Praying for a Miracle

Holy moly tonight was a sauna at the farm. BLECH!!!! It was brutal.

I grabbed Jim and groomed him. I put DMSO in his hooves today, heard that helps with soreness...so I figured what the heck. Tomorrow I am going to the Healthy Horse Workshop at Saddlers Row, so I'll pick up some Durasole or Keratex, whichever they have in stock. Hopefully Durasole.

I got on, despite the heat, and started walking bareback. He felt great. Some days I get on and can just tell that he is happy and feels good. We walked twice around each direction, practicing flexion and lateral work across the diagonal. He was beautiful. I felt my heart swell, it felt so incredible to be on him and WORKING again. However, it was short-lived. Started the trot to the right and he seemed "meh". As we progressed to the right (still, straight sides only) he gradually became worse. To the left he was downright violent. No part of him wanted to trot. The bugs were getting to him, it was hot, and he plainly didn't feel good. I got off and took his bridle off and made him trot around me once. Left Front.

I'm trying to research online. Trying to find something to do or try or...SOMETHING. Anything that will help him. What breaks my heart isn't that I can't ride, it's that he's hurting and I can't help him. We've done everything and there's absolutely no improvement in his soundness. My parents say leave him in the field and let him be for a year. I'm a hands-on type. I can't do that. I tried for a week and felt horrible by the end.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't want to do nothing, but we've already tried "something" a lot of times. I'm praying for a miracle. Please help me.