"I'm just going to the barn for a minute. I need to drop off her feed, give her a pat and maybe a cookie, then I'll be home."
Yup. That just invites trouble!
All seemed well at first. Truby was hanging out by the parking area, and whinnied loudly at me. "Hi, I'm Truby!!! I need COOKIES! And ATTENTION!!!"
Not Saturday, but her usual face when people come to visit
I laughed and went over to give her some pets. I noticed right away her eyes seemed swollen and teary. Great. But, it also appeared to be the first time the flies were out, so it was probably just rubbing.
I went into the barn to drop off the grain, and met Truby over at the gate. A better check of her face made me think she had just been rubbing her face trying to get rid of the flies. Although she did have some thicker goopies in her eye, it was mostly tearing. I took some pictures for reference (just in case it got worse) and went back to grab her fly mask.
She seemed increasingly miserable, and I thought about putting her in her stall. I also thought she'd immediately go out into her run and still be standing in the sun, so what would be the point? I started to leave, guilt got the better of me, and I went back to bring her in.
Doesn't want to open her poor eys
First hint that something more might be amiss came when it took FOREVER to walk her to her stall. Was it because I was leading her in just by her fly mask, and it was ouchy pulling on her face? Was she having trouble seeing because of the wickedly bright Arizona sun? Lazy?
When we made it to her stall I decided to get another set of eye pictures (without the blinding sun in the background) and Truby just stood there. She didn't go check out her hay, she didn't go to her treat toy. Just stood there. She was shaking her head a bit more than normal, even after I put her fly mask back on. I checked her vitals. All normal.
Ignore the unbuckled halter
I put her halter on, and lead her down the aisle. She listed hard to one side, and almost seemed drunk. And maybe lame? GREAT. I checked her feet and legs, nothing. Now I was worried. I went in search of the barn owner for a second opinion. We checked her over again and came to the conclusion that Something was Not Right. Sometimes it seemed like she "felt" with her feet before taking a step, like she was blind or not sure where the ground was. She bumped into the wall by accident and scared herself. Had she gotten into something toxic? Her gums were nice and pink, her vitals normal. We were talking about what could be wrong when I realized Truby was standing in front of a completely open stall door and making no attempt to break out, or even sight see. She wasn't nuzzling us, or poking around for cookies. She was just standing there.
The left eye was worse
That being completely NOT Truby, I called the vet. I've seen her more active after being sedated. After having her teeth done a few weeks ago, she got loose from her stall and went staggering around looking for snacks. (It was hilarious.) So to just stand, totally disinterested? Normal vitals be damned, something was wrong!
Of course it was already past closing on a Saturday afternoon, so I left a message for the vet on call and settled down to wait. 15 minutes later I realized my phone had lost service. Oops. I jumped in thy car and drove up to where I'd get service, missing a call from the vet (it rang, but my phone went 'just kidding!' and cut out) after a bit of phone tag, I talked to the vet, who told me something definitely seemed wrong, but she couldn't tell me what it was or if it was an emergency without seeing her. Fair enough. She had another emergency she was working with, but would call me back.
Glad I brought her out of the sun, even with her mask
I decided to go home and wait. Within an hour we met back at the barn. Truby was neighing for attention, which is always a good sign. By this time it was dusk, and quite a bit cooler. I repeated the information I had gathered that afternoon, and brought Truby out to be examined. She was walking much more normally, but still seemed footsore. The vet gave her a quick once over, and then had me walk her back and forth a bit before taking her for a spin. The good news was that she was crossing over and stepping in ways that ruled out neurological problems.
She examined her again, being extremely thorough. She grabbed the hoof testers and checked her feet. She checked her neck and spine. Checked for sand, colic, etc, etc, etc.
All the while, Truby was getting perkier. And bored. And fidgety. Which was such a relief! She was back to her normal self. That alone was a huge worry gone.
Finally, she checked her eyes again. She determined no abrasions or lacerations (yay!) and gave them a good rinse and some medicine in the worse eye. At first, Truby pulled away, but the rinse must have felt really good, because she started leaning into it. She got a shot of banamine, just for extra comfort, and the vet came to the conclusion that my horse is over dramatic.
By this time M and Cinco had come back from their outing, and M pointed out that Truby had been moving similarly to a time last year when she had overheated. (THAT was SCARY) So had Truby been irritated by the flies, started rubbing her eyes until they hurt, stood out in the hot afternoon sun, getting upset because her face-hurt-and-omg-flies and started to overheat? And I happened to catch her before her body temperature started to rise? Maybe? Possibly? Probably?
Post exam, and already feeling better
The excellent news is that whatever happened, Truby recovered quickly. She was feeling much better Sunday, and totally recovered Monday afternoon. The vet does think she *might* be starting a hoof abscess, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I've been keeping her fly mask on all the time, and everyone at the barn is keeping an extra close eye on her. She's been bright eyed, chipper, and chatty. I keep wondering if I overreacted. Possibly. But I'm happy with my decision to err on the side of caution and have the vet out. An eye injury could have gotten really bad by the time normal business hours rolled around, and if she had been poisoned or exposed to something toxic, she could have died. Overheating can be dangerous as well, and this is Arizona.
I'm beyond grateful for having a really amazing vet clinic with multiple large animal vets. The doctor that came out was new, and I hadn't met her before. She was amazing - good with Truby, and good with the worried owner (me). She gave her a quick examination to rule out obvious problems, then went back and did a careful and complete exam. She listened to my worries and praised me for the steps I had taken. She also agreed that it was good she had come out (I was her fourth emergency that day, poor doc) and was happy it was a better safe than sorry. A few days later I was talking to Truby's usual vet, the owner of the practice, and I made sure to tell her how pleased I was with her new doctor. Good horse professionals can be hard to find, and Truby and I are so lucky with having a whole team of incredible people to work with!
The morning after, ready for cookies
