Keep Looking Up

For those of you who know me, you know I can be really negative. It takes a lot of work for me to look on the bright side or think positively, and when a lot of negative things happen to me, I tend to walk around with a thundercloud over my head.

So when I went out to the barn Sunday to trot my horse for the first time after his hock injections, and he came up lame, I did the only thing a pre-professional 23 year old woman wouldn't do. I cried like a baby.

The vet had warned me that if hock injections didn't work, Candy would probably never be working sound again. When Candy was lame, I was frustrated; my gut was telling me Candy wasn't done, and by the way Candy was trotting, he was telling me he wasn't done- just a little stiff and achey.

I've spent a couple hours trolling through veterinary websites looking for research on hock arthritis, scoured through COTH forums, and consulted a couple of friends. And now I'm going "balls-to-the-wall" with solutions hoping one will work:

• Consulting Dr. Ruggles at Rood and Riddle for alternative therapies/joint approaches
• Back on Track hock boots
• Hind shoes (he's got twinkly feet now, the fancy pants)
• Adding Cosequin ASU
• Changing our warm-up and flatting routine

Being proactive and positive ("One of these has to work!") is all I can do right now; doing things helps me from going crazy when the going gets tough. It means if it all goes south, I will have tried every option offered to me (within financial reason), and that's enough to comfort me.

This first year in Alabama has been a rough one: ulcers, 2 bouts of colic, and now joint disease, but through it all, I keep telling myself Candy and I will get back into the show ring, and doing what we love. It's an uphill battle right now, and sometimes (a lot of the time) I would love to hitch a ton of balloons to my apartment and float away to Kentucky. 

I just need to keep thinking positive and everything will turn out fine.

-K&C