The next steps...

So now we are about 4 days into this adventure, and I need to start acting on my plans.  Working nights has slightly kibosh ed my attempts to work on his field, so unfortunately they have had to reside in their stall.  But the weather is crummy, snowing last night, then thunderstorm, then plus 13 then rain and now more rain and it's dropping back down closer to 0 tonight so I guess it's not the worse thing for them.  Mom is surprising me and has adapted quite well to living inside.  She has become the mom I hoped she would be extremely patient with him, and doting, but not too over protective towards us.  She completely trusts Tony and I and will allow us to do anything we want to him.  However she is extremely protective when it comes to other horses so a few times she has almost run him over trying to get in between the wall, him, and the other mare I bring in that goes in the stall beside her.  I don't think she realizes he can't see...  This is not abnormal for her though, she was always the ridiculous one in the field when I new horse gets introduced, but you can imagine how much more intense she is now that it's her kid. 

I've been doing a lot of reading on the Internet, I also joined a group for blind horses specifically, they have been excellent in sharing ideas and giving support, although there are only a few of them it still provides me with a lot of hope.  I did see that there are a few horses out there still being ridden who are completely blind, however these horses were born with sight and then lost their sight afterwards, so it will be interesting to see what/if I can do anything with him when he gets older. 

Some of the things we have already done, is getting a bell for mom, which has already fallen off... Sigh I'll have to get another one.  Tony is a smartie pants, and instead of banking the stall (which I did) up he took the bedding away from the edges.  It made a huge difference, instead of running around in small circles, or bumping into the walls he feels for the edges now and you can see him walk towards the wall, feel the change in ground then alter his route.  Clever men!! 

I am also very pleased to say that I will now have all the fencing I need to complete his field and get him outside.  I want to send a HUGE thanks out to Laura and her family for their continuing support they have given me over the last few years.  Words can't express my gratitude I have to them, you know how amazing you are.  I guess your right I'll never be able to leave the farm now.  Just for a little bit of back ground info, Laura and her Hubby Mike own a wonderful facility in Shelburne ON called Loralee farms.  This place has been my stopping grounds for the past 3 yrs now.  I bring my horses, and client horses to their facilities to break/train.  I also teach my lesson students from there and use their horses.  You can check out their website at http://www.loraleefarms.com/.  I would consider them my extended family now :)

I hope to be able to get the fencing tomorrow and from there, then it's just a matter of buckling down and getting to work.  So if your in the area and you want to stop in to give me a hand I won't turn you away.  All we really have to do is hang up the wire mesh on the inside of the paddock, and re-enforce some areas with T-bars at least until I the ground un thaws and I can get some proper posts in.  I'm going to keep one line of electric wire on the top so Zoey doesn't proceed to lean on it and take it all down, it's totally something she would do.  Then I'm going to shovel (by hand) the gravel around the edges so he has approx a 3 foot barrier around the fence so he can feel a change in the footing before the fence line.  We'll also put some noisy bags, and eventually something more durable (we haven't found anything good yet so if you have any suggestions they would be appreciated)  on the fence so he can hear it.  Eh Voila fini!! I'm excited to get it done so he can get out and stretch those legs of his, the only down fall is it is spring and the mud is not too nice anywhere right now. 

So you might be wondering what would have caused this.  I'm not 100% sure but according to my vet and his colleague the main cause is the mare having a viral infection during her pregnancy.  My other concern is whether or not the EVA vaccine I gave to my other mare may have shedded longer than we were told and she caught something off of her.  Even though they were separate for quite a few months initially after she was vaccinated.  Has anyone else ever had any experience with this?? 

I will do my best to try and get some updated photos of him and get them posted.  He is looking really good, although still very new looking, but his legs are unfolding and so is his back.  He's starting to look less like a new born.  

Thanks for reading!