What the vet says now

Dr. B. thinks that Kaswyn is 85% better today than he was last Wednesday before the injection. Personally I feel that has a lot to do with the 2 grams of bute he's been getting. Anyhow, Dr. B does not think he should have another surgery any time soon. He thinks that the neuromas are not that bad and, although they are sensitive, that they will slowly become less active over time.

The new plan is to give Kaswyn 1 gram a bute a day for 30 days. I should start working him again, lightly, and slowly try to bring him back to his former work level. He says I should expect that I'll have to push him sometimes, and that he might not feel great from day to day. He wants me to look for improvement over the next few months. He feels that should be enough time that Kaswyn should have improved somewhat.

This plan sounds fine with me, although I'm not completely optimistic. However, I'll give it a try because I'm really not eager to cut my horse open again. The only thing that will be hard is forcing him to work when he doesn't want to. Kaswyn is not a lazy horse by nature and is usually very happy and willing to go to work. Because Dr. B. assured me that I won't be doing any damage by making him work, I'm going to try and do it. It's going to be very hard, but I'll try.

This has not been an easy ordeal for my husband. The way he sees it, I have a relationship with another man. I make special arrangements to spend time with the other man, I spend A LOT of money on him, and sometimes he makes me cry. This does not make Craig happy. It's really frustrating to him to see me like this. I know he just wants me to retire my horse and be done with it.

While I'm not looking forward to retiring Kaswyn, I know I will have to eventually. The goal at this point is to get my horse pain free. I thought the neurectomy would do that, but it has not. Now I feel like I have a duty to make sure that this horse does not live in pain for the rest of his life. What kind of life would that be for him? Really, after all he has given me I owe him that and much more. So I want to make the pain go away. When he doesn't hurt anymore, then I can evaluate if we are able to train and compete again. If so, great. If not, fine. I retire my horse, with the knowledge that he's comfortable and happy.