Day 27

I believe I made the right choice by giving Little Love pain medication yesterday.  When I saw her in the morning, I could tell right away that the night had not been as bad as the previous nights.  She had been drinking lots of water, she had been eating and most of all, she had been moving in her stall instead of standing in one spot.

I was able to pick up her feet and look at them more closely, as now she was capable of standing on three feet without collapsing.  The worst one, in my opinion, is the right front, which is also looking a bit swollen up the leg.  I remember that on Monday, when I looked at her feet closely after the trimmer was gone, I saw small pearls of blood seeping through the bottom of the lateral side of her sole where the sole is contracted and sort of "bulding out".  This part is still very, very thin on that foot.  In fact, it is so thin and soft that it gives visibly if you push on it with your finger.  You can also see some bruising under the sole.  Not good.

Little Love was very motivated to go outside today, which is the other benefit of being on the meds, as I can see that movement helps her a lot.  She didn't, however, want to come out of her stall again at first, as she remembered how painful walking on that floor was.  But this time I had found some old rugs from our house and brought them with me to set on the floor of the barn.  Little Love and Col both snorted several times while I rolled out the two carpets.  Once Col was over the carpets and went out, Lilo became a little flustered and panicky.  She obviously wanted to go after him, but wasn't sure she wanted to walk out on a red carpet, no less.  I went in her stall and stepped out on the first rug, showing her it was alright.  She sighed and put her foot on it tentatively.  It must have felt a heck of a lot better than the barn floor, since she suddenly just walked out of her stall into the aisle.  She was really limping that right front.  Well, it wasn't like she was sound on any of her feet, but you know, the right front was the worst.

I talked with Becky again about letting the horses stay out for the night, but she was completely against it.  Unfortunately, I know that Little Love will not stay on her own without getting really stressed out.  We can't even keep the barn door open, as Becky wants Col "tucked in" for the night in his warm and cozy stall with his blanket on and the heat on high.  I know, she doesn't maybe quite understand that he is a horse (and needs the opposite), but since I am at her barn, she calls certain shots for now.  I'm still working on getting her to stop heating the already warm barn...

The good news is that the weather has changed and it was extremely warm today.  This also means that the ground started defrosting slowly, but surely.  Halleluyah.  I gave Lilo some more pain meds today and am planning to continue one more day.  Then, I will stop and see what happens.  I realize she will still be sore, but if the pain is manageable, I would like to stop the meds, as it's never good to give your horse that stuff.  But, it has gotten us through some rough spots.  Without the meds, she wouldn't moved at all and movement is so crucial for this healing process.  When I called Becky this afternoon, she said the horses had been going back and forth on the field, which is great news.  Little Love had also rolled in mud, another good sign!

Also, I got an email back from the place where I ordered the boots and they said TWO WEEKS before they had any in that size.  What??? I don't HAVE two weeks.  Luckily, and after spending some quality time on the internet, I found a company in England that sells those same ones and even would give me the gel pads to go with them for free.  But they only ship to the UK.  Luckily Becky is going to London (where she has an appartment) next week so I was able to get them shipped there.  BEcky will pick them up on Wednesday and bring them to me Thursday.  I can't wait for that to happen.  This is the fastest way I can get the boots as there is no tack shop in this area that sells them; they have to be ordered on the internet.

Phew.  I am exhausted and am hoping for a good sleep tonight.  I might have gotten some gray hairs over this ordeal (as has Little Love, too, no doubt) but we are slowly making it through to the next week.  I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but at least I can see some light shimmering through the trees. 

Thank you all for your support and a special thank you to Shelby in California for working her (distant) healing magic with Lilo, every little bit helps!