure.   The walks keep us both sane.   We talk.   We watch the sun rise.   We look at the stars at night.  Sometimes we can hear the great horned owls talking in the woods.  Does he know how much we love him?   Probably.   He's just really annoyed with us right now.

People say Deuce is lucky to have an owner like me.   I say I'm the lucky one - the horse has carried me safely for 10 years.  We've had a ton of fun together.   He's never said "no", no matter how challenging the task.   Every time I've asked "can you do a bit more, go a bit farther?" his answer has always been "yes".  

Owning a horse like him is a gift.   I hope to keep enjoying that gift for years to come.

And....I own a Tevis finisher!

"8 Days in NCSU Vet Hospital

1 Colic Surgery

And Yet:

100 Miles Completed!

To finish is to win!"