(This is not an ad.  I do not receive money or product or any kind of compensation to write stories like this.)

THE EMERGENCY

I told my friend, Leslie, that I would drop by her house to pick up a copy of her new book!

I arrived around 6pm.

Leslie is an artist so I always love to see what she’s done to her ranch after I haven’t been there in a while… As expected, the place looked darling with several lovely new appointments.

When I heard Leslie’s voice, I turned to greet her.

She was dripping in perspiration.

“SAM IS DOWN!  I JUST GOT HIM UP.  SOMETHING IS WRONG!”

SAM IS HER 18 HAND DRAFT HORSE

Leslie brought me over to Sam who was off in a corner, pawing the ground.  He wanted to go back down.

Leslie offered that he had just pooped and had gut sounds, but he wouldn’t eat or drink.  She had taken his temp and hosed him down, given him Banamine, but he was not right…

To me, he looked like a horse who was in colic.

She told me that she was waiting for the vet to call back.  But, it was after 6pm and Leslie lived way out in the country.  Nothing was going to happen fast.

“I can go back home and get my ‘Stops Colic’…”, I said to my desperate friend.

She took another look at her precious Sam who was going down again…

“OK – Go!” was her response.

So, I did.

RACED HOME…

I pushed my Jeep as fast as it could go through the back country hills and blind curves.  I knew the fear and panic that sets in when my horse has had colic.  I didn’t want Leslie to suffer that.

It took me 30 minutes to arrive home.

I threw hay at my horses, told MT that she would have to take care of herself for a while, I grabbed the Say Whoa to Colic remedy I have in my cupboard and hopped back into my Jeep.

(I tell myself to always have two bottles at any time so that I could always use one and have another … but I hadn’t replaced the last remedy I used so I only had one.  I told the horsegods to not let anyone get sick before I could replace it.)

I raced back.

ARRIVAL

When I arrived back at Leslie’s, I told myself to be calm so that the administration of the remedy would go smoothly.

Leslie had moved Sam into the round pen and was making him circle.  She said the vet had called back, but he was out of town and had told her to keep Sam moving for 2 hours.  Sam had been up and down a few times and Leslie was frightened because it took so much work to get him up once he was down… she was afraid she wouldn’t have the strength if he went down again.

I went into her house and got a glass of water and a Tupperware tub.

I poured the remedy into the Tupperware tub and gave Leslie the syringe.

–As an aside, when I arrived with the remedy, I could tell that Leslie had total faith that what I said was true.  If he had regular colic (not a twisted gut), this would work.  I could tell that my arrival put her at ease.  She was confident in my confidence.  ‘It better work’, I said to myself.  I knew how much this horse meant to Leslie.–

She filled the syringe and put it in Sam’s mouth.  She tipped his huge head up and held it there so he would swallow.  The first time, Sam wasn’t sure about the flavor.  By the second syringe full, he was OK with it.  By the third syringe, he was licking his lips.   Then we followed that with a few syringes of water to flush it all down.

While all this was going on, the other horses gathered around and sniffed.  One started licking Leslie’s hand.  Another licked the Tupperware container.  All were wanting some of whatever Sam had…   I think the flavor of Stops Colic is different but appealing to the horses…

Anyway, almost as soon as we gave Sam the remedy, he perked up a bit.  We stayed there with him and conversed with each other and the other horses.  Sam seemed to calm down and relax…

Soon thereafter, Leslie brought Sam out of the round pen and he immediately started to drink from the trough.  A very good sign.

She unhaltered him and let him loose with the other horses.  They all came up to watch the humans sitting in chairs who were watching the horses – especially Sam.

He stood right in front of us.

Sam:  “I know you want to watch me… is this a good spot.  Right here?”

This is Sam following Leslie up to the seating area where we would wait and observe him.

THE NEXT 30 MINUTES

For the next half hour, Leslie and I chatted while we kept hawk eyes on Sam – who stayed right in front of us.

As every minute ticked by, his demeanor brightened.  By the end of the half hour, he was ‘ears up’ and behaving like himself again.

I felt comfortable to leave.

WHEN I ARRIVED HOME

When I arrived home, there was an email from Leslie…  She said that Sam was back to his old self.  He ate his dinner with gusto and was THE BOSS again.  Bright and happy.

I cannot tell you how relieved I was to know this.  I could not imagine if she lost him.

BANAMINE OR THE REMEDY?…

For me, I’m never without the Stops Colic remedy… Over the 25 years I’ve lived with horses and lived through a few colics, I’ve had Banamine.   But the Stops Colic works so much faster and so clearly.  For me, every time I’ve used it, it has worked.

I would never not call the vet… but I always administer the Stops Colic while I’m waiting for the vet to arrive.  Each time, the vet has ended up arriving and doing nothing because the horse was better.

Again, they don’t pay me, I don’t get free product (I wish) and I have no affiliation.

It just works and I want to encourage all of you to have a remedy on the shelf.  Maybe you or your dear friend/neighbor might need it.

HOW TO BUY

There are two companies that sell the same product.  One is ECR (Equine Colic Relief) and the other is SayWhoa! by Stops Colic.  These two companies fight with each other.  I have used both products and they both work.