Disappointment & Smiles-An Update

Last month Maark went to his new home. His new owner is an endurance rider who was looking for a new horse. She was looking for a project who was kind, calm, & wanting to bond with the human partner. She found what she was looking for in Maark. She picked him up on a rainy night & he was so good getting in the strange trailer in the dark. I did get an email the next day that said after the first few miles he travelled like a pro. She was very pleased with her new horse.

A week later I got an email that Maark was dead lame. His new owner & I were both devastated because her vet said he was not only foundering, but had a blown suspensorary ligament. To say his owner & I were shocked at the diagnosis is an understatement. We were both skeptical but since we aren't vets... I offered to take Maark back but she said she loved him & wanted to work him through whatever was wrong. Her farrier looked at Maark & pronounced that he was not only NOT foundered, but never had foundered. He thought maybe the trouble was an abscess. You can imagine my relief when I got a phone call a few days later saying an abscess had blown out at the coronet band. With that, Maark came sound & the leg swelling disappeared. Obviously the swelling was from the abscess & infection, NOT from a damaged suspensorary. Smiles all around.

Last week I received a holiday email with the awesome news that Maark's new mom had not only started saddling him, but she'd actually been sitting on him & letting him wander around the roundpen. I could hear the grin in her words. It made my day. What a great year end it's been for the fattest horse I've ever known.