The Unfortunate Part of Horse Ownership

I think that the only unfortunate thing that comes along with owning a horse is when that horse who you've spent hours/days/years with, gets sick. This summer marks 9 years since I bought Chelsea and each year went by pretty much without any hitch. *knock on wood* All until this past New Years when for whatever reason, she managed to gorge herself when eating her grain causing her to choke. Choke in horses is actually a very serious deal - mostly because horses are unable to actuall throw up like humans. That first incident was one of the most horrible ordeals that I ever had to go through; so horrible that I am not going to re-tell the story as I just don't want to think about it. I thought I was going to lose my best friend that day. Thankfully I have an amazing vet and he managed to clear the blockage after almost 2 hours of trying.

Well we thought we were all in the clear after that incident on December 30. The owners of the farm where I board Chelsea have been taken special care as to what she is given to eat to ensure we did not have any future episodes. Sadly, she gorged herself again this past Thursday. Thankfully it was not as bad as the previous episode and the owner of the farm was able to help her through it without the help of the vet. Despite a swollen throat, Chelsea seems to be ok now. Unfortunately now I've been trying so hard to figure out how and why this is happening. It's so hard when it comes to animals and you can't get them to tell you what's going on. I've been rattling my brains trying to figure out how to prevent future episodes in order to ensure that my best friend gets the long life she deserves. I guess for now, she will just get the new nick name "Hoover"...