UR20Z
Dumpster Diver
Something that's been tickling in the back of my head for years as a sort of "free-floating idea" that I've never really put any conscious effort into thinking about...
This is aimed at "horsey folk" primarily - For those "not horsey", it's not likely to make a whole lot of sense.
I've noticed, not quite consciously, in my 50-odd years of working with them, that when a "normal", "healthy", "reasonably happy" horse, donkey, mule, or zebra goes down for a roll, or a nap, or even after tripping and falling, when they get up again, it's rare for more than a few seconds to pass before they "shake the dust off" and go about their business. It might be a full-body "horsequake" level shake, or it might just be a "shake the head/neck until the ears flap", but it seems there's nearly always some level of "shaking off" that they do after standing up from being down for whatever reason.
Has anyone else noticed the same, or am I imagining things?
Further, I've SEEMINGLY noticed that an equine that doesn't "shake off" after being down USUALLY has some sort of issue - As a ferinstance, recently, a mule (He's fine now - desperately needed some teeth-work, but no "sob/horror story) here)) that I've long know to be "a couple of days younger than dirt" here on the place developed a classic case of choke - At turn-in time, he came in with his muzzle wet - I didn't think much about it as he went by - it just looked like he'd just lifted his head from drinking - went to his stall as usual, stuck his head in his grain bucket, and came up chewing, just like normal, then green glop - unmistakably chewed alfalfa pellets and grain - started rolling out his nostrils - ABSOLUTELY TEXTBOOK CLASSIC symptoms of choke - Vet called for emergency farm-call,mule sedated, tubed, pumped full of fluids (strong suspicion that he actually "got in trouble" the previous evening when he came in, and had been dealing with it most or all of the day without anyone noticing anything obviously out of line. Except that I *DID* notice that when he went down for his usual afternoon nap in the sun, when he got up, he *DID NOT* "shake off" after getting back on his feet - Not even a head-shake - Nothing at all - Just got up and started walking toward the other pasture where the sunshine was hitting better, like he usually does.
I've noticed similar in other critters that had problems over the years - A mare coliced, but not badly enough to be able to say for sure "Yeah, something's wrong" until the third day (I "rang the alarm" (and got the typical "There's nothing obviousy wrong with her") on the second day when I entered her stall to clean and found only a small wet spot, where she was normally an absolute "stall-pig", with it being normal to find shit spread from here to there and back again, stomped into any leftover hay, etc. Later that day, I saw her go down for a roll while she was turned out. When she stood up, no shake. But also no graze, and very mild signs that she might be having a colic happeneing. Tried raising the alarm again, but again, got blown off as not having a clue. Kept a special eye on her, and saw that several times, she went down and rolled, and got up with no shake afterwards. Next morning at turnout, she was obviously in a bad way (again, no sob/horror - she ended up pulling out of it) and FINALLY the boss called the vet. Long story short, she was right on the edge of serious problems but pulled through after treatment.
In another case, a roughly 6 week old foal got his legs tangled while running, and faceplanted, got up, and took off like a bat out of hell - WITH NO SHAKE-OFF. The next day, he seemed a bit "off", but nothing I could put a finger on - Not dehydrated, no fever, heart and breathing rates within the range of normal for a youngster, basically everything "clinical" looked fine, so far as I could tell. But after he got up from his nap, no shake-off. Long (sad) story short, I found him dead with mama standing over him the next morning when I came out to feed. A VERY informal (As in, vet slit his belly open and did a quick examination of his his innards before the corpse was pushed into the hole) "necropsy" showed he had a literal knot tied on a bight of his small intestine - Absolutely guaranteed fatal without surgery. Vet said surgical intervention *MIGHT* have had a chance to save him, but didn't really think so.
I could go on listing similar cases, but I think that's enough to give you the drift of what I'm thinking...
I've seen (though rarely actually NOTICED, if you grasp the diffrence) this sort of thing with other equines through the years - One will go down for a roll, and when it gets up, won't shake off as usual - Often not even a head shake, let alone the full-strength, whole-body "horsequake" that's typical. That horse USUALY (not always, but it seems, based on recollections spread across 50+ years, that it's true probably 8 times out of 10) starts showing signs of *SOME* kind of trouble within a week, often in 1-3 days after I notice the lack of a shake-off after being down.
Again, is this just my imagination, or has anyone else observed this "early warning" sign?
This is aimed at "horsey folk" primarily - For those "not horsey", it's not likely to make a whole lot of sense.
I've noticed, not quite consciously, in my 50-odd years of working with them, that when a "normal", "healthy", "reasonably happy" horse, donkey, mule, or zebra goes down for a roll, or a nap, or even after tripping and falling, when they get up again, it's rare for more than a few seconds to pass before they "shake the dust off" and go about their business. It might be a full-body "horsequake" level shake, or it might just be a "shake the head/neck until the ears flap", but it seems there's nearly always some level of "shaking off" that they do after standing up from being down for whatever reason.
Has anyone else noticed the same, or am I imagining things?
Further, I've SEEMINGLY noticed that an equine that doesn't "shake off" after being down USUALLY has some sort of issue - As a ferinstance, recently, a mule (He's fine now - desperately needed some teeth-work, but no "sob/horror story) here)) that I've long know to be "a couple of days younger than dirt" here on the place developed a classic case of choke - At turn-in time, he came in with his muzzle wet - I didn't think much about it as he went by - it just looked like he'd just lifted his head from drinking - went to his stall as usual, stuck his head in his grain bucket, and came up chewing, just like normal, then green glop - unmistakably chewed alfalfa pellets and grain - started rolling out his nostrils - ABSOLUTELY TEXTBOOK CLASSIC symptoms of choke - Vet called for emergency farm-call,mule sedated, tubed, pumped full of fluids (strong suspicion that he actually "got in trouble" the previous evening when he came in, and had been dealing with it most or all of the day without anyone noticing anything obviously out of line. Except that I *DID* notice that when he went down for his usual afternoon nap in the sun, when he got up, he *DID NOT* "shake off" after getting back on his feet - Not even a head-shake - Nothing at all - Just got up and started walking toward the other pasture where the sunshine was hitting better, like he usually does.
I've noticed similar in other critters that had problems over the years - A mare coliced, but not badly enough to be able to say for sure "Yeah, something's wrong" until the third day (I "rang the alarm" (and got the typical "There's nothing obviousy wrong with her") on the second day when I entered her stall to clean and found only a small wet spot, where she was normally an absolute "stall-pig", with it being normal to find shit spread from here to there and back again, stomped into any leftover hay, etc. Later that day, I saw her go down for a roll while she was turned out. When she stood up, no shake. But also no graze, and very mild signs that she might be having a colic happeneing. Tried raising the alarm again, but again, got blown off as not having a clue. Kept a special eye on her, and saw that several times, she went down and rolled, and got up with no shake afterwards. Next morning at turnout, she was obviously in a bad way (again, no sob/horror - she ended up pulling out of it) and FINALLY the boss called the vet. Long story short, she was right on the edge of serious problems but pulled through after treatment.
In another case, a roughly 6 week old foal got his legs tangled while running, and faceplanted, got up, and took off like a bat out of hell - WITH NO SHAKE-OFF. The next day, he seemed a bit "off", but nothing I could put a finger on - Not dehydrated, no fever, heart and breathing rates within the range of normal for a youngster, basically everything "clinical" looked fine, so far as I could tell. But after he got up from his nap, no shake-off. Long (sad) story short, I found him dead with mama standing over him the next morning when I came out to feed. A VERY informal (As in, vet slit his belly open and did a quick examination of his his innards before the corpse was pushed into the hole) "necropsy" showed he had a literal knot tied on a bight of his small intestine - Absolutely guaranteed fatal without surgery. Vet said surgical intervention *MIGHT* have had a chance to save him, but didn't really think so.
I could go on listing similar cases, but I think that's enough to give you the drift of what I'm thinking...
I've seen (though rarely actually NOTICED, if you grasp the diffrence) this sort of thing with other equines through the years - One will go down for a roll, and when it gets up, won't shake off as usual - Often not even a head shake, let alone the full-strength, whole-body "horsequake" that's typical. That horse USUALY (not always, but it seems, based on recollections spread across 50+ years, that it's true probably 8 times out of 10) starts showing signs of *SOME* kind of trouble within a week, often in 1-3 days after I notice the lack of a shake-off after being down.
Again, is this just my imagination, or has anyone else observed this "early warning" sign?
