Moving on, I decided to take a chance on another horse and what a chance that is turning out to be!
Meet Scottie, otherwise known as Sir Prescott. Pictured above is just about all Scottie does as of right now: hand walk and eat. This is because he has a mildly strained suspensory in his right hind, but he was free so I figured I would give it a go. Why you might ask? Scottie is a seasoned training level packer that has evented all over area 4 and 5 with a few riders, most notably a junior in which he placed very respectively at some big competitions. Oh yeah, and he was free! Right about now you are probably thinking that I have lost my ever-loving mind. Well, jump on the bandwagon and know that I don't give a damn! Scottie has been given an 85% chance of full recovery and everyone that knows me knows that I do this sport on a shoestring budget. I don't have the financial means to go buy a $15,000 horse. Here's to hoping that a little time and TLC will get me there!
Cue more issues, as always. Upon Scottie's follow-up visit to EMA it was discovered that he has EPM. Luckily we caught the disease before it progressed to horrible proportions. His test results from before I got him (which I did not know about at the time) indicated an elevated inflammatory response and low titer but now his numbers were through the roof. He has been started on a cycle of Dr. Ellison's product Oroquin-10 and is wrapping up that round tomorrow. We know in 4-6 weeks, upon another retest, if the treatment worked. In the meantime, his lameness is getting better, his toe dragging has reduced, and his tripping is nearly eliminated. All good signs! If the treatment doesn't work, well... I just don't know but I cant think about that right now. Right now, I have to be strong for myself and for my horse who seems to have had a fairly rough life.
Riding is never an easy sport, for anyone. It comes with ups and downs of epic proportion. As of late I have been questioning myself and my dreams. Why do I do this? Why do I put myself through this? Is it really meant to be? Is it even &^*#!%@ worth it? But then I walk into the barn and hear that loving nicker and my heart melts. Instantly I know exactly why I do this. I do it not only for the love of the sport but for the love of the relationship between horse and rider. Scottie is a loving, sweet boy who really brings back memories of Stretch. I miss that horse more than anything and find myself staring at his pictures every night thinking "what might have been" but I know I made the right decision for him. Scottie is my chance to move on. With him, I get that familiar nicker when I walk in the barn. A knowing nuzzle when I have treats. A random lick across my arm or face just because. It touches my heart and I know this horse is what I need right now. This WAS meant to be. I need this horse and this bond just as much as he needs me. I am confident that it will all work out in the end and we will be unstoppable! Time heals all wounds, all doubts, all fears but you cant just sit and wait for things to fall in your lap. Take a chance. Take a risk. Make a change. Follow your heart.
More updates to come but until then, keep kicking!
No comments:
Post a Comment