Bittersweet

It's been almost seven months since we brought home the other three horses. I bring carrots out when I feed in the mornings and they have come to greet me looking for their carrots! I have to save one for Clyde as they won't let him near me. Patches is on the left, Dixie in the middle and Diamond on the right.

 If you've been following me then you have known about my being thrown from Patches and the history of chronic lameness. I have taken Patches to the vet for lameness 4 times. The third time, the vet ask me to leave her so he could really spend some time watching her under saddle in a round pen. I told him to be cautious as I had been thrown. Evidently that message did not get communicated to the tech that the vet had ride Patches. You guessed it...she through her too and the vet said she bucked hard! The vet told me that once Patches was warmed up she didn't exhibit lameness. He basically pronounced her "sound".

I was very frustrated as after getting her home...she was still limping...to the point that it looked like it was all she could do to move. Ugh! It was weird too because some days she seemed better than others. As time went on she began to exhibit lameness in her right front. What is the deal?! I take her back AGAIN. He agrees with me something is definitely going on. He tells me my options. The least expensive one was to go to an Equine Chiropractor. The vet knew of one in the area who was also a licensed veterinarian.

Once I get home I call. It took a week to get an appointment. I take her to see him. His conclusion is she has two problems going on both neither of which are chiropractic in nature. (Great). Most of the lameness I had seen up until the last visit to the vet had been left hind but the day I saw the Equine Chiropractor she was showing more lameness in her right front. Both the vet and Chiropractor had "hoof tested" her to see if the soreness was in the sole of her foot but that was negative both times. The Chiropractor said it would take nerve blocking the foot and x-rays to determine the problem and even then he wasn't sure it would be fixable. He basically told me with her history of bucking, age and lameness issues I should just cut my losses and go on.

Not the news I was hoping. I was very upset. If I can't ride her, I can't keep her. So now my mind is reeling about what to do. No one (in their right mind) would knowingly buy a lame horse. Which means her future looked very bleak. I know I have to call the former owners to tell them and I'm dreading it. My hope is that they will want her back. Here is a video of her. This is how she moves most of the time.

I did call and talk to the wife. I told her I wasn't in any hurry and I wouldn't do anything until I heard from them. Two agonizing weeks went by. I've always wanted my own place to keep horses but I wanted one even more so now. If we had our own property I would be in a better position to consider keeping her to live out her days. Doyle did some looking on Craigslist and found a couple of people who were looking for "pasture buddies" for their horses and didn't have to be ride-able. That gave me some peace of mind that there might be some alternatives.

I heard back from the wife earlier in the week and she told me they wanted her back! I was SO RELIEVED! I'm still sad. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I had thought all I would have to do was spend some time riding them to get them used to being ridden again. I never dreamed I would have two I couldn't ride. I hate to break up the group. Diamond and Patches are siblings. At least I know she will be well taken care of. I was also worried about her being alone but the wife told me there is a neighbor with a donkey on one side and a horse on the other that Patches hung out with when they had her.

Things just haven't turned out the way I hoped. She will be going back to her former owners in a few days. The closer it gets the more it makes me sad and I cry. I will miss her.