I’m writing this one because we need a ‘feel good’ story – but also because I really hope that all of you have a bottle of this stuff on your shelf…

To be absolutely clear, I have no affiliation with this company nor any of the people associated with this product. 

(It does not work on a twisted gut.)

AZTEC’S NIGHTMARE COLIC STORY

(Here is a link to the entire story written by Aztec’s owner, Wendy Malone. The original story is long so I took snippets and provided the highlights below.)

(Written by Aztec’s owner, Wendy Malone)

What can I say….the word HORSES from my childhood conjured up visions of riding the most beautiful horse in the world with flowing mane and tail galloping across my dreams and never touching down his feet on earthly soil….only to awake and realize….I must own horses and love horses forever.   There began my journey with horses before I could even draw and read every horse book ever made.

    My name is Wendy Malone and I own the Spotted Fawn Paint and QH ranch now in Victor, Montana, which is just below the towering majestic mountains of the Bitterroot valley.  The last best place to raise good mountain horses where they can still run free on big pastures of fresh air and fresh mountain streams.  I run 40 head in the winter and 60 in the summers with 5 stallions.

…

    Now on a December day this year of 2013 with one of our worst winters in 30 years they said…blizzards, high winds, snow and ice on the roadways and mountain passes too dangerous to travel if not necessary….my stallion Aztec 17 year old sweet heart of my heart lying down in the snow with his morning feed untouched.  I immediately knew when looking around his stall and area that not one new pile had been passed all day so far and he’d rolled in the snow. 

    Winter time is always a higher risk of colic than in summers we find and watch for it, however we very seldom have colic here, but today….Aztec was in distress.

So out comes the traditional ‘intestinal tract relaxants’ to give him right away along with probiotics and we also load up horses into a horse trailer which tends to make their gastrointestinal tract react nervously and the first thing horses usually want to do is make a pile when they load into a horse trailer.  Very effective on many cases, except not this time. 

     Aztec was only wanting to lie down and not eat or drink, but looking at his side and flairing his lips in discomfort.  We did all we could for him for now and night fell dark and cold.  

    We checked on him thru the night but no change yet.  After 24 hours of hoping the intestinal relaxant meds and all else a vet would do, nothing was working.  He was worsening and now my only option was surgery. 

For many reasons I choose not to do surgery at his age with this stage of severity.    

It had been two days now.  No eating, no drinking, no piles and now this wounded soldier of mine lie still in the snow.   

      Morning had come early and colder than ever and Aztec was on his last hours I knew.  He was holding on for me as I tried everything as a vet tech I knew to do to help him.

As I walked back to the ranch house from morning chores I prayed:   God…if there be ONE thing more I can do…please show me.   When entering the back porch, my mind all of a sudden remembered a friend of mine mentioned a product that really worked  for her horse that was in distress.

It was new.   I remembered she said it was Stops Colic.

Quickly rushing in with snow covered boots and jacket removed I Googled up Stops Colic on the internet – and there it was!!!  I quickly read the website and their  ‘FIND A STORE’ button.

I pushed and put in my area and NO stores in Montana close to me at all!  Fed Ex couldn’t get here in time.

The closest store was in Idaho over 3 mountain passes during this dangerous winter storm.  

I then called Stops Colic’s 800 number in desperation.

A calm and helpful voice of a very well educated woman named Reba answered and immediately began to help as if she were her going through this with her own horse.  Reba helped me so much by calling up every ranch or store in my state that might have a bottle.

She found the closest available bottle in Couer D’Alene, Idaho at ‘Cooperative Supply.   This was my only hope to get this Stops Colic to Aztec in one day.  So I called and YES!!!  The owner said he would put a couple of bottles on the counter for me and stay open till 6pm – it would be a 4 hour drive in this snow and ice through the mountain passes to get to the store and then back 4 hours to Aztec.

    I told Gary (my husband) and he said:  I’m outta  here!  He took a thermos of hot coffee and my homemade chocolate chip cookies….and in minutes he was in the big truck headed to Idaho.  It was now my job to keep Aztec alive till Gary returned with this miracle product to heal him.  

     I sat with Aztec in the snow, now lying down with teeth clenched. I prayed and pleaded for him to please hold on and told him all about this Stops Colic that was coming to heal him.  I promised he’d be OK if he’d just hold on with me till Gary got back.  Hour after hour I went out to stroke his ears.

    Gary called to tell me each pass he’d gotten over.  I went inside to warm up and read the entire Stops Colic website and watched the colic video – but my sweet Aztec was over two days now of severe colic and holding on just for me.

     It was a long, long day for me and Aztec, but he was not giving up totally even though each time I thought I’d find him gone when I went out.  Darkness was starting to fall after I did the evening chores.  I fed horses around Aztecs pen so they’d keep him company and encourage him, too.  

Gary was on his way back and Aztec was slipping away into more pain and lethargy.   

    The last call came from Gary stating he was close now and to get Aztec ready.  

I ran through the snow to Aztecs pen area and pushed a saline syringe into his mouth that he hated but it made him get up this time!!!  YAYYY!!!  He was actually UP and I haltered him and told him Gary was on his way and he’d be well real soon now and he just had to walk to the barn area with lights with me.  HE slowly walked thru all the mares as they parted and let us through.  Not one mare approached him or did he take notice.  He understood this was his chance and he was starting to believe, too.

      Finally as we stood under the lights…..here came Gary with the life saving bottles of Stops Colic!

I chose to use a 20cc syringe 4 times to be sure we didn’t lose any of it back out his mouth.  Gary held his head and neck up as Aztek’s strength was gone. I told Aztec he MUST swallow this and MUST let me do this to save him.

I put in the first syringe and AZTEC….well…..for the first time…he opened his mouth, swallowed … he KNEW this WAS going to save him.   All four syringe fulls, Aztec willingly opened and swallowed.  Not one drop lost…and…the minute I got it all in and I sighed relief and told Aztec he’d be well….he reached past my shoulder to grab a bite of hay by the haystack next to him as if to say:  I KNOW I will live now.  His first sign of living.   

    AS they say….THE REST WAS HISTORY….from that moment on…Aztec never laid down again.  He began to drink down big buckets of warm water within an hour.  He began to eat hay in that two hours and by bedtime he had one big soft pile of manure.  Throughout the night I checked on him and he was still eating and drinking with 5 more soft piles of manure by early morning.

 Tears of joy and thanksgiving were unending all day with kisses and hugs to Aztec nonstop.  

    Days and weeks have now gone by and once the Stops Colic product was given to him that night, Aztec has never had one set back or problem.   

  Aztec had never been sick a day in his life and the fact that this tragedy came I believe, was to see that my ranch and all my friends and clients learn to carry this product at their barns and in their horse trailers while on the road.  

I carry several bottles in case someone else needs one.  And, if it should happen again, I want to have bottles on hand to immediately resolve the colic.  No horse of mine ever need to suffer colic pain again due to Stops Colic product SayWhoa!  It has given me much peace of mind to know I am prepared to never see one of my horses suffer or die from this common killer.

             No horse owner on this earth should be without this product wherever horses are found.  We must get it into our horse supply stores so no one need drive to another state to find it.  I can only say thank you God for helping me find Reba and SayWhoa! by Stops Colic and the store owner in Idaho for saving my best friend and world famous sire of show horses everywhere…THE AZTEC EAGLE.