Arabian Stallion
(Magic Signetbatal x LA Annastassia)

Born: April 17, 2003
Died: August 27, 2006

We adopted Eclipse when he was a yearling. We had a wonderful, precious 2 years with him. He was kind, gentle, and friendly. He was the perfect companion. Many times you could see him playing with his 6 month old colt, OM Magic Hilal Lamaan (aka Mooney). He was so gentle that many times you would see Mooney "get the upper hoof" and Eclipse would let him. When he had had enough, Eclipse had a gentle, passive way of letting Mooney know he was done playing.

Eclipse would be right there at the truck or at the gate to greet you. He would come up and put his chin on your shoulder. You could never replace a great stallion like Eclipse. Although our time with him was short, he will always be remembered and will always have that special place in our hearts.

On Sunday August 27, 2006 at around 5:00pm we noticed Eclipse showing signs of Colic: thrashing around, trotting, collapsing. We immediately gave him a dose of Banamine, which Dr. Peters of McKinley and Peters Equine Veterinarians had prescribed when Eclipse had Colic'd a month and a half ago. About a half hour later we administered a dose of ButePaste. We worked for a few hours attempting to keep him walking and up on his feet. Many time he would simply collapse. It was also evident that he was in extreme discomfort as he was kicking out, which he has never done before.

At around 9:06pm we placed an emergency call to McKinley and Peters, and were connected to Dr. Peters. Dr. Peters arrived at Obsidian Moon Ranch at around 10:30pm. He administered a sedative to calm Eclipse down, and found out what procedures we had done and his worming history. He then proceeded to perform a battery of tests. His official diagnosis was "Cecal volvulus and severe impaction". In his tests he was unable to "even make a dent" in the intestine, which should normally be pliable. He also observed that the intestine was displaced. Eclipse was give a 5-10% chance of survival based on the drugs administered this evening. IV Treatments would be a 50% chance, at the most. He recommended surgery as the only option, but did warn that there could be an unforeseen and undetectable cause that could cause the Colic to return. He was concerned that this was the third time in under 2 years that he had Colic'd.

Written by Steven Voorhees