Sundance

Sundance seems no worse for wear after her colic episode.

"She's my best girlfriend, the love of my life," says Bonnie Whetzel of her 20-year-old paint horse, Sundance. The mare is the unabashed queen of the Whetzels' nine-equine herd, so when feeding time found the mare prone in her stall, Bonnie panicked.

"I knew something was terribly wrong, I got her up, and took her temperature and gave her Banamine to ease the pain. I didn't have my cell phone to call Dr. Engel, so I got on the intercom and started screaming for my daughter," Bonnie recalls. "I didn't want to let her out of my sight, so I took Sundance and walked her through my barnyard, through my back yard and up to the house. I never let go. I yelled for help, but I would have brought her into the house if I had to."

Cell phone in hand, she led the mare back to the barn, dialing Ridgeview Veterinary Practice as she went. It was late afternoon on a Sunday, January 29 th , but Ridgeview Veterinarian on-call Rachel Butterworth-Tice rang her immediately. "I really appreciate that she called right back," Bonnie says. "I've seen people with a horse emergency wait up to two hours for a vet to call back."

With symptoms pointing toward colic, Dr. Butterworth-Tice advised Bonnie to keep an eye on the mare and to prevent her from lying down. "But I wouldn't take a chance with this mare-for her, I'd call an ambulance if I had to," says Bonnie. Dr. Rachel came right out.

By the time Dr. Butterworth-Tice arrived, the Banamine had kicked in. "I could see the difference in her eyes," Bonnie says. "She wasn't trying to lie down anymore." Dr. Rachel examined her and felt she had an impaction. She tubed her with mineral oil and again prescribed watchful waiting.

Bonnie took the instruction to heart. Even though it was a bitterly cold night, Bonnie donned coveralls and all the spare horse blankets she could find and settled into a lawn chair straddling Sundance's stall for the vigil. "My family thinks I'm nuts," she says. "I set my alarm clock for every 30 to 45 minutes in case I dozed off and didn't hear her. She seemed OK, relaxed. She looked a little unhappy, but not sick."

Still, it seemed like an eternity before the mare passed manure-the seminal sign of improvement in a colic episode. Bonnie stayed in touch with Dr. Rachel through the night. By daybreak, concern was mounting. "I decided that if she didn't pass manure in the next hour or so, I would come back and tube her again," Dr. Rachel says. Finally, though, the mare delivered what they were waiting for. Sundance was on the road to recovery.