Poor Midnight, he's got an owie.

I am a little worried about my poor old Midnight (my quarterhorse, for those not familiar with him); he has been lame with navicular for several years now, and has mostly been just a little lame. Enough so that I haven't been able to ride him for quite awhile, but not so much that he's really uncomfortable. I changed farriers awhile ago, and since Nick has been shoeing him he's been much better, and I was hoping to start a little light work with my boy soon. The last two days or so he's been worse than I've ever seen him, though; it might be that he's a little overdue for his next trim due to some scheduling confusion with Nick. I hope that is the case; his feet have gotten quite long and that really affects the angle of his hoof, which causes more pressure on the bones in his feet. Today when I was bringing him in from his paddock he kind of scared me; he was trying so hard to lean on me as we walked he almost pushed me over. I had him in the cross ties this afternoon to groom him, and he kept rocking back onto his hind legs, trying to take the pressure off his front feet. Poor old fellow, I felt so bad for him. The only thing I can do for him is to get him to take some medication to reduce the pain and inflammation, and that's not easy. He's so smart he figures out really quickly that the 'Bute is in his grain or whatever, and refuses to eat it. Yesterday I tried hiding it in a pear, but he took one bite and spat it out. I did get him to take it today by mixing it in some beet pulp and molasses, thank heavens. I'm going to have to just syringe it into him, I think (and that's a whole other effort!) but I have to pick up a big syringe from work before I can do that. Sue and I talked about it, and I'm going to keep him in for a couple of days until the 'bute helps. He gets pretty stiff when he's in for any length of time, but I'm worried that he's so unsteady on his feet right now he might fall and not be able to get up. Worse, he might fall and hurt someone else in doing so. It's a tough thing to deal with, because it's a chronic, degenerative disease that has no cure; all I can do is manage it as best I can, so he's as comfortable as he can be.

If any of you horsey type people on my flist have any other ideas, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Ah,well, this is part of life with horses. They get hurt, and they get sick, just like we do. I just wish I could make him all better by waving my magic wand. He's only 10, still a young horse, but for all intents and purposes he's a retiree, just like his owner.

My poor old boy.