Good-bye

Riyah, my beautiful sweet girl, was quietly laid to rest yesterday evening out at Judy's ranch. I am still in shock. Still crying. It's midnight and I can't sleep. I keep seeing the last two months going round and round and round in my mind. It has been a long and painful ordeal, but she is in pain no longer.

I had bad news at her vet appointment. Deterioration of the bone. Another bone chip. Serious inflammation. The vet could offer me no hope. He recommended that Riyah be put down. I am devastated, but I am glad she isn't hurting anymore.

There are no words for what I feel. Those who have been through this know what I mean.

Rollercoaster

This rollercoaster is so hard to deal with. Poor Riyah. Her leg doesn't look good. Still swollen and painful. I can't tell if she is getting better at all. Some days I think she is worse, but other days she seems a little more comfortable. She is still quite lame, and last week she had two days where she was on three legs again. It's so hard. I know it will take time, but I don't like to see her hurting. I give her a shot of Adequan (5cc) every four days. She also gets Rapid Response twice a day in her beet pulp mixture. I give her Bute on the really bad days, too. I am trying to be patient and keep telling myself these things take time. I just want to see enough improvement to know that we are on the right coarse and she is getting better.

I have been really down lately. It's the worry and the not knowing and the grief associated with lost dreams and just the fact that I really miss our rides together. She was such a fun horse.

Two Weeks Past Surgery

Riyah has made it to the two week mark and had her follow-up with the vet. He thought she was moving better than pre-surgery. Her hock is still quite swollen, but he told me that was not unusual at this stage following an invasive procedure like she had. He injected the joint with Adequan, and I will give her 5cc IM every 4 days for six treatments. I am also giving her Rapid Response HF+ which should help, too. The vet told me that was a good backup to have going.

Dr. Cody also instructed me to start hand-walking Riyah (yay!) 15 minutes a day. When I got home I walked her around in the arena and she was happy to be out of jail! The first thing she wanted to do was roll in the sand! I am going to re-arrange the panels in the barn to give her a slightly bigger area and to let her wander outside to stand in the sun. That should be good for her.

Keno and the Babysitter are hanging out with Riyah. Keno has stepped up to the plate and is back in the number one spot as far as riding goes and I must say he seems happy about that. We had a great ride in Payson Canyon last week and had fun jumping a few logs here and there.