Oh Shadow!

Having an older horse can offer some great benefits. They are usually well trained, been there done that, they don't have as much energy as the younger ones and are happy to hang out when life gets too busy for us humans.

Having an older pony like Shadow can be challenging. He is mostly grumpy and set in his ways. He bites, pins his ears back, and wants the world to think he is the toughest guy around. But I love him just the way he is. He is an open book, no baggage (thanks to his previous owner of 25 years) We have a connection that can never be matched. We used to ride everywhere, and he will do anything for me. As crabby as he is I know that he loves me. Maybe because I understand him and would never want him any other way.

When he decided not to take his medicine anymore I honored that. And it really makes no sense to pay the high price for the meds just to throw them out. It doesn't matter what kind of food I put it in, he refuses it. The option was to put it in a syringe everyday and give it to him that way. That would have been a horrible thing to do to him. Some horses could probably handle it, not Shadow. It would kill his spirit, he doesn't deserve that. It has been a few months now and I'm not sure how much longer this great little pony will be with me. His weight has leveled off, he is still too thin. Increasing his grain and adding the oil did cause his insulin to go up. Laminitis started to set in last Wed. He was walking slower and shifting the weight back and forth on his front feet. I gave him some bute and waited. It didn't take long for him to improve. David and I left for a couple of days while I had people checking on him. A gave him 2 more doses of bute and J stopped by to take a look at him. He pulled though it without foundering again. It's been a few days without the bute and he seems fine.

On Sunday morning when I went out to feed there was C and Chance but no Shadow! As I came around the corner I noticed almost all the fencing was down in the ponies paddock. C was pacing back and forth at what was the gate. What an angel, even though there was no fence he stayed in the paddock. Afraid to cross the invisible line. Chance was in his paddock talking to me like he always does, "Where's breakfast?" Then I found him. The little sh-- was standing in the middle of the green lush grass enjoying his breakfast. He looked at me as if to say "What's your problem?" I walked over with the halter and he took off in his cute little trot to the gate at the road. Thank goodness it was shut because I know I would have been on another pony hunt in the woods. I picked some clover and the temptation was too much for him. He happily ate it while I put his halter on and brought him back to the paddock. Everyone ate hay while I did fence repairs. So I waited for the laminitis to start up again, but so far so good. It's been over 24 hours now so I think we escaped another close call. Never a dull moment.