Keep on Dreamin'

Hi y'all,

The rambling' cowgirl has been, well, been a rambling woman the past couple weeks! Sorry for the lack of posts, but my momma and I had a wonderful 6 days in Colorado where we figured out a lot of details for the wedding comin up pretty soon!

So what have I been up to since being back home? Well for one, I haven't let go of Texas. He ain't allowed to let me go anywhere ever again without him!!! Sheesh!

I've been busy working in attempt to make up for all of the hours lost while in Colorado. This leads me to my third thing..

I've been a little mopey over a recent discovery.

I took my princess pony to the vet before I left to Colorado for a routine dental checkup and yearly shots. I also decided to ask about my growing concern regarding her feet. To make a long story short, I've noticed jade over the past several months to be in mild discomfort, but I became very concerned within the last week before her vet appointment.

As it turns out, I was right to be concerned. I had a new shoer the last couple months and my suspicions were confirmed. Poor shoeing led her to have a decrease in good hoof growth. Her hoof walls had become extremely cracked, practically overnight. Among other things, she seemed to favor her right front foot. I had finally narrowed down where i thought she had some swelling.

Well, I should have really been a vet. I pretty much pinpointed the problem which was confirmed by some X-rays.

Jade, the horse every little girl dreams of having, has arthritis. At age 5.

It's not known how long she's had arthritis, but the pain became very apparent after a bad shoer. The vet couldn't have put it any other way - id be better off investing the money I. Was about to spend on jade into another barrel prospect.

What the vet doesn't realize - jade was my prospect. This was not what I had in mind for her future. I bought her knowing if she was injured a few years down the road, I could breed her and get some hellacious babies. But, 'retiring' her at 5? Unreal.

Anyways, I've decided to fork what little money I do have into trying some treatments to see if she will seem more comfortable. After corrective shoes, an injection, an anti-inflammatory, her swelling has disappeared and her gait is looking better. She was still just barely off when I took her back to the vet last week, so I'm hoping with an injection she will be sound.

I have high hopes for this mare. We will probably never be one of the top girls, even here at out tough local races. All I ask for at this point, is the opportunity to ride her, barrel race for fun, and see what happens. I'd love to be able to pay for the top medicine on the market to pay for her, but that's not an option for me.

In the meantime, we could use some positive vibes over this direction. I'm a little tore up about my girl, but I know she's got a lot of heart and may be more stubborn than me. We may just have a chance.

'Keep on dreaming, even if it breaks your heart.' - Eli Young Band