Chad 2.0...

From Jim: Chad is a buckskin Quarterhorse around 30 years old. Before he came to us, he was a therapy horse. He has worn his teeth to the gums and keeping his weight up is a real issue. He was retired because his back got too sore to continue working. A couple of days ago, he pulled up lame on the left rear-really tender. There was swelling from the hock down to the fetlock. The hoof and leg showed no external wounds. He had apparently wrenched his hock, maybe a slip in the mud or ? He has some arthritis in his legs as any 30 year old does. A twist would hurt a lot. The swelling, a pitting edema, was sinuvial fluid building up in the capsule of the hock joint. We loaded him up and took off to the vet's clinic. Dr. Darling was booked up and, due to a schedule that would have been really difficult to change, it made sense to take Chad in. An examination confirmed the injury. What to do with a 30 year old with worn out teeth and arthritic joints that's torqued a hock? We try to let the animal make the call. If they're done, weary of the battle to go on, off their feed, suffering moment to moment, we offer a final gift of kindness. If the critter makes it clear they're in the fight and not ready to pack it in, we go for treatment and the chance to recover. Chad was all in! He was not about to concede and give up. The good Doc drained the joint, injected steroids and antibiotics, and wrapped the leg for support. We made sure Chad got some pain meds. We're keeping him in the stock trailer. It's clean, dry, and warm. It restricts his movement. He hates it and lets us know what rotten people we are. He'll be there until tomorrow when the wrapping comes off and exercise will help more than hurt. In the meantime, Chad thinks that we're mean this time. Chad may not make another winter. He might not have even without this injury. So why go to all the trouble and effort? Because it's what a sanctuary is all about. Chad's days are precious to him and to us. He wants to live and feel the warm sun and enjoy his feed buckets full of senior sack chow. He wants to be petted and groomed and share time with Juan, his friend. We needed to give the chance to have those things. His days of work are over. These days are his. We want him to have as many of them as he can get. We would never ask him to suffer needlessly. He'll let us know when we're there. Dr. Darling often says, "Short term pain for long term gain". If, for Chad, that long term is just one more summer, well, that's OK. For him, that's all of his time and we value it.