If you’ve read my column before – and if you haven’t, now is as good a time as any to get started; go ahead, I’ll wait – you’ll know that 2019 has not been the best year for my boy Bit, the horse. After months of eating what we now know was contaminated feed, Bit’s EPM symptoms really went haywire. He tripped and stumbled all over the place, and, in one epic fail, even managed to fall off a bridge. He was fine, apart from the odd bruise and sore muscle, but the list of issues began to get longer and longer as summer went by. Stable owner Wendy changed their diet immediately, once she figured out what the problem was, and started all the horses on a 30-day detox regimen. But it’s taking a long time for the horses to bounce back.
There were a number of horses who went off the feed fairly quickly. You would think that they would have recovered faster than those who continued to eat the stuff, but you would be wrong. Many are still showing the effects – lethargy, weight loss, and behavior issues being the most common. Indeed, Bit’s lost so much weight that I have to tighten his cinch two more holes than I used to. It doesn’t help that he’s getting on in years, and has a chronic disease to deal with, as well.
I mentioned in more than one previous column that whilst all this was going on, I was completely unaware of the feed issue, and continued to try to ride Bit as usual. But there was nothing usual about the fact that, early on in every ride, Bit called a halt to the proceedings by stopping walking. Nothing I did would budge him until I’d get off and lead him back to the stable. Wendy and I were stymied, but since Bit’s always been a handful anyway, we both put it down to his stubborn nature. Instead, he was trying to tell me something, and I didn’t get it. Finally, when Wendy told us what she’d discovered about the feed, it all began to make sense.
There was no point in trying to ride him while he was detoxing. I did go to the barn a number of times, over the past few months, just to give Bit an apple and let him know that I hadn’t forgotten him. More often than not, he wouldn’t finish eating his favorite treat, which was a good indicator of how poorly he still felt.
Recently, I stopped by on barn business and decided to go out to the paddock to say hello. I walked around the side of the barn and when Bit saw me, he immediately trotted over to say hello. He hasn’t done that in a very long time. He did the same thing the other day, during the stable’s Christmas party. I’d brought him an apple, of course, and one of those out-sized peppermint sticks. He trotted right up to me and ate everything I offered. You know you rate pretty highly when your horse runs to you, rather than away.
While I’m pleased about his recovery, my heart was warmed by his enthusiasm. We’ve worked together for so long, that the novelty has clearly worn off, for him. More often than not, he’ll lift his head when he sees me coming, and then he’ll get on with the business of grazing. Many times, I’m sure he sees me as a nuisance for taking him away from his herd. But for those few seconds in which walking wasn’t sufficient for him, he made me his priority. And that’s the best gift of all!
Happy Christmas to you and yours! See you next year! Cheers!
