What Was Wrong With Sunny?

My family SERIOUSLY has the worst luck with horses. Now that everything is resolved and I actually had time to sit and write this post, I'm going to update you all on how little Sunny is doing.

I have no new pictures so here's him when I
rode him to try him out

 Sunny is my mom's new horse who she bought back in May. Since then he has absolutely been her dream horse. She's only had to put me on him twice- once on the first ride and then once when she was riding him bareback and wanted me to canter him. She and my dad have hauled out to ride at a few trail facilities and he's perfect. The best part is that he whinnies at her every day. She totally deserves a horse as great as this.

And it's a good thing that he is so great. Because just after he was purchased, it came out that he has silicosis. It's a disease that affects only horses boarded in a certain area in California, where Sunny was from. It essentially breaks down the rebuilding of bone, so the horses will basically start to develop what appears to be arthritis, but is actually bone pain. Some horses also/instead develop lung problems, but so far (fingers crossed) Sunny seems to just have the problems with his bones.

My mom found out because he seemed to be acting weird- on the first day I rode him he was very hesitant about going on the bit (I mean I don't want to brag but I *can* put a horse on the bit), then he was being weird about putting his head down to eat. So she took him to the vet and *poof* silicosis. Damnit.

So cute

She contacted the old owner but let's be real here- we didn't expect the owner to take him back or anything. Plus, I mean, my mom isn't going to ask much of this horse anyway, there IS a treatment option (but it is expensive and long term effects are still unknown), and he is legit her dream horse. So when the owner refused to take him back but instead offered some of the purchase price back, we were cool with that.

Since then Sunny has been treated and is now off of previcox! He will probably get a bone scan this year to get an idea of what his baseline is. My mom had gotten insurance on him, so all of his treatment is covered this year (including the expensive shot). She's also looking into some good bone/joint supplements, so if you have suggestions, please leave them here!

Outside of the silicosis, Sunny remains a dream. It's so fun to see my mom have her very own perfect horse. Hopefully Sunny will remain rideable for many years and his silicosis won't prove to be a problem for my family, but he is quiet enough where if worse comes to worse, he can transition to a life of leasure being a grand child pony while my mom leases/buys something else.

My mom says he likes that he's so photogenic. All of her horses
have been photogenic so she's been spoiled, TC sometimes looks
like a donky

Let me say that this horse REALLY lucked out. He'll have a home with my parents forever, even if he can't be ridden. He seems to know how lucky he is, he whinnies at everyone and is just perfectly well behaved. My mom says even more perfect than Rico, but I just don't believe her.

Good pony, Sunny.