Bailey keeping me on my toes!

Last Monday the boys and I brought Bailey (my 31 year old mare) out in the yard to let her eat in the yard and have some Equine Senior pellets while Cecilia was napping in the house.  It had been a couple days and we thought she would enjoy it and she did for about 5 minutes until she choked.  Choke in horses is when food gets stuck in their esophagus and some of it usually leaks out of the nose.  They can still breath.  It took me a few minutes to realize she was choking because I had chased Joel down the driveway and had to shut the gates so Joel wouldn't escape.  He did try climbing them, but that wasn't a huge surprise! 

When I came back to the barn Bailey she was stumbling around and stretching her neck out.  Vince told me she was making funny noises while she was eating.  I made the mistake of saying under my breath "Oh great she is trying to die on me!"  The next hour or so was spent running in the house to check on Cecilia and look for supplies while Vince followed me, running outside to check on Joel in the baby swing on the swing set, running over to wear Bailey was to make sure she was ok and repeating that over several times.  Finally I had all my supplies together and started making phone calls to see if I could get someone to come help me.  Brad was in the field and couldn't hear his phone.  I started making dinner while trying to figure things out and about the time Sarah and the kids were ready to come down Brad called me and said he was on his way home.  My other sister in law, Michelle, and a friend, Billie, showed up before Brad and Michelle took care of the kids while Billie and I started working on Bailey.

In order to fix the problem I had to sedate Bailey and pass a tube up her nose and down into her esophagus.  It had been about 3 years since I had tubed a horse.  I said a little prayer and went for it.  It went much better than I thought it would.  After a while of flushing water in and out of the tube we were able to clear Bailey's esophagus and fix the choke.

I have had Bailey since I was 13.  I have always said that when she dies nobody is going to want to talk to me for a week.  I was fine getting things ready and working on her and telling Vince about what was going on, but the second I had to explain it to someone on the phone I was very emotional.  Like everyone I want my animals to live forever but I know that isn't an option.  At this point every year we have with her around is a blessing!