[The Royal Mirage]

Rescued from the event.
For Bentley

Background: "This poor fellow has been limping since he first came into your sight, and you inquire about his leg problems to the seller. Apparently he tore a ligament in his left hind leg and, due to a combination of neglect and complications, was unable to recover. The leg can't extend fully, and it's very painful for him to carry even the slightest weight. While his first buyer had attempted to rehabilitate his leg, their efforts failed; it was too late after the incident and the leg had already begun to heal in the wrong position. Knowing he would never be able to work again, the stallion was put up for auction at the lowest price, an enticing target for meat buyers."

Owner: X
Show Name:
Barn Name:
Gender: Stallion
Post: X

For the Owner to Fill Out:

Code: Select all

    [b]Show name[/b]:
    [b]Barn name[/b]:
    [b]Halter color[/b]:

    [b]Task 1[/b]:
    [b]Task 2[/b]:
    [b]Task 3[/b]:

The halter will be added only after you complete your tasks, and then it is officially yours. Have Fun and Good luck!

[Desmond]

Show name: Circles 'Round the Sun
Barn name: Duke
Halter color: Brilliant, sunny gold

Task 1: Rehabilitation wasn’t under Blake’s official job description, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t give it a go, especially with Alex already working with his own rescue. His new partner was truly a stunning creature when standing still in the comfortably-sized paddock, but he quickly became a sorry sight when he took even a single slow, limping step. He was lucky, though -- he didn't have to worry about a bad attitude while focusing on his first mission. Winning the stallion’s trust started off well, with a sackful of carrots and a good amount of patience and calm idle chatter, but quickly devolved into a standstill when Blake’s eyes wandered to the equine’s legs, trying to gauge which was causing the limp. As if the stallion could sense his gaze, he shied away, staggering away with a huffing groan.

“Hey, don’t do that. I wanna help you.” Another piece of carrot, another several minutes spent calming him back down, but Blake’s hand made it back to gently brush the long, dark forelock out of the animal’s eyes. He could tell a more thorough scrubdown was in order, once he could manage to get the poor creature to trust him well enough to not shy off at the first sign of any possible touch to his legs... Blake decided that'd be goal number two. He'd get nowhere if he couldn't be trusted to not harm the poor animal.

“You’re okay now. It’s okay.” An endless stream of reassurances flowed from Blake’s mouth as he gently combed his fingers through the dark, unkempt mane. Slowly, gradually, the stallion unwound a little, warm brown nose brushing against Blake’s roughened hands, sniffling cautiously.

Slowly but surely, it was a start.

Task 2: The vet’s expression wasn’t the most encouraging thing Blake had ever seen, but it ranked pretty high. It was quite clear that, were Blake’s family any other group of people, her recommendation would be something other than hopeful - but they had staunchly refused to give up hope so many times that they’d all but broken the local vets of throwing in the towel. No creature with the will to keep going was going to be given up on.

“He’s had a rough one, for sure. His leg… he limps because he’s hurt his muscles, and they healed badly. It’s still painful for him, so he’s not going to let me feel around to see how bad it is without anesthetic, but we can try to help him with surgery, but I can’t guarantee anything. Usually, care for these kinds of things involve either letting the horse out into a paddock for a year on its own, or a set walking regimen that progresses from a couple small jaunts a day to a single long walk every day - obviously, he didn’t get that, or something happened to him that messed it up.

“I’m going to be honest, he’s going to need pain pills for his roughest days, unless you manage to pull one of those miracles from wherever your family keeps ‘em.”

Blake nodded, offering her a pen and notebook. “Let’s go ahead and get something together for that, then. We’ll try the walks. Would a gel wrap help cool the muscles, if I can get it on him?”

“A cool pack like that might help, but don’t put it too tight or leave it on for too long, just be smart about it and watch out for a kick. He’s got his best chance with you guys, really.”

Task 3: Months passed, and Duke, as Blake had decided to name him, had blossomed in a few areas, but there was still so much room for progress. His limp had become a little less pronounced, but it was still very obvious when he moved. Pain management had become a key goal in the rehabilitation, because it wasn’t really fair to the stallion to keep him in a constant state of mind-dulling pain while encouraging him into working the sore muscles.

The walks had gone from a thorough stretching and a lap around the paddock every six hours to a walk around the property every twelve, followed by a ten-minute cooloff with the gel wrap, which seemed to make a small impact on his mood afterward. Instead of being sensitive and grumpy, Duke was more or less tolerant to touch. Where he’d once shied away from even a look at his hurting leg, he took the wrap without a fuss, almost reveling in the cool touch of the gel pack against his heated skin. With a little more progress, he figured he could bring the vet back in for a closer check, and then maybe massages?

His personality had blossomed, too; he’d shown himself to be decently friendly, though he had a thing for solitude that was probably due to his injury. He was so much happier, though, so Blake was counting his work as a clear step toward success.

---

What a lovely boy to work with, that was so much fun -- thank you! <3

[The Royal Mirage]

Finally got your halter done, sorry for the wait Bentley!