You
know it must be Tuesday when you're heading downhill for the truck rather than
uphill for the car, and you're manoeuvring six times to get the trailer
hitched up on your own. Fortunately Theoden loaded like a dream even though he
knew it was Tuesday too and that we were not just loading for practise. With
Tracey riding shotgun we were off to the vet's again. I'd been avoiding watching
Theoden trot, but if the way he came up the field to greet me this morning was
anything to go by then I thought he was pretty sound. This was confirmed by
Martin (Peaty) who I have forgiven all his hearty patting of horses, and could have kissed
right then, because it was his skill and expertise that has narrowed down the
'fault' to something associated with Theoden's coffin bone. The next step will be
an MRI scan so that we can rule out a hole in the deep flexor tendon and make
absolutely certain that we are giving the right treatment and medication.
The tendon would mean a long period of box rest whereas arthritis would means keep moving.
Back home by 10.15 a.m. we gave the trailer a celebratory scrub and went scrumping for blackberries and rosehips which the big horses love and the little equines hate.
After
a poignant farewell it was time to load Ivy to travel home to Cornwall where
she will be reunited with her mother and brother. Who knows what these
horses think and feel when they are abruptly taken away from their friends but
it's a good job they know how to love the one they're with. I hope my horses
know that they are a safe quorum no matter who else comes and goes.
"Ivy is v happy with her mum and aunty! John is amazed how calm she seems - she came up to him for food for the first time ever and isn't constantly hyper-vigilant any more." MM 21.9.16
To
get over my little bit of grief I went to see if I could find Nelly and Blue. I
haven't seen either of them since before the drift. Andrew the Agister said
that they were last seen galloping towards Telegraph Hill, in other words, The Opposite
Direction to the Pound, on the day of the drift. With Theoden on sick leave I haven't
been able to go very far to find them. Anyway, I found one but not
the other.
