Coming Home

Today is the day that TC comes home. I can't believe I just wrote those words. I'm beyond excited to have him back with me but I know that the battle has not been won just yet. We have more rehabilitation to do and a long road ahead to full recovery, but I'm so happy to be taking this next step. I get to go see my horse every day now.

Big shout out to everyone who stuck with this blog in the last six months, it's been so incredibly boring I just can't stand it. Hopefully it will get more interesting as I can finally write about my favorite little baby horse. It's going to be tough to not write about EVERY ride since I've basically been writing a post any time my butt got near a horse.

This was taken on the worst day 

Just to reflect on all that we've been through, here is a short recap:

December 7th- Initial injury, in the blog post I mention a swelling on his right suspensory area but it seems so small and insignificant, it had been raining so much that I thought (and literally everyone I talked to, including my farrier) it was an abscess
December 11th- TC was totally sound, farrier had poked around and said that the abscess probably released inside and it would show up in a few weeks as it grew out
December 14th- I rode TC and he came up lame again, more soaking ensued and I started to wonder
December 15th- TC shows up with a weird swelling on his leg and is super lame again
December 16th- Initial vet visit with initial ultrasound (not with my vet), the vet finds that his suspensory has been torn in two places and I freak out a lot
December 17th- TC moves to my parents' ranch for rehab
December 18th- TC jumps out of his paddock at the ranch and is shunned to a box stall
December 21st- TC gets his first ultrasound with my vet, who deems it not as bad as we initially thought, but still a fairly serious injury
December 23rd- TC leaves for rehabilitation at the best place I can find in the area
January 28th- TC starts the aquapacer and is immediately an asshole about it
February 8th- TC starts swimming rather than doing the aquapacer
February 23rd- TC gets his second ultrasound after 60 days of rehab
April 15th- I get to watch TC swim for the first time!
April 26th- TC gets his third ultrasound (120 days of rehab) and my vet wants him to stay at rehab for another 60 days, but he gets to trot on the eurociser!
June 10th- I get to watch TC swim for the second time!
June 18th- I visit TC for the last time
June 28th- TC gets his fourth ultrasound (180 days of rehab)
July 6th- TC COMES HOME, THAT'S TODAY


Looking back at December, obviously I feel a lot of regret, frustration, pain, etc. I've gone through times where I've convinced myself that had I not tried to ride after that one initial day that he came up NQR, I would have not had to wait all these months because TC wouldn't have been hurt so badly.

And yah, I feel like that sometimes because it's probably true. I've really let myself have it. But thinking that way is not good for anyone. It doesn't stop what happened from happening. I can't go back in time. All I can do is my best, and I feel like, given the information I had at the time, I gave it my all. I sacrificed a lot the last six months to keep TC at that rehab center. And I'm sacrificing a lot now as I've turned down two jobs that won't work with the location that I want TC to be in because of the facility/trainers I need him to be with. He will continue to get the best of the best care and I will sacrifice whatever it takes to keep him going.

One day, a long time from now, I will see this view again and it
will be marvelous

I can't make myself feel bad for a couple days where I lacked the foresight to call the vet when he was showing every sign of an abscess and no signs of the severe injury lurking inside his leg. I can't make myself feel bad for how long it took or how far away he was or even go down the rabbit hole of why did I take that horrible job in the first place and move him out of his comfortable pasture to a place with no trainer. No, stop. Yah it sucks. It's been over six months since I've had my horse home with me, but all I want to focus on now is the future.

I'm so excited for TC to come home.
I'm so excited to be at the barn I want to be at.
I'm so excited to work with the trainers that I know and love again.
I'm so excited for TC to be in training this month.

And I'm so excited to ride TC, finally. Tomorrow. Unless he bucks BRH trainer off, then maybe not.