Lows and Highs

The past few days have been nothing less than an emotional rollercoaster.

While the barn move itself didn't worry me too much, I was most stressed about how Quest would do in a herd pasture turnout setting since I still know next to nothing about her history before I pulled her from auction.  Quest seemed like she was acclimating quite well though, maybe all my worrying was for nothing...


J called on Friday mid-morning saying that Quest got kicked in the right stifle while out in pasture. Quest was walking okay but there was a deep cut, lots of swelling, and she was lame at the trot. J asked if I wanted the vet out; I didn't need to think about it- I knew enough that stifle injuries are not to be taken lightly. By some stroke of luck, I already had taken the afternoon off of work to attend a local art convention so I was able to be there when the vet arrived for the examination. He poked and prodded the injury and watched her walk and trot. The vet surmised that the kick had landed square in front of the leg. While he doubted that anything was fractured since Quest was moving well despite the extent of the injury, radiographs were recommended to make sure that the patella wasn't cracked.

Since the cut was right on the point of the knee and any stitches would just get ripped out, the vet cleaned out the wound while I held her and J administered the oral antibiotics. The stifle was pretty swollen so the vet suggested if I wanted to get radiographs done to do it after giving it a weekend.  The edema was fortunately isolated at the stifle and Quest was walking around with little issue so I really hoped it was just bruised and something that will mend with time and stall rest. I stayed at the barn until evening and helped get Quest settled into her stall for the night. She wasn't too happy about that but it was vet's orders.

I headed to the art convention, met up with my friends and tried to enjoy myself but I was definitely not emotionally there at all. I got a text from J later that night, apologizing again and offered her horses if I wanted to ride that weekend. While it was a nice gesture that I sincerely appreciated, I honestly wasn’t in the mood....I know it was no one's fault but I was very worried because I didn’t know what any of this would mean for Quest's future.

On Saturday evening J updated me that the swelling was down by 50% and Quest had eaten all of her grain, which I was very relieved to hear. I decided to visit after church on Sunday and arrived right as J and B were tacking up for a training ride.  Quest's stifle was looking SO much better and she was feeling good too, evidenced by the laps she was doing inside of the stall. Despite my still worried mood, I couldn't help but grin at her energy- this mare definitely did not act like a horse that got kicked in the leg two days ago.

The vet came out last night to do radiographs. While I wasn't able to be there because he was scheduled to arrive right when I got out of work, I was told the visit went well and it was good news- Quest got the vet's okay to be turned out tomorrow!!

I'm so relieved right now. Like giddy happy relieved. It'll be a couple weeks before we can get back to riding the trails again but Quest is fine. We'll be fine. I knew the road to our endurance dreams would be a hard one, and this is probably just the first in a long series of challenges. Nothing has stopped us yet though.