Tying Up

So it's the last week of classes, and the semester is almost done! I thought this article that I read in Equus recently would fit perfectly.

A lot of people probably haven't heard of the word, tying up, unless you work with horses a lot. It happens a lot with racehorses, for sure. Basically, in simple terms, it means severe muscle cramping. Some signs involve profuse sweating, halting gait, refusal to move, and elevated pulse. This article talked about what to do with your horse who is tying up, before the vet arrives.

Immediately when it happens, you first don't want to move him out of it, you want to keep him in that position because any movement out of it, could cause some severe damage. After that you want to immediately cool or warm his muscles, depending on the season. If it is winter, maybe grab a blanket or cooler, and some warm water, and if it is summer time, cool his muscles.

You also don't want to try and massage the affected areas. It might cause more damage. The less you do, the better. You also don't want to give the horse any injections because it would only intesifty the spasms. The next thing to do is note the color of the urine, if the horse urinates. When cells die they are excreted in the urine, and the resulting color is a reddish to a dark-coffee urine. Another important thing to note is whether the horse is "thumping." This is also known as "synchronous diaphragmatic flutter." It is the spasmodic contraction of the horse's diaphragm in time to his heartbeat. It is the result of a severe electrolyte imbalance.

I thought that this was a very informative article, and I learned some things from it.

So I got a buck.

Well once again I'm going to veer off my track because I'm so excited about the events of the best couple of days. Ever had something happen that made you just want to smile all day long? Well I finally shot my first deer, and it was a buck.

I went out with my boyfriend's family to their place in the mountains for opening day of rifle season for deer. I got a 7 pt buck which I shot at about 7 am monday morning. We were watching it for about 45 mins but since it was still dark out we couldn't tell if it was legal or not. Finally I saw all the points and I shot it at about 75 yards right in the neck and that baby went down. Let me just say that was the best feeling ever, well one of them.

I had a good thanksgiving and break...it was nice to take a break from school, and realize that the semester's almost done, SUCH a nice feeling..