He’s Just a Really Good Boy Who’s Hurting
When Covid swept the country in 2020 my children had both left the house to venture out on their own and i started working from home full time for a new role at Microsoft. I found that I had a lot of time on my hands, and the financial freedom to add another horse to the 27 year old, semi-retired, quarter horse gelding that was my Son’s horse (and my buddy).
I heard about this crazy horse that needed to be drugged for the farrier and bucked several people off. His latest adventure in bucking broke a young woman’s pelvis in several place.
I always enjoy a good challenge, and with my extensive experience working with “problem horses” I was interested in taking him on as a project.
After being introduced to Cowboy in August of 2020 I ended up buying him from his previous owner Shawna. While he was painted as an unmanageable and unpredictably dangerous I had spent 5 months with basic ground work and eventually got on his back. He had been exhibiting calming behavior, was good with the farrier, and was excellent under saddle. On the second day we trotted, while in a relaxed and loose reign, Cowboy exploded into a violent buck. I went back at square one with him again with ground work when he was coming along. Then out of nowhere exploded with just the halter and saddle on and injured himself causing a puncture wound and joint infection to the inside of his left hock.
In August of 2021 (nearly one year since I bought him) Cowboy underwent surgery for his leg and recovered through the month of September when one of his Veterinarians discovered a possible Sacroiliac Joint injury. I opted to have a bone scan of Cowboy done to properly diagnose what was going on, and possibly find any other issues he might have. The bone scan unfortunately revealed a number of issues in Cowboy with a grim prognosis. Considering Cowboy’s quality of life, the decision was made to put him down.
In November of 2021, just one year and two months after I met Cowboy, he was laid to rest at the top of the hill at Shawna’s house.
You can read the full story on 6 long blog posts starting with The Introduction.
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Cowboy Changed Me – Is This Really Goodbye?
It was a Tuesday that we said Goodbye to Cowboy. He taught me patience and that I truly have a passion for equine veterinary work.
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Cowboy Changed Me – Quality of Life
Cowboy got his bone scans which showed significant damage to his neck, back and three of his legs.
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Cowboy Changed Me – Healing
The Vet said “Get him to Pilchuck immediately”. The joint infection was getting bad, and we needed to get it treated.
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Cowboy Changed Me – Back to Square One
In September of 2020, during the Covid pandemic, I bought a Horse. Though I only spent just over a year with this older ex-ranch horse, the red roan gelding taught me so much during my time with him. This is that story Up to this point it had been several months since I was introduced
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Cowboy Changed Me – I Got Sucker Bucked
Riding Cowboy was like a dream. He was responsive, eager to please and an excellent partner. There was just this one thing: He just didn’t like the saddle.
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Cowboy Changed Me – Working Towards Riding
In September of 2020, during the Covid pandemic, I bought a Horse. Though I only spent just over a year with this older ex-ranch horse, the red roan gelding taught me so much during my time with him. This is that story In my previous post I talked about meeting Shawna and talking with Audrey
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Cowboy Changed Me – The Introduction
I heard them talking about this crazy horse that bucked the trainer, broke a woman’s pelvis and had to be drugged when shoeing. I knew I had to have him!
