84 Days and Going Strong!

Twelve weeks ago I didn't think I'd be giving updates on Faith's condition. From the moment I saw her, I truly believed in my heart that Dan and I would keep her as comfortable as we could and let her pass peacefully. She proved me wrong, and I couldn't be happier.

Faith came close to giving up a few times, but each time she pulled through for us. For her. She has had her fair share of bad days, but she has dealt with them with grace and perseverance that I have never seen in any human or animal. She is amazing.

Faith continues to improve. The weight tape says she has put on 150 pounds, but I do not believe it. I think she has put on more. Her ribs are nearly invisible under thin coat of fat (I never thought I'd say the "f" word here!), and her hips no longer jut out of her body.

Faith enjoys her time spent outside in the sunshine, playing with the geldings over the fence. She eagerly looks forward to coming in at the end of each day to her stall with clean water buckets, a full hay rack, a bucket of grain and supplements, and clean, fluffy shavings.

Every night when I check on the horses before I go to bed, she nickers to me as I walk past her stall. And every night I go into her stall, pat her on the bridge of her nose and tell her how proud of her I am. She drops her head into my chest, and I put my arms around her head...

...then she sniffs my pockets and when she realizes they're empty, her head comes up, her ears go flat against her neck and she glares at me.

I love this horse. And I'm starting to think she loves me back. :-)


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A cute short story....

One of my students was helping me groom her a few days ago and said to me seriously, "Oh my God, when I poke Faith's shoulder, it jiggles!" as though there was something wrong with her. I quietly laughed and explained that their shoulders should jiggle. She didn't seem to believe me, so she walked around to every horse at our farm and did the "jiggle-poke-test" on each of them. Sure enough, they all passed. She came back appearing satisfied that jiggling was normal and gave Faith a cookie. She told Faith that if she keeps improving so much, we're going to need to start her on Jenny Craig soon.

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