Post by tanya1989 on Jan 12, 2010 23:59:08 GMT
It has been just over 2 years since we lost our precious boy, i am beginning to feel ready to share his story.
In January 2002 we were fortunate to buy our first Ex Racehorse from a dealer in North Derbyshire, and since then we haven’t looked back. My love of horses stemmed from being a small child, but like many people, funding was out of the question and i was told that good things would come to those who would wait. This was true. Maureen Goodwin and I went into partnership in 2002 and brought our first “project” who became too much of a family member to part with, unfortunately he was taken from us far too early. This is C.J’s story...
C.J as he was known at home was the gentlest boy you could ever meet. He came to us in a bit of a state, covered in bites from other horses where he was bullied, and we were able to count every rib and vertebrae on his poor body. He hadn’t seen a dentist or farrier in who knows how many months but this special boy was one in a million and it became our mission to get this gentle boy into the proud state he once was.
Months of hard graft and correct feeding and schooling paid off with C.J and he was restored to his former glory. He was the yard’s favourite boy, and we took pride in the fact that our “ex racehorse” was used to teach novices. He used to walk down from the field on his own when the other horses were brought in and would stand by the hosepipe to wait for his turn to be hosed off and his rugs to be changed.
As he became fitter his character shined through and he became playful with us, he regularly had us in fits of giggles at his daily antics. He became a show man and started to win his classes. It was a pleasure to hear the gasps when our boy entered the ring, our hard work, love and dedication had turned this boy from a sorry state into a horse admired by hundreds. His coat shined like spun copper and he carried himself with pride. His ears were picked permanently and he oozed with presence, the “look at me factor”.
In the height of his showing career, C.J had a terrible freak accident in which he severed his rear offside flexor tendon and partial way through the deep digital flexor tendon. As you can imagine, we were absolutely devastated with what had happened to our baby boy. He spent 2 weeks in Rossdale’s Veterinary Hospital at Newmarket, and things did not look very hopeful that C.J would ever recover enough to be ridden again, or even be turned out. C.J received top notch care from the staff at Newmarket and under his vet Andrew Bathe, and we are eternally grateful.
We were not going to give up on our boy so easily after all the love and loyalty he had shown us, so after his 2 week stay he returned home with us on our 5 hour journey back home. We were instructed to keep him strict box rested for 6 months. After 6 months we had another consultation at Newmarket and this time things were beginning to look dire. We were told that C.J’s tendons had no tension in them and that his foot was basically flopping about on the end of his leg, we were also told that maybe it was time to consider euthanasia. When we said this was not an option for us to choose just yet, we were told to stick him out in a field because it was not possible for things to be made worse, it was as worse as it could possibly be.
We left the hospital distraught but insistent that we were not going to give up on him. We continued with box rest and walked him out in hand on a hard surface for 5 minutes a day, gradually building it up over a period of 3 months to an hour a day. The walking was done in straight lines to try and not put too much pressure on his leg by using the horse walker. 4 months after being told our boy was “knackered” we went down for another scan and the vet was amazed at the results, the tendon had begun to show signs of regeneration, not scar tissue, but actual cell renewal. Everybody was gobsmacked by the turn around. Andrew advised us to keep going as we had done and was pleased that we had not taken his advice beforehand and giving up.
Again, we made our long journey home. He was given a couple of days of box rest when we got back from the vets to rest his leg after the 10hours travelling, but after this time we decided it was time for C.J to see a field again. We acquired 6 panels of fencing, the type you find around building sites and constructed a small “pen” in the field. This was quite upsetting to see as it was such a small place for him to be, but we knew it was the right thing to do if we were to get our boy sound again. At the same time it was nice to be able to see our step forward and that C.J was grazing again. C.J took to his pen like a duck to water, and although he only had enough room to turn round and graze he still managed to put a little buck of joy in. Again, we were concerned he would do himself harm, but it was so good to see him behaving like his old self (up to a point).
C.J continued with his pen for another couple of months when we thought we would trot him up inhand to see how he looked. Our determination had paid off... C.J was SOUND! We couldn’t believe this, we ran him up every day for 2 weeks and he remained just as sound, it wasn’t a fluke! After much consideration we decided it was time i dusted off my tack and sat on him to see how he coped. He coped brilliantly! Within 6 weeks of being back in work we managed to do 2 straight lines in trot, within 3 months we were trotting in 20m circles, within 4 months we were cantering in straight lines and by 5 months we were back in “full” work. Although C.J would never jump again we could live with what we had achieved. Jumping was not something i enjoyed so it wasn’t something i would miss. He returned to being turned out, put on the walker, turned loose in the school. This is when once again our boy surprised us by jumping a small cross pole whilst we were mucking out and he was loose in the school. Although we said we wouldn’t jump him, he appeared to not have listened to us and decided he’d pop over a couple of fences! But i never jumped him again; it would have been too much to lose.
About 6 Months after C.J had returned to full work C.J was turned out in the school by the staff at the farm for his morning leg stretch where he enjoyed his usual past time of frolicking about, bucking and leaping, galloping up and down, whinnying and snorting. After his leg stretch he was put on the horse walker to calm him down before being returned to his stable. Sadly, C.J suffered an embolism whilst on the horse walker and bled out and died within minutes. We were heartbroken by this and were extremely shocked by his departure. But we take comfort in the fact that our special boy died doing what he loved the most. We want to thank our boy for all the wonderful memories he has left us, and thank him for taking that dreaded decision away. Wait for us at the Bridge Ceegey Weegey, we miss you xxx
C.J is the chestnut on the right of my signature
In January 2002 we were fortunate to buy our first Ex Racehorse from a dealer in North Derbyshire, and since then we haven’t looked back. My love of horses stemmed from being a small child, but like many people, funding was out of the question and i was told that good things would come to those who would wait. This was true. Maureen Goodwin and I went into partnership in 2002 and brought our first “project” who became too much of a family member to part with, unfortunately he was taken from us far too early. This is C.J’s story...
C.J as he was known at home was the gentlest boy you could ever meet. He came to us in a bit of a state, covered in bites from other horses where he was bullied, and we were able to count every rib and vertebrae on his poor body. He hadn’t seen a dentist or farrier in who knows how many months but this special boy was one in a million and it became our mission to get this gentle boy into the proud state he once was.
Months of hard graft and correct feeding and schooling paid off with C.J and he was restored to his former glory. He was the yard’s favourite boy, and we took pride in the fact that our “ex racehorse” was used to teach novices. He used to walk down from the field on his own when the other horses were brought in and would stand by the hosepipe to wait for his turn to be hosed off and his rugs to be changed.
As he became fitter his character shined through and he became playful with us, he regularly had us in fits of giggles at his daily antics. He became a show man and started to win his classes. It was a pleasure to hear the gasps when our boy entered the ring, our hard work, love and dedication had turned this boy from a sorry state into a horse admired by hundreds. His coat shined like spun copper and he carried himself with pride. His ears were picked permanently and he oozed with presence, the “look at me factor”.
In the height of his showing career, C.J had a terrible freak accident in which he severed his rear offside flexor tendon and partial way through the deep digital flexor tendon. As you can imagine, we were absolutely devastated with what had happened to our baby boy. He spent 2 weeks in Rossdale’s Veterinary Hospital at Newmarket, and things did not look very hopeful that C.J would ever recover enough to be ridden again, or even be turned out. C.J received top notch care from the staff at Newmarket and under his vet Andrew Bathe, and we are eternally grateful.
We were not going to give up on our boy so easily after all the love and loyalty he had shown us, so after his 2 week stay he returned home with us on our 5 hour journey back home. We were instructed to keep him strict box rested for 6 months. After 6 months we had another consultation at Newmarket and this time things were beginning to look dire. We were told that C.J’s tendons had no tension in them and that his foot was basically flopping about on the end of his leg, we were also told that maybe it was time to consider euthanasia. When we said this was not an option for us to choose just yet, we were told to stick him out in a field because it was not possible for things to be made worse, it was as worse as it could possibly be.
We left the hospital distraught but insistent that we were not going to give up on him. We continued with box rest and walked him out in hand on a hard surface for 5 minutes a day, gradually building it up over a period of 3 months to an hour a day. The walking was done in straight lines to try and not put too much pressure on his leg by using the horse walker. 4 months after being told our boy was “knackered” we went down for another scan and the vet was amazed at the results, the tendon had begun to show signs of regeneration, not scar tissue, but actual cell renewal. Everybody was gobsmacked by the turn around. Andrew advised us to keep going as we had done and was pleased that we had not taken his advice beforehand and giving up.
Again, we made our long journey home. He was given a couple of days of box rest when we got back from the vets to rest his leg after the 10hours travelling, but after this time we decided it was time for C.J to see a field again. We acquired 6 panels of fencing, the type you find around building sites and constructed a small “pen” in the field. This was quite upsetting to see as it was such a small place for him to be, but we knew it was the right thing to do if we were to get our boy sound again. At the same time it was nice to be able to see our step forward and that C.J was grazing again. C.J took to his pen like a duck to water, and although he only had enough room to turn round and graze he still managed to put a little buck of joy in. Again, we were concerned he would do himself harm, but it was so good to see him behaving like his old self (up to a point).
C.J continued with his pen for another couple of months when we thought we would trot him up inhand to see how he looked. Our determination had paid off... C.J was SOUND! We couldn’t believe this, we ran him up every day for 2 weeks and he remained just as sound, it wasn’t a fluke! After much consideration we decided it was time i dusted off my tack and sat on him to see how he coped. He coped brilliantly! Within 6 weeks of being back in work we managed to do 2 straight lines in trot, within 3 months we were trotting in 20m circles, within 4 months we were cantering in straight lines and by 5 months we were back in “full” work. Although C.J would never jump again we could live with what we had achieved. Jumping was not something i enjoyed so it wasn’t something i would miss. He returned to being turned out, put on the walker, turned loose in the school. This is when once again our boy surprised us by jumping a small cross pole whilst we were mucking out and he was loose in the school. Although we said we wouldn’t jump him, he appeared to not have listened to us and decided he’d pop over a couple of fences! But i never jumped him again; it would have been too much to lose.
About 6 Months after C.J had returned to full work C.J was turned out in the school by the staff at the farm for his morning leg stretch where he enjoyed his usual past time of frolicking about, bucking and leaping, galloping up and down, whinnying and snorting. After his leg stretch he was put on the horse walker to calm him down before being returned to his stable. Sadly, C.J suffered an embolism whilst on the horse walker and bled out and died within minutes. We were heartbroken by this and were extremely shocked by his departure. But we take comfort in the fact that our special boy died doing what he loved the most. We want to thank our boy for all the wonderful memories he has left us, and thank him for taking that dreaded decision away. Wait for us at the Bridge Ceegey Weegey, we miss you xxx
C.J is the chestnut on the right of my signature
xxx