Hypochondriac.

Yes, It’s true. I am guilty of this, but only when it comes to my horses. I have come to the conclusion that Pistol needs to be wrapped up in bubble wrap. When we first got him, well when he let us get a good look at him, we noticed that he has scars all over his legs, body and face. We figured he’d wrestled with some bad fencing. Our farrier asked if he was a Thoroughbred because it almost looked like he had been pinfired. Pistol also has a gouge out of his eyelid.

The other day I went out to feed the monsters their supper. It was dark and I had just brought my little flashlight. When Pistol came in to the lean I noticed that his front white foot, looked like it had blood on it, and sure enough when I flashed the flash light on his leg it looked horrific. It looked like there was little intestines springing out…but then I reminded myself that it was like -20 and that blood freezes. So I took a deep breath, and then chipped off all the blood and it was just a scratch. So I grabbed some yellow goop and smeared it on there. There was no swelling or anything. But of course when I went into the house and googled what to do when a horse cut itself in the winter…I found nothing. Not one thing. Apparently horses don’t get hurt in freezing parts of the country like where I live. I asked a few of my horsey friends and they said that I did the right thing. But it is so strange that there is no artic first aid for horses guides out there…Maybe I am on to something…

Then the next day when I ran out to check on the horses again before work, I ran into the lean and saw Pistol butt against the wall, head hanging down. So immediately I thought, he was dying. Obviously he couldn’t be in a deep sleep…oh no, he was dying. The fact that I startled him when I went to touch him…nope that isn’t an indication that he was sleeping…it was telling me that he was 3 feet in the grave. So I grabbed his lead rope and walked him around, and sure enough he perked up and went about his normal Pistol routine. I spent the better part of the day researching horses and their sleeping patterns. And came to the conclusion that he obviously has equine narcolepsy. He has NONE of the other symptoms other than he was very sleepy when I saw him. I really shouldn’t be allowed to google anything. Ever.

Has anyone else had a horse that was always getting hurt? Is it actually something I should be more concerned about? Or how about heavy sleepers? He was standing up when he was sleeping, but he was out like a light. My mind is racing thinking of all kinds of things…like neurological diseases, and other strange things. Should I just save up all the bubble wrap at Christmas and make him a suit? He’s an old timer and the scars on his body tell me he’s been like this most of his life. But I keep telling myself what they told me when I worked at the horse track. “It’s a long way from his heart!”…but it always seems so close to mine…