Waiting

Between April 5 and June 10 life for Demetrias and I consisted of keeping him medicated and staying off his back. His body was/is completely fine but if I were to work him I would increase the pulse behind his eyes and this needed to be avoided. Since grazing is one of his favorite things to do I usually got on him in order to walk him because otherwise, walking wouldn't happen.

Even though we were contained to the walk I continued to work with him on staying forward and on the bit, creating a bend, yielding to the leg and creating a perfect (attempt) bend at the poll. This was a definite test for both of us since I tend to get bored with ring work.

D had a re-eval by Dr. E and not much had changed. We continued to do medicine and keep him as comfortable as possible.

Meanwhile, I was wrestling my own emotions. With uveitis there are no known answers. You don't have a list of steps to follow and he can't talk and tell me how he's feeling. My school year was ending in a whirlwind and my health (headaches and vertigo) was struggling. I worried if I was making the right choices, if I could continue to afford his medicine and if the insurance would actually come through. Plus, I wasn't really riding and so I had lost that avenue for stress relief.

Since I had been off of him for so long I was having a hard time seeing beyond the here and now. I also felt like I needed to think of the worst case scenario as well. D had been dealing with this for awhile but now I was aware of it and so I was sensitive to his actions and second guessed myself often. However, my horse couldn't have been easier to treat. He started to realize that taking a carrot right after his oral Banamine was a better choice rather than refusing treats after nasty tasting medicine, like he used to.

I refused to let him develop bad habits even though he was bored, even though he was not working. This insistence on good behavior would pay off later on.

Uncertain of how we were going to get there (trailer troubles) I made an appointment for D back at NC State. The plan? An initial evaluation to see if his eyes were calm enough for the cyclo- sporin implant. If they were the surgery would take place the following day.