Day 58

Doc is doing great in his new paddock with Rolex.  The two of them have been inseparable, and Rolex is the ultimate "father figure" to Doc.  It is really fun to watch them eating and playing together.

I have been continuing to treat his wounds every day, and mix in a little training with each session.  His wounds still look like they are shrinking to me.  I will take some recent photos and see if you can tell a difference.  It is hard for me to tell when I look at them every day.  His castration wounds look almost completely healed now.  Nice job Dr. Jen!

Doc is now better than most adult horses when it comes to standing tied.  We have been working constantly and consistently on holding still for wound treatments, so, as with anything that you focus on every day, it has gotten drastically better.  I am always amazed at how quickly horses can grasp a concept that we are trying to teach them.  It is almost as if it comes to a point when they say, "OK, I get what you want, just give me a minute to process it".  And if we give them enough patience and support for positive moves, they really start doing it!  I love it!!   :)

I think it is time for me to answer the question that is in every one's mind, but only a few close friends have asked.  That question is:  "So...(long pause)... is Doc YOUR horse, or Alicia's?"  Ha ha!  The answer is, Doc belongs to Alicia, or should I say, he belongs to the world right now.  Alicia saw a helpless animal that needed help ASAP.  She immediately offered to take the horse off of it's previous owner's hands... without even having a plan as to how she was going to accomplish this!  She told me about it, and instantly had my support.  I told her I would help out in any way possible.  The plan was formed, and we got him to her house (with a lot of help from others, thank you!).  We had no idea what we were getting in to, but just wanted to get this animal out of pain.  We weren't even sure if he would be able to survive with the wounds he had.  If that meant that we would have to euthanize him, well, we figured that it was better than living with those wounds all of the time.  He had flies and meat bees constantly chewing at his exposed flesh.  Can you imagine?  It just couldn't go on.  That is all we knew.  Once he was safely at her home, the training began, and the rest is history.  As you know, life happens at the most difficult times, and Alicia has been very busy with her daily life lately.  It has just worked out that I have had more free time to devote to Doc's training than she has had.  She still gets to do all of his feeding, etc., and now that he is halter trained, we have both been able to do a lot more with him.

The following photo has nothing to do with Doc, but I just wanted to send you all a holiday smile.  This is Alicia with Rolex (on the left), and our good friend Jen riding my boy Cohasset.  That is me on the ground beside him.  Happy holidays! 
:)

~Jackie