Thank goodness!

Mark and I checked on Lizzie every hour all night long.  She never laid down one time - just slept standing up.  So that was encouraging.  But it was this morning before she finally had a bowel movement.  I was beginning to worry that it might not be going to happen.  Thank goodness!  So once that happened, she got to eat half of her normal feed and get turned back out.  She was ecstatic!  (She hasn't ever been confined to a stall here before - only to her paddock occasionally.  She was NOT happy about being locked in.)

Since Lizzie didn't get turned out for a couple hours after Duke had his breakfast, he wasn't around when she first went out.  But when he noticed that she was back out there with him he HAD to go chase her around for a while, of course.

Then later when he saw her come over to the fence to say "hello" to me he came after her again.  He is such a pain!

I think he was a lot better boy over at Al's when he not only had a LOT of mares (so no single one got continually harassed), but there were other horses around as well who didn't take any crap from him.   I'm sure Lizzie wishes Bug were still around!  

I was taking pictures of Lizzie when I looked over and there was Duke eating dead poison ivy vines off one of the trees!  Good grief!

I'm not kidding when I say the boy eats EVERYTHING anywhere in the pasture.  I told the vet about how he eats leaves intentionally -- in fact he rears up on his back legs to eat them directly off the trees when he runs out of the ones on the ground!  She said that's very unusual - that horses normally eat grass WITHOUT eating the leaves even in the fall.  She also said that since Lizzie also ate leaves, that may well have been one of the reasons she got colic because leaves are not nearly as soft as grass, and she obviously isn't able to chew them up since the leaves in the stools the vet pulled out during her exam were completely intact.  So they may well have contributed to the impaction.  We plan to go over to Sears after while and check out their yard vacs.  I know they aren't good enough to pick up acorns, but they should pick up leaves anyway.  We'll have to check.

I yelled at Duke while he was eating that poison ivy and he DID stop - although he doesn't look pleased, does he?  And of course right after that he turned around and was eating the leaves on that low branch there behind him.  (He had to rear up slightly to reach it, but he managed.  Sigh.)

It's a darned good thing he's young with good teeth.  But I'm not the least bit sure, though, that he will manage to live to be an old man if he keeps that up after his teeth AREN'T perfect  any more.  But one thing at a time.

I'm putting off the office move until next week.  After being up most of the night I really do NOT feel like doing anything that major.  Actually, I don't feel like doing a darned thing except keeping an eye on Lizzie.  So - time to go back outside. (It is a lovely day - especially with Lizzie happily grazing out there.)