Well, it wasn't his back.

Peg hopped into the trailer early on Wednesday morning on three legs.  He was very subdued on the way to the LSU vet school, but he perked up when he arrived.  He thinks he is something special and always wants to show off when he is in a new environment.  There was a lot of activity that morning. It would have been amusing to watch Peg's three-legged antics if I had not known how badly he was hurting.  It takes a lot to lower his spirits, so he was behaving like his normal, bright self.

After doing a careful examination of Peg's back, Dr. McCauley decided that Peg's back was not the problem.  He went on to look at the rest of Peg's body, and he especially looked at his right hind hoof, the lame one.  It turned out to be the source of Peg's acute lameness.  Peg has a recurrence of the abscess he had a few months ago.  It was large and painful.  Dr. McCauley had x-rays taken of the hoof in order to discover the extent of the cavity in Peg's foot.  Thankfully, it was not too deep, and it had not penetrated into the delicate inner structures of the foot.

To make a long story short, Peg needs more soaking, wrapping, and care.  He also needs a fancy shoe, so we will need to enlist our farrier's help.  This time, we ordered a special soaking boot and a hoof protection boot, so I don't have to wrestle with Peg's foot anymore.  He isn't sure he approves of that.

We will have to go back to the vet school after this abscess heals in order to diagnose the back/lameness issue.  However, I am so thankful that my boy is not hurting like he was on Wednesday morning.  Praise the Lord!

Back to the LSU Vet School

Last time we went to the LSU vet school, we were rushing our little palomino gelding in for an emergency colic surgery.  This time it isn't quite as dramatic. 

Pegasus has not improved with his month of rest, and in fact he appears much worse.  He hurts so badly that he can hardly hobble around, so we are taking him to the vet school for an examination tomorrow.  We'll haul Buddy, Rusty, and Peg up to GaitWay in the morning, then continue on to the vet with Peg. 

Please pray with us that the vet will be able to diagnose the problem and start the healing process.  It is really hard to see Peg in such pain, but I am trusting God in this.  I know He has a plan.

The Wood-burning Stove

We got a wood-burning stove installed in our house this summer.  I know, summer seems like an odd time to put a stove in one's house, but we wanted it to be ready for this fall and winter.  Our house's previous owners had made a place in which to put a stove, so all we had to do was hire someone to do the actual installation.  The stove looks really nice in its little niche.  Daddy lit the first fires in it this past week. It wasn't so very cold, but we couldn't wait to try our new stove.  We like it a lot, because it lights quickly and allows the firewood to burn well.  Our house is going to be cozy this winter.

A Change of Plans

We had Dr. Justin, our vet, out to do a routine procedure on Peg and Jack a little over two weeks ago.  While he was here, I asked him to examine Peg's back.  I had been noticing that Peg was sore and that one of his vertebrae appeared to be out of alignment, and I wanted to see what Dr. Justin would think of it.  He palpated Peg's back and found that he is extremely sore.  Dr. Justin has prescribed a month of rest for Peg, which means he cannot go to GaitWay or be ridden at all.  I am missing my horsey friend, and I can't take him on trail rides for a while.

Hopefully the rest will give Peg's back a chance to heal, and he can go back to his normal schedule.  I do not know what happened to make Peg so sore, but we are guessing that he fell hard while playing around in his pasture.  If the rest period doesn't fix Peg's injured back, we'll have to look at other options.

In the meantime, Rusty is doing Peg's job at GaitWay.  Rusty is very good at it, and the exercise will be beneficial to him.  He is such a funny old guy, and he dislikes exercise in most forms.  However, the work at GaitWay is his kind of thing.

Guess who I am riding?

Poco has come out of retirement to fill in for Peg as my riding horse.  I love riding her, and I am glad that she is able to be ridden.  Poco was excited about getting back to work, and she has shown plenty of energy and willingness.  Retirement wasn't her idea in the first place.  She is going to be my trail companion this fall.  Hold on to your hats, everybody, because Poco can be a wild ride!

GaitWay Therapeutic Horsemanship

We have been praying for God to provide us with a ministry opportunity using our horses, and he has abundantly answered our prayers.  We have enjoyed having many people over to our house to ride and relax, and it has been a blessing to watch how they interact with the horse.  God recently provided Annie and Buddy with a weekly riding student, a young girl named Autumn. 

All of that is exciting, but the most recent horse ministry is the most exciting one to me.  Momma and I have been volunteering at GaitWay, and we love it.  Working with the horses and riders is such a special job.  GaitWay has a need for more horses, so we brought Peg and Buddy up to try out for the job of therapy horse.  They were a big hit, and we will be bringing them every Wednesday. 

There was a Special Olympics event last Saturday, and Buddy was able to be one of the three horses brought by GaitWay.  A little boy named Tristan rode him, and they won two second place ribbons: one in Western Equitation, and one in Western Trail.  Our whole family enjoyed going and taking part in the Special Olympics.  The event started and ended with a prayer, which we appreciated.  It was a beautiful day, our riders had a blast, everyone remained safe, and we all had a lovely time.  Seeing the expressions on the riders' faces was priceless.  They were so happy just to be there and ride that they didn't really care what color their ribbon was. 

We feel so blessed that God has provided us these horses and the many ways we can use them for his glory.  I can't wait to see what other ministries God may give us.