Rolex and His Panic Attack

Years ago I was at a horse show with Rolex. I was used to me being a stressed out mess at the shows. But aside from a general case of bad attitude (or strong personality - depending on how I chose to look at it that day) Rolex was generally pretty steady with his personality. He only got stressed by cows and trucks driving by. He was definitely made to be a show horse and not a riding on the ranch horse. As high maintenance as his owner!

Anyway, I was at this show and getting ready - which included having both he and I dressed and clean as well as  often a trip behind the horse trailer so I could toss my cookies before getting on and warming up to go into the ring. This time however, I was standing beside Rolex and holding his lead shank. All of a sudden he started shaking and sweating. Not just a little, but violently. Then he just bolted away from me. Forget that I was holding on to him. The rope got yanked out of my hands and he was off.

Not a good thing at an A circuit show with all the fancy people there. 

We finally managed to catch him, and a friend who boarded her horse at the stables where the show was being held was kind enough to let me use her stall. Once I managed to get the rude, spoiled  (C**ly Sc****gor) girl off the phone to call the vet they were fast to arrive. Woe the days before cell phones when we had to line up for a land line.

Dr Rach looked him over and I can’t remember what he gave him that calmed him down, but he did quickly quiet after the vet arrived. What he did diagnose Rolex with was a selenium deficiency. Apparently there is not enough of that mineral in the Alberta soil and this was a common reaction to not having enough selenium in a horse.

He started on supplements and that was the last time he had a “freak out” - well for that reason anyway. Cows and trucks still made him lose his shit.

When the Ayurvedic doctor at Kripalu suggested I take the CALM magnesium supplement, it made me think of Rolex. What if some of this anxiety I can’t seem to shake is because of a mineral deficiency? Could it possibly be that simple? Nothing for me is ever simple. But I wonder how much of that is because if there are two paths to choose from, not only do I chose the one less travelled, but I chose the one what is covered in blackberry bramble. Seriously.