MSRA ↠ Back Again

25 ↠ youth

"Kat, thanks for coming. I have news about Moose," Dr. Sharon explained as she welcomed me into the clinic. She pulled out some scans and papers for me to look at, although I wasn't really sure what exactly I was looking at. "Okay so as you know, I have brought Moose over here so I can keep a closer eye on him and begin treatment. I have good news: His injury isn't in his muscular system, meaning his ligaments and tendons are fine."

"I feel a but coming on," I said. She bit her lip and pulled out an x-ray before putting it on the light board.

"It's his pastern. He has a pretty good fracture," she explained. "Cause not entirely sure, he may have gotten kicked, but he may have kicked something hard and overloaded the joint."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "How serious is this?"

"Luckily for us, he didn't end up shattering anything like we commonly see with this sort of injury," she pointed to a dark line on the x-ray. "The problem with this sort of injury is that it basically guarantees the formation of arthritis in the joint, and we want to cut down on that risk as much as we can."

"That does that mean for me?" I asked.

"Basically, you're going to want to retire Moose from his current line of work."

I stood there shocked for a minute. Moose was my pride and joy. He was the first horse I started and trained on my own. He was certainly something to be proud of, as he had so much potential and loved what he did. And now because of an accidental happening, it's all getting taken away from both of us.

After I took a few moments to think about it and to calm myself down, I composed myself and continued. "Alright. What can I do for him?"

"We're going to definitely put him on pain meds to take the edge off. I'd say at least two months of stall rest, then slowly start incorporating hand walking, increasing time by the week. Standing wraps, of course," she explained. "Now for his future. He'll definitely be able to do walk, trot, canter no problem, but I'd say no jumping higher than 18 inches to two feet. Any higher and he'll definitely suffer from arthritis at a much earlier age than if we take it easy."

"Okay," I agreed with her. "This is all a lot to take in."

"It is," Dr. Sharon nodded. "I'm so sorry he had to suffer this injury at such a young age, but it could have gone a lot worse."

"Thank you so much for your help, Dr. Sharon. Is there any chance I can go see him?"

"Of course. I'll lead the way."

Dr. Sharon led me through the clinic and out to the back where the inpatient stalls were. She brought me right to Moose's stall, where I saw my poor horse with all four legs wrapped as he stood in a haze in the corner.

"He's on pain meds so he's a bit wonky right now," she explained. "I'm going to recommend that he stay here for a few weeks before he gets trailered home, to minimize the risk associated with trailering him."

"That's fine," I said as I stepped into Moose's stall. He glanced my way but made no effort to move. I took his head in my hands and just let him soothingly, and soon enough, he had dozed off standing there. Dr. Sharon had to leave to take care of a few things, so I just sat there with Moose for almost an hour. I'm not gonna lie, I got a bit emotional, letting my tears loose multiple times. Moose was my everything who loved his job. Now he needed to stop doing what he loved.

When I had to go, I gave Moose one more hug before leaving. I quietly slipped out of his stall and slid the door shut before retiring back to the dorms. I was still in my riding gear and was in dire need of a shower. When I walked into the dorm, Bridge, Abby, and Noah were in the living room waiting for me.

"So what's the news?" Abby asked. Noah put his arm around my shoulder and I took a deep breath.

"He's pretty injured," I started. I explained everything to them - the fracture, the prognosis, and everything in between. By the end of my rambling, I was back in tears, and I could tell that the rest of them were a bit emotional as well.

"Kat, I'm so sorry," Bridge apologized as she wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. "I could never imagine going through something like that."

She just held me there for a moment, and I let the tears flow freely. Noah next took me in his arms and let me fully cry myself out, until my face was red and I was so dehydrated I had a headache and cracked lips.

This was how I spent my night. Emotional, exhausted, and completely broken.