End of the Trail
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It is with great sadness that I share with you the final chapter of CB’s story, the injured horse belonging to my next-door neighbor, Linda. 

CB snags a carrot from Linda

We had continued to treat his leg, which had suffered a critical degloving injury, daily since his accident on the tenth of July.  He had surgery three times to remove the proud flesh and had even improved enough to have skin grafts.

Unfortunately, there was a recurring infection that we could not cure, no matter what we threw at it.  And believe me, we threw everything at it and the local vet consulted with specialists all over the country.

Earlier this week we x-rayed the leg to see if the infection involved the bone.  It did, to a great extent.  There were more consultations with more surgical specialists and all agreed that no more should be done for CB, given all the factors involved.  More could be done, but it was prohibitively expensive and would not have been any fun for CB, not to mention that the success rate quoted was barely 10%.

CB was euthanized today, Thursday, at 2:20pm.

He certainly fought the good fight, and was a most cooperative patient (given enough oats). 

Our horse friends get under our skin in a way that only other horse-lovers can understand.  He leaves behind a broken-hearted mistress, but one who will one day smile instead of cry when she remembers the times they shared and the miles they covered together.

Part 1 of CB’s story

Part 2 of CB’s story

Part 3 of CB’s story

Part 4 of CB’s story