Author: Lisa Spurrier

At the age of two, my Tennessee Walking Horse, Shock, colicked. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I went into the barn for lights out and found him down and up against the side of the stall in a very unnatural position. I thought he was dead. I screamed his name and threw open the door. He got up, but I could tell he was in trouble. I grabbed my cell phone and called my vet at 9pm. The emergency on call vet came and treated Shock, but at 1am I still wasn’t convinced…He just didn’t seem to come around. 

At 6am it was obvious that he still wasn’t feeling better. If anything, he looked worse. That morning we went to Dr. Stone’s office in Evansville, Indiana. When we got there, Dr. Stone said he wanted Shock hospitalized immediately with a worried look on his face. I was an utter wreck – I had raised this horse from a foal and we had just started ground training.

The next morning Dr. Stone called and informed us that Shock had cast himself against the stall and outside fence several times. We realized that a decision had to be made: surgery or euthanize. We decided to undergo surgery with the understanding that if Shock had twisted, colic would more than likely happen again, and we’d probably have to put him down.

I watched as the vets cut my horse open and took his intestines out. Two large areas of impaction came into view, but somehow Shock hadn’t twisted himself and didn’t need resecting, possibly a result of casting against the stall and fence.

After a very long recovery and digestive aids, Shock is a very happy and healthy six year old. We are still very careful about any diet changes and/or stress and medications he receives, but he eats McCauley’s pelleted horse feed and is just beautiful. I am so happy that he is still here with me. We call him the million dollar horse.