I'm fortunate in that I don't remember a lot of the time when Archie was anhydrotic.  (Score one for head injuries!)  I go back to this a lot, but every other ailment the Kid has had is minor in comparison.

So I've forgotten how emotionally draining going through something like this is.

And how can you be physically strong when you're emotionally empty?  I said I took a nap Wednesday and naps aren't uncommon for me.  I love to sleep.  However, I'm super freaking particular about the conditions in which I fall asleep.  Wednesday?  Threw all that shit out the window and slept like the dead in conditions I would have never tolerated otherwise.  (Blankets, temperature, clothing, dogs, light and sound all have to be just right.)

While watching Archie eat Wednesday, I made plans for dinner with the hubs.  It's fortunate that we settled everything in advance because my iPhone shut off at 29% battery life.  Ate, got home at about nine, in bed by about 10:30.  Up at 5:30 and headed towards the barn at 6.

It was still dark when I got there, so I pulled my little car up to Archie's stall.  Grabbed his food from the feed room to the chorus of barking dogs, added hot water and started writing checks for the stall usage and banamine from the snafu while it absorbed and cooled.

I checked the stall floor for piles and found two new ones.  I was a bit more disappointed when I checked his water buckets, as they didn't appear to have been touched.

Orange Gatorade mixed with Lemon-Lime Gatorade and watered down appears to be the winner.

He dove into his food at about the time that BM came to feed everyone else.  I stood in his stall and watched him eat.  Then the other horses started getting turned out.  And Archie stopped eating.  I texted the vet because he never finished his breakfast and the whole lack-of-drinking concerned me.  The vet advised turning him out, in hopes that he would be more likely to drink from his regular water trough.


So.. I did.  I walked him to the water trough and he did take a little sip.  And then started munching grass, saying hello to his buddies, munching more grass, rolling and trotting off to say hello to the ladies.

Meanwhile, Mom has a complete brainfart at work and gets to wear her bright blue Pumas with her dress slacks all day.

Back to the barn after work!

I made a few stops on my way and feel like this is a good place to offer some clarification.  I didn't take anything personally, of course, but I don't want anyone to ever think that I don't do as much preventative care as I possibly can.  Bubble wrapping in Georgia just isn't feasible.

Not once during his visit did my vet mention electrolytes, probiotics or salt.

And I think my vet is the shit.

Archie is pasture boarded in the deep south.  Spring has sprung.  Grass is growing.  This is something I didn't know, but when discussing the inner workings of my horse's fecal matter, the vet educated me.  New grass should have sufficient water content to carry it through the system.  I shouldn't need to do anything additional.

But will I?

Of course.  Because I'm fucking human and it makes me feel better.

So on my way to the barn last night, I picked up another half gallon of Gatorade and some coarse sea salt.  He'll get a tablespoon twice a day until his electrolytes come in.  I normally start his electrolytes at the same time in the year when I increase his OneAC and start giving him beer - when the weather regularly hits above 90º.  And Dude has been on probiotics for years.  He gets the nervous poops.

Nom nom nom.

I encountered the BM on my way to the pasture.  She didn't have a lot of happy news, saying that he hadn't appeared to have done much other than graze.  Here, we think again about new grass.

So I went over all the vitals again, checking his gut sounds on both sides, his respiration, CRT and pulse - all WNL.  Pony's whole disposition appeared to have brightened considerably from the day prior.

I added the tablespoon of salt and a splash of Gatorade and soaked his dinner again.  And he ate it all.  :)

Then I turned him back out, watched him take a long drink from the water trough (that's my boy!), and long pee.  So far, no news from the BM, which is good news.  I'll go visit him again tonight.