Full disclosure: This one is going to be hard to write …

But as depressed as I have been feeling, I am starting to think that maybe it will help to put it all out there.

Horse racing is a notoriously private industry. Some people think it’s taboo to talk about the bad things and only stick to the good, but knowing about the bad makes celebrating the triumphs much more special.

Term of Art won’t be competing at the Thoroughbred Makeover this year. He may never be sound again, or the harshest of realities is that this may be something that we aren’t able to fix.

Term of Art with his bandaged leg. (Courtesy of Kaitlyn Cawley Villalobos)

Flashback to his accident out in the field. Due to the extreme amount of swelling, we weren’t able to do any diagnostic work at the time, i.e. ultrasound or X-rays. We all felt fairly confident that because he was weight bearing when he stood and was walking 75% sound on that leg, we were only dealing with superficial cuts and swelling. Over the next week, we treated him with antibiotics and pain killers, and treated the leg topically and bandaged it every day.

The swelling subsided greatly, but by day eight he was only walking slightly better; I had expected more of an improvement by that point. The veterinarian visited on day nine and the swelling had gone down enough that we were able to do X-rays, but still no ultrasound. We found that he had a displaced fracture in the hock of his left hind leg.

I can’t say that I wasn’t surprised, but getting that kind of news is always hard to take. My vet immediately sent the X-rays to a surgeon and he gave me the harsh reality without holding back:

“The surgeon doesn’t think it’s a good idea to operate.”

“There is probably significant soft-tissue involvement, but we don’t know right now because it’s still too swollen to ultrasound.”

“It might heal on its own.”

“It may never heal.”

“He will have to be in a stall for at least the next four months.”

“He may be sound enough to ride one day, but he will never jump.”

“He might never be sound again, it’s too early to tell.”

“Whatever you decide to do, heis going to develop serious arthritis in that hock.”

So as you can imagine, this is a lot of information to take in. Over the years working in the horse industry I have seen my fair share of bad things happen, but it has never been my horse. I asked my vet if it was even worth trying. He said yes and that he really wanted to try. So we devised a plan. Stall rest until further notice; re-check X-rays every 30 days; and as soon as the swelling has gone down enough we start PRP treatments every two weeks for 6-8 treatments.

PRP, or Platelet Rich Plasma, is a treatment done in humans as well as horses. A sample of blood is taken from the horse and processed by passing the blood through a filter to increase the number of platelets and growth factors in the sample. It can be used in joints and soft tissue. While it won’t speed up healing time, it can help to stimulate the production of repair tissue. My vet has a lot of experience using it and told me that he has seen it “work miracles” in similar situations.

I have been feeling all of the emotions. The first 24 hours I felt nothing, and then it hit me at once.

Yes, I have cried about this more than once. Yes, I have screamed that it’s not fair. Yes, I feel guilty. And yes, I am mad that this happened to my beautiful and otherwise perfect horse, but he is still here.

Term of Art currently is living the most spoiled life possible while on stall rest. He has toys, hanging treats in his stall, a giant hay net of alfalfa, and every day my husband and I hand pick him a muck tub full of fresh grass.

Of course I wish things were different, but right now, I’m just trying to deal with the cards that I have been dealt (yes, it’s a bad hand, I know). Term of Art will always have a home with me no matter what, but if one day he isn’t able to live a comfortable life, we will have to make that difficult decision. His happiness will always come first.

As far as my status for the Thoroughbred Makeover goes, I will still be attending as planned. The blessing from this bad situation is that I will be able to help another retired racehorse make the transition from racehorse to show horse. So the search is on!

I will continue to blog with my new horse and will provide monthly Term of Art updates as well. You can still follow him on his Facebook page: Term of Art. Also, please feel free to message me on his Facebook page if you have any questions about him, his injury, or his recovery.

Keep Term of Art in your thoughts for now!