I share this feeling with you.
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This thread is giving me so much anxiety.
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Me too. I initially felt such relief learning that there was nothing I missed or coiled have done to prevent it, but I still feel guilty somehow.
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I just lost my beloved mare last week. DH found her at 8:30 down in her stall with her legs straight out. Not thrashing or anything. I came out, we walked and gave banamine. I was not terribly worried at that point. 30 minutes later-brown liquid shoots out her nose, she starts having intermittent hiccups(?). Now Iâm freaking out-vets come to pump stomach. She is full on trembling at this point. So awful. Trip to hospital(itâs close, thankfully) and euthanized after belly tap reveals a rupture. I canât even process how this all happened so quickly-like 3 hours. She never colicked previously. I did not do an autopsy because I couldnât bear to have her beautiful body carved up. And now Iâm crying again. I donât think this probably contributed in any helpful way to the thread, but I guess I just wanted to cry-type. These horses are precious to us and when they leave, they take a huge part of our heart with them. I honestly donât know what actually happened to my girl, but I have some theories and I know that we spared her an agonizing night of pain. I guess thatâs the best news I get out of this. Cry session overâŠ
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I have felt this too. As it seems like it can come out of nowhere I feel helpless to protect my others who I plan to keep into retirement.
I am planting a tree this Spring to mark the spot where my gelding is buried. I did that for my mare and it makes me smile as I watch the tree grow.
I had a portrait done of my lovely girl for Christmas and as it turns out her old owner did too. I still have her tail in a box in my closet. Meant to have a bracelet made but donât have the heart to send it away.
Her previous owner imported her as a 4yo and trained her to PSG herself, and it broke her heart when personal circumstances forced her sale at age 22. However her bad luck was my dream come true. I could never have had a horse of her quality, training and temperament. We only had one year together but I learned soooo much and realized my lifelong dream of riding Third Level. Plus she became my best friend. She was that kind of horse. And her old owner was so happy to see her living her best life, teaching me, and being kept at a lovely farm with a skilled trainer. She truly was adored every day of her life.
I felt so robbed of precious time with her doing the Covid shutdowns where we couldnât even go to the barn for almost 2 months. Losing her just as things were getting back to normal was crushing beyond belief.
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Thatâs pretty! Looks like a photograph! Iâm glad to hear of your special bond. 
Lost my beautiful mare probably to lipoma alsoâŠat least that is what I think now after reading these stories. She was 20, wasnt ridden anymore but in perfect health and living outdoors 24/7 with no stress whatsoeverâŠ
It happened some years ago and I still feel everything like it was yesterdayâŠit went soo fast and I was in complete shock and still can cry over itâŠ
In hindsight she came a bit slower for her evening feed (maybe she was lying downâŠit is a big field and it was already dark)âŠbut ate everythingâŠin the morning also she came into her stable while I was cleaningâŠdidnt call her yet as I wasnt planning feeding here as there is enough grass and she did have a tendency to get fatâŠI gave her a litlle bit of grain and again she ate everythingâŠafterwards I feel so guilty because maybe she did lay down in the fieldâŠbut she came into her stall without calling so I guess she wasnt really uncomfortable? Could she?
AnywaysâŠwent to work and got a cal in the afternoon from the neighbour that she was acting strangeâŠhurried home and that is when the nightmare startedâŠShe was trashing violentlyâŠcovered in mudâŠalready dehydratedâŠ
Called the vet and he felt only displaced colon but as she was throwing herself to the ground couldnt really perform a detailed rectal examinationâŠ
We hauled her to the clinic but had to arrange transport first and in between the call from the neighbour and arriving to the clinic there were 4 hrsâŠand she deteriorated very quicklyâŠ
The abdominal tap drew bloodâŠhe could feel also distended small intestinal loopsâŠthe prognosis was not goodâŠrisks of complicationsâŠwas a very very difficult decision for meâŠ
I used to work in an animal clinic and the horses with resections were really the difficult onesâŠsometimes suffering for days after surgery because of ileus âŠ
I did not want that for my girlâŠand still felt extremely guilty afterwards for not tryingâŠ
I did not have the necropsy done because I was so emotional and I did not want them to damage her bodyâŠthat taught seemed unbearableâŠI think when I would have had more time I would have asked for itâŠbut it went so fast and I wasnt processingâŠ
The surgeon made the diagnosis of small intestinal volvulus based on the rectal, the signs, the shock and the abdominal tapâŠ
It was the most horrific experience of my life as the horses have always been my happy placeâŠow the problem is the magic is goneâŠI still ride from time to time but I dont have a horse ofmy own anymoreâŠtoo afraid I would be worried all the timeâŠ
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So sorry for you, Marielou. Itâs difficult, but try to focus on all her good years with you.
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Has anyone ever had success with surgery for pedunculated lipoma? Itâs so heart wrenching to know that my mare is suffering.
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Jingles for you and your horse.
Yes! A client of mine had a gelding with strangulating lipoma. She had to ship 9 hours to the surgical facility, and it was touch and go for quite a while. He had to have a second surgery for a post-surgical abscess, but came through that. The two of them are back competing at Grand Prix, and have been for the past two years. It can be done.
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Yes, I have. It went very well.
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Yes. We have a pony who had surgery 5 or 6 years ago for a strangulating lipoma. He was in his teens and recovery went well. He is a very people-oriented pony which I think really helped with the surgery and recovery process.
Jingles for your mare!
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This has been a decade or so ago. A 25 year old half Arab pony at the place where I boarded my horses colicked. This was sudden as he had never had problems before. The local vet treated him and when it looked like the pony wasnât going to pull out of it, the vet stabilized the pony, shot him full of painkillers and the owners made a mad dash for Auburn and surgery. The owners could easily afford it and in spite of his age he was a really healthy guy. He had a lipoma. it was removed without complications and I think he had at least several more healthy years. I do think they were able to figure out that he had a serious problem quickly and other complications had not set in.
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Yes. My dear old haflinger, at 25 we found him violently thrashing and soaked. We did surgery successfully once where they confirmed strangulating lipoma. Rhinebeck warned this would almost certainly repeat. He recovered well but had a series of mild episodes then relapsed badly two years later. We euthanized on the farm.
No signs except maybe quarterly mild colics in the years leading up. We injected his back because we thought he hurt there but given his age who knows?
Vets were 1000% telling us you canât see this coming, you canât prevent it, and unless youâre looking at it on the table, you canât diagnose it certainly. Itâs just a result of us keeping horses alive and healthy into more advanced age.
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Suspect this is what contributed to the death of my beloved, 31 year old giant Danish WB. He was absolutely normal the day before, trotting and playing outside with his buddies. Overnight, he was absolutely normal. The morning of, absolutely normal. I fed and turned out, and an hour later he was covered in sweat and in obvious, horrible pain. It was clear this was no ânormalâ colic (which he had never had, anyhow). Vet came out within 30 minutes and suggested some treatment options and I said no, he needs to be put to rest right now.
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Probably what killed my old horse too. 25 year old, not rideable but fat, shiny ,dappled and healthy on a Saturday. He was in the pasture overnight and Sunday morning, the BO found him down and beat up from thrashing around. He was quieter when I came along with the vet. Vet felt that he likely had already ruptured his stomach after the intestine was blocked by the lipoma.
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I lost my older gelding to a suspected case of this. Im glad to hear that some have had success with surgery. I donât think my gelding would have made it to surgery.
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We are a 20 minute trailer ride to Rhinebeck. Otherwise we wouldâve euthanized right on the spot. It was a completely emotional decision, and Iâm not sure I would do it again. The recovery was very drawn out and while he recovered really well, it was months and months and months of stall rest and really restricted feed. Miserable.
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