When we checked on the horses this morning, Nikki, the one who lost her baby yesterday, had something hanging out of her vulva. When I saw it, the way it looked, I was sure it was umbilical cord. I felt sick to my stomach instantly because I was sure we must of been mistaken with the placenta, and that it was still inside her. Knowing it had been over 24 hours since she delivered just scared the crap out of me. We called the vet right away, but he wasn't answering, and then I realised it's Thanksgiving weekend (here in Canada) and that maybe he'd gone away. ACK!

I must of gone through every emotion while waiting for him to call. I took her temp, and it was normal, but I knew infection may not set in until after 24 hours, but the process could have already began. I was SOOOO worried we were going to loose Nikki now too.

Finally, about 2.5 hours later, the vet called back and came right out.

He gave her a sedative, and checked her out with the speculum (poor girl, that thing was HUGE and she's so tiny! Do you think they could sedate me the next time I have to go for my annual visit???)

Thankfully, it was NOT the umbilical cord! He believes it was a piece of her cervix that came out. I'm thinking sort of like a 'prolapsed cervix/uterus'? It was only about 3 inches long, coming out of her cervix/uterus (sorry, dont' know exactly where). He said it needed to be snipped off of course. With it hanging out of her vulva, it could cause bacteria to invade her uterus/cervix.

He also said that her uterus is tiny and it's probably a good thing she aborted. Also we noticed this morning that now that she's not pregnant, she is still underweight. Poor little thing. We're going to keep her on the higher fat feed through the winter, or whenever she gains weight. We're also going to start working her once she's recovered after all this. She really shows how horrible her condition is now. We thought she had been gaining since being here the last few months, but obviously it was all going to the baby.

So that was our scare today. I'm SO thankful that Nikki is ok. He gave her an antibiotic liquid right into the area he was working in, and then a long lasting antibiotic shot. I'm so glad we have a good vet. I just felt so helpless this morning when I thought it might be a retained placenta. I was ready to give away all the horses to someone who had more experience then us. I was sure my lack of knowledge was going to be the death of Nikki. What a horrible feeling.