Old dude turned 31 today...
I think back to when I first came across him back in 1990. He was owned by a wealthy man who had too many animals. When this horse came up lame and never got better, he didn't want to deal with it, and wanted to put the horse down. I was there when the country vet said, "This horse should be shit-canned." Literally his words. I didn't even know what that expression meant, just that it was very unprofessional.
I knew little about horses back then, but for some reason was sure a second medical opinion was needed. I convinced the wealthy guy to give me the horse. I told him I would get another opinion, and if the second vet said he shouldn't be saved, I would put the horse down at my expense. He thought I was crazy and was getting in over my head, but agreed.
I don't remember how I was referred to this second vet, but he was completely professional and unflustered by the lameness. His x-rays showed negative for navicular, and he believed it was a bad case of laminitis. He injected the front leg lower joints with hyaluronic acid, suggested some seaweed-based supplements for joint support, and sent me on my way.
I had to make him stand with both front feet in buckets with warm water and epsom salts every day for 30 minutes. Getting him to stand in buckets, and not kick them over, was a real chore. We did that for months. The horse and I bonded, he gradually got better, but was not rideable for a little over 6 months.
Gradually he healed, and eventually went back into conditioning and training. I moved him to a professional training farm that had world class Paint and Quarter Horses (he's a QH). He is not world class, and has confirmation issues, but he had a world class work ethic. We learned a lot together, and he had many years of showing at the local levels.
The lameness came back in 1998 when he was 16. I retired him, pulled off his shoes, put him in a large pasture, and thought he probably wouldn't live to see 20. Instead he got better with the rest. On good days I would take him on a casual trail ride. His last ride was at the age of 22.
In the years since then he has plugged along with hardly an issue. He had a nasty eye cut in 2002 and a colic in 2005. He was kicked hard by a pasture-mate in 2012 and was seriously injured. I thought that was it. But the vet convinced me to wait. He said the recovery would be long, but I'd know pretty quickly if he was going to improve. He did. By the end of 2012 he was back to "normal," although he's old and has all the typical old guy stuff - saggy back, creaky legs, foggy eyes.
My happy thought of the day is not that my old guy has turned 31, it comes from thinking back to all the lessons I learned from standing by him. I don't want him to live forever, nor do I want him to suffer, but his time has not yet come. Why do some animals live forever and others die as foals? I don't know, but I'm so grateful for what he's taught me along the way.
I took this pic today. It looks like a halo is over his head, which was pretty funny to me. He is well-loved, but an "angel" he is not.
