first lesson back, baby!

Haha, just kidding. Actually, Charlie choked on his pre-travel meal and had to get tubed instead...

ladies and gentlemen, presenting the undisputed King of the Dings

I'm not even going to tell you what the "pre-travel meal" was, bc it honestly doesn't matter. Was normal food, and the same recipe he's been getting as a 'third meal' ever since that photo that made me cry a few weeks back during stall rest. 

you can kinda see him retching here, when the whole neck goes wrinkly. almost looked like a turtle trying to retract his neck back into his shell

It was just a fluke. Bad luck. Who knows. Maybe Charlie took one look at the trailer all ready to go for the lesson, and was like, "Eh, I'd rather not, thanks!"

And if you've never seen choke before... Well... It's one of those instinctively recognizable things: you know it when you see it. Tho, importantly, choke in horses is considerably less terrifying than with people -- bc generally, the horse can still breathe.  

the snot rocket situation was decidedly out of control

It's also one of those things that is **usually** not serious. Tho -- it can 100% kill a horse. It can also create a whole host of secondary issues like lung infections if they aspirate a bunch of junk.

"slime for me, and slime for thee!" -- charles, probably

In most cases, tho, the choke resolves on its own. Which it did for Charlie. His meal was processed feed -- a substance that eventually softens and breaks down into tiny little bits. Versus grass -- which does *not* dissolve and can be a whole 'nother ballgame. 

poor guy was basically birthing booger babies from his nose every few minutes for nearly two hours :(

Sadly for Charlie, however, he exceeded my vet's 'allowable time limit' for preferring to get involved with more intervention. Her recommendation was that if he cleared inside of one hour, nbd -- but if he went longer than that, she'd want to come out and see him. 

we relocated from his stall to this doorway so he could enjoy some sun and scenery while being on ultra-loose cross ties (it's actually one each from two two different sets intended for two horses to be face to face -- but works perfectly for this sort of purpose). also made clean-up easier -- just a little goop sweeping!

Based on my photo time stamps (another great reason to be an obsessive documentarian!) Charlie was choking for just under two hours. I could tell he cleared it bc.... omg, homeboy instantly passed TF out in the cross ties. Like, nose on the floor, wobbling on four legs, snoring. Poor thing was exhausted!

"i hate this tho" -- charles, definitely

The vet was already on the way at that point, and said she still wanted to see him when I called with the update.

acted like a starvation case once it cleared, searching for the tiniest scraps of hay in his stall while waiting for the vet

Her reasoning was that he'd basically "played the game long enough" that 1) we needed to be sure; and 2) tubing him would help flush out any lingering nasties that could cause problems.

time for tubing!

Charlie's also a special case because he had tie-back surgery as a racehorse. Meaning, his airway is open and he's prone to aspirating the wrong stuff. And, natch, a little trickier to tube. 

oh charles, you poor thing

Vet got it done, tho, and got him all nice and flushed out. She also hit him with some IM Excede anitbiotics (which I'll dose again later this week); plus some injectable banamine for pain relief. 

antibiotics protocol given the duration of the choke, and charlie's compromised respiratory system (bc tie back) making him vulnerable to aspiration and pneumonia 

A horse who spent a long time choking will likely have residual inflammation and soreness in their esophagus -- perversely making them susceptible to a second choke in the immediate aftermath. 

security guard michael

For this reason, we'll be a little extra careful with Charlie's feed for the next week -- extra soupy (compared to his normal wet); and fed in a pan on the floor. He makes a hell of a mess, but eh... it's safer so we'll do it. 

ugh, charles, the dressage lesson would have 100% been easier than all this drama

I'm relieved he's ok. But... Not gonna lie, I'm also pretty disappointed about missing the lesson. It feels like one of those universal "Fuck You" type things... Except, ya know, it's just a little set back, a little delay. This horse will teach me patience, if it's the last thing he does.