I was told to be patient- but how could I be? This magnificent horse was in great pain. No one seemed to be able to bring him out of his state of discomfort....

No farrier yet. I sent Mike over to Clint’s house to tape a letter to his door. The letter simply said “Racer Needs You!” I called my vet and got a lecture on being patient which I didn’t appreciate. How can I be patient when the horse I love is in such pain. I started researching more on the Internet, I emailed a lot of people, and read up on founder, laminitis, cushigsoid  and side effects of bute. I cursed that it was Sunday and nothing was opened. I made lists of things to do on Monday, people to call, the list got longer.  Racer was in his stall in the morning and I went out and told him he had to move. I told him I knew he was in great pain, but he had to keep his blood flowing. I told him I had hay out by the tree about 40 feet away, and his buddy was there eating already. I asked him to move, I didn’t halter or rope him, and finally with great reluctance he carefully wobbled his way over to the tree.

I checked on him so many times that day. Sometimes I saw him far off in the field, leaning against the fence. A couple of times, I would see him lying down and then I would check on him more frequently to make sure he moved his head or his position. We did our creek thing together, and I praised him for walking that far. I noticed the last time we made our walk, his steps got a tiny bit quicker, the closer he got to the water. I know he found the icy water to be welcome relief to the fire that was consuming his legs.

I tried to attend to internet business, but my mind was preoccupied. I was hoping my farrier would call, but as of 11:40 p.m. the phone remained silent.  I did talk to a vet in Eugene that practices the Strasser Method- a controversial trimming of the foot that takes a normal foot and makes it shaped differently. It is too involved to go into here but it just another option to think about carefully. Then I decided that I better start journaling this. For like his last illness, there are always lessons to be learned and  people to meet along the way.  I knew by now, that this was not going to get fixed quickly. It will be a long recovery process once it starts. It will be expensive that I am sure of. Tomorrow morning, I will start Racer on some herbs to soothe his gut. The bute, I read when you use it long-term, can blow holes in a horse's gut.