Designer Horses: 2010: Recap

Sorry I've been absent so much lately. Too much to focus on and not enough time to do it. I'd like to look back at the whirlwind that was 2010.

We started the year Jan 1 at the retirement farm, while Jimmy hung out on stall rest and patiently waited while we tried to decipher what was wrong with him. All through Jan & February he was totally stall-bound and we were stumped.He also got a big fancy new blankey to help keep him warm.

Jimmy, February 2010. New Blankey.

We thought it might be insulin resistance, but when all the tests and bloodwork came back negative, we had to keep thinking. For a few weeks he seemed to improve and I started riding again, only to discover that he would come up dead lame without a moment's notice and I'd be sitting back at square one.

In April Dr. John & I decided to flex & block him & when that was still inconclusive, we went ahead and did radiographs. This was when we realized my life and Jimmy's was about to change - we found OCD chips in both front fetlocks, which would require surgery to remove.

May 7th, 2010 Mom & I rented a trailer & Jimmy went to Morrie Waud Equine Clinic for OCD Removal Surgery. It went off without a hitch and he was on the trailer to come home two hours later.

Jimmy Choo in surgery, May 7, 2010 at Morrie Waud Equine Clinic

Over a long, hot, and painfully slow summer Jimmy Choo and I bonded while he recovered. It took much longer than anticipated. At one point I had made the decision that if he didn't make a full recovery I would put him down, because his life is too beautiful to waste if he were suffering. He wasn't himself anymore, he stood in his stall sulking all day every day since Christmas of 2009, he wasn't rambunctious even when he got to go for walks, and his personality was fading.

And just like a switch, he was back. Big, bold, beautiful and rambunctious as ever. He felt better, and let EVERYONE know it!!! Jimmy was soon again under saddle. In late October we moved barns so we could spend this winter working and growing together to get back where we left off – comfortably in an indoor arena!!!

More rapidly than I could have imagined, Jimmy is back, full-force, jumping regularly and in a full working program. He's stronger, more agile, and more responsive than he has ever been and I'd be lying if I didn't admit I never thought he'd be the same – let alone BETTER!! I am so grateful of this whirlwind of a year Jimmy and I have had together, it is definitely one for the books!