Charlie's struggles continue... UPDATED

I'm writing this as an update to what I've been going through in my journey with my OTTB Charlie. Being the owner of a OTTB can be so rewarding, but it can also be incredibly disappointing, and scary. I don't have any answers yet, but I will soon.

Charlie is lame, and I'm not sure why. She limps pretty badly, and so I have called the vet to come take a look at her (which will happen soon, but as of writing this has not). Since owning her, I have rarely been able to ride her, and up to now it has not bothered me at all. Charlie has been a young enough horse for me to feel comfortable taking my time with her, taking more than a year off to have my son, and recover from that.

This past year, I totally could have been riding, however, Charlie had a pretty bad injury to her right hind leg. The injury was a puncture just above her hock. After an entire season of healing up from that, and a vet visit to UC Davis, the wound finally healed. I still gave her time to recover from that after the wound healed and she went through the next winter without being ridden. Finally this year, once the weather warmed up I got her saddled and in the round pen to start working, and she's lame.

In all honesty this has been incredibly disheartening. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever be able to ride her. I did get a horse with the intention to ride, not that I wanted to compete or anything, but I love to go on a nice trail now and then. I enjoy going to gymkhanas just to putz around the obstacles. Not to compete, but to enrich her mind. If it turns out she's just too messed up to be a rideable horse, then that will be unfortunate, but okay. My love for Charlie will not be diminished at all, she's a precious soul, and my intention is to do what is best for her. At this point I just want answers.

This is one of the harsh realities of horse ownership, not just OTTB ownership. These sorts of things can happen to any horse. Her puncture wound is still a complete mystery to us, could have been a kick from another horse we have, could have been a lot of things. Her new lameness could be from that injury, or it could be something new. Whatever the answers are, when we find them, we'll plan her life accordingly. If you feel inclined to pray for a horse, I'm positive she'd appreciate it. I know I would appreciate it.

I will update this post once I have more information on why she's lame.

***UPDATE!!!*** My vet came to see Charlie, did an exam, watched her move, and says that she should get better with regular light workouts. Nothing is majorly wrong with the leg, but scar tissue may be interfering with her blood circulation which can make her leg stiff and uncomfortable. Ultimately, I just need to help her with promoting blood circulation and slowly build her muscle tone. It's looking good!

***UPDATE 2*** Since the whole vet visit I have had opportunities to ride Charlie, and so far every time I have ridden her, she starts out a bit stiff, but loosens up and all of her footfalls are nice and even, and she's doing very well.

God bless you and thank you for reading.

E.G.