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On the morning of July 13th, Prince went down with a serious intestine colic that the vets deemed lethal without surgical intervention. But even then, they weren’t sure he’d make it.
Dr. Karen with Parker Road Vet was able to stabilize him enough to just barely make the hour long trailer ride up to Weems and Stephens Veterinary Hospital, but I had to ride in the trailer with him to use all my strength to keep him from laying down (which ended up being around 8 serious times).
When we arrived at Weems, Dr. Clonch and the staff there deemed he was serious enough to rush straight to surgery, jumping him ahead of all the other surgeries that morning (even another colic surgery) in order to save his life. The doctor described it as a race against the clock.
I was routinely asked if he was “eligible for surgery”, which loosely means that they’re asking “can you afford it” and/or “are they worth the price”.
I’ve had this boy for eleven years. He is my son. He’s helped me and countless others in their journey through horsemanship that I owe him more than he can ever know. Without hesitation I said “yes, he’s eligible”. I don’t care if I have to eat ramen noodles the rest of my life to pay for it, I told them to save him.
A whole team propped him up on both sides and walked him into the operating room. Once inside, he couldn’t take it anymore and went down for good despite the team’s protests but he had fought long enough, he left it in their hands.
I was told that if we get a call before the first hour was done, then it’d be bad news and there was nothing more that could be done. If the first hour passed with no word then that was a good sign.
I prayed that my phone would stay silent and it did, the whole first hour and the second hour. I could breathe again.
Dr. Clonch then finally came out and said that Prince was in the recovery process. The relief was unreal. He explained that the issue was a twist in the small-intestine that was more of a freak condition since there are currently no known causes for it (feed/water/temp related colics usually happen in the large intestine apparently). Us acting fast and going straight to surgery saved the intestine from dying due to cut-off blood supply.
It was explained that until July 17th we aren’t out of the woods yet because of common serious complications that could occur, especially with the foot long incision on the bottom of his belly. He also has to stay in the hospital all the way until July 20th to monitor his feed intake and make sure that the intestines are functioning properly again. Then he’ll be off for the next 3 months so that he may make a full recovery.
Such a huge thanks to Doctors Karen and Clonch and all their staff for acting fast and saving our boy Prince, a horse who has touched the hearts of many. And the biggest thank you to Tony who caught the colic first, drove us to the hospital (sorry for dismissing your protests for my safety riding back there in the trailer…), and for supporting me the whole time through.
Those who contacted me or even just kept Prince in your hearts, you have my deepest gratitude.
This GoFundMe was created to help cover some of the 10k+ operation and hospital boarding costs so that Prince can continue getting the best care. I’d understand that many in the horse world would have just let him go but he’s worth more to me than any possession I own or lifestyle I live. He is a one-in-a-million horse to me and I hope to have him around long enough for my own kids to learn to ride on him. And I hope he can at least continue teaching others the joys of riding for a few more years. Please only spare what you can comfortably afford. Thank you.
Kourtney Wynne and Royal Hail “aka Prince”
April 2011 The day we bought him!
Dr. Karen with Parker Road Vet was able to stabilize him enough to just barely make the hour long trailer ride up to Weems and Stephens Veterinary Hospital, but I had to ride in the trailer with him to use all my strength to keep him from laying down (which ended up being around 8 serious times).
When we arrived at Weems, Dr. Clonch and the staff there deemed he was serious enough to rush straight to surgery, jumping him ahead of all the other surgeries that morning (even another colic surgery) in order to save his life. The doctor described it as a race against the clock.
I was routinely asked if he was “eligible for surgery”, which loosely means that they’re asking “can you afford it” and/or “are they worth the price”.
I’ve had this boy for eleven years. He is my son. He’s helped me and countless others in their journey through horsemanship that I owe him more than he can ever know. Without hesitation I said “yes, he’s eligible”. I don’t care if I have to eat ramen noodles the rest of my life to pay for it, I told them to save him.
A whole team propped him up on both sides and walked him into the operating room. Once inside, he couldn’t take it anymore and went down for good despite the team’s protests but he had fought long enough, he left it in their hands.
I was told that if we get a call before the first hour was done, then it’d be bad news and there was nothing more that could be done. If the first hour passed with no word then that was a good sign.
I prayed that my phone would stay silent and it did, the whole first hour and the second hour. I could breathe again.
Dr. Clonch then finally came out and said that Prince was in the recovery process. The relief was unreal. He explained that the issue was a twist in the small-intestine that was more of a freak condition since there are currently no known causes for it (feed/water/temp related colics usually happen in the large intestine apparently). Us acting fast and going straight to surgery saved the intestine from dying due to cut-off blood supply.
It was explained that until July 17th we aren’t out of the woods yet because of common serious complications that could occur, especially with the foot long incision on the bottom of his belly. He also has to stay in the hospital all the way until July 20th to monitor his feed intake and make sure that the intestines are functioning properly again. Then he’ll be off for the next 3 months so that he may make a full recovery.
Such a huge thanks to Doctors Karen and Clonch and all their staff for acting fast and saving our boy Prince, a horse who has touched the hearts of many. And the biggest thank you to Tony who caught the colic first, drove us to the hospital (sorry for dismissing your protests for my safety riding back there in the trailer…), and for supporting me the whole time through.
Those who contacted me or even just kept Prince in your hearts, you have my deepest gratitude.
This GoFundMe was created to help cover some of the 10k+ operation and hospital boarding costs so that Prince can continue getting the best care. I’d understand that many in the horse world would have just let him go but he’s worth more to me than any possession I own or lifestyle I live. He is a one-in-a-million horse to me and I hope to have him around long enough for my own kids to learn to ride on him. And I hope he can at least continue teaching others the joys of riding for a few more years. Please only spare what you can comfortably afford. Thank you.
Kourtney Wynne and Royal Hail “aka Prince”
April 2011 The day we bought him!
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