Over The Rainbow Bridge

I have waited to write this because it has just been too difficult. I lost my soul mate, Frankie, on march 1st 2011. I can not believe he is gone and I am not entirely sure I will continue this blog. I still have Munchkin and eventually will see a new horse here at Crow Creek so we will see. 

What Happened...
About two weeks before I said my final goodbyes to Frankie we were all out on the track while I was doing some chores, Frankie and munchkin were have a ball whooping it up on the track. I was suppose to go for a ride with a friend a little latter so I went inside to do a few things and when I came back out about an hour and a half later Frankie was limping. He held up his front right for me to look at and I could see a scruff mark on his sole along side the tip of his frog. It looked like he had stepped on a stump or something and so I figures he had bruised his foot. I gave him some bute that night but the next day he was still limping so I called my farrier. He did not return my call and so I figured It would be better to call a vet. Two years ago Frankie had recovered from a fracture to his fetlock on that same leg. I was becoming confidant that he had re-injured that area. He had some swelling in the sesamoid area that was the same as when he had his injury before. I called the vet that had treated his injury and he was going to come out in a couple days (when he made his normal visits to the area) to look at it. Until then I was to continue on low dose of bute an stall him. Well the day before he was suppose to come Frankie became sick and was down in his stall. I called the local vet and he came out on an emergency. What he found shocked me. Frankie did not have a problem with his bone, it was a deep puncture in his hoof! I could not see it because it had gone through the frog and resealed over it. I could not see it at all.  The puncture had become infected in his leg and so the vet cleaned it and put him on antibiotics. I was to soak it twice a day and wrap it in duck tape

He wanted me to call in two days to let him know if it had improved. It did! he seemed better and was putting his foot down. We figured he was on the mend. Two more days went by and no more change, if anything he seemed a little worse by the end of the second day.  I called the vet back but he did not return my call. the next morning I called the vets nurse and told her to get someone out to my place. The first Doctor was off that day so the other one came out. He said there was not really much more he could do to help and Frankie should go to the Equine clinic. He thought he needed surgery or some more aggressive treatment than they could do at my house. 

The search for a trailer began. I do not have one but have several friends who have them. Nothing was going right and everyone had some kind of problem with their trailer. I finally got a hold of a couple lady's I knew and they said they would pick me up in the morning and take me. We got to the clinic on a Friday and the surgeon, vet and four assistance worked on Frankie for four hours. They did all kinds of tests and ex-rays. We finally had our diagnosis, Frankie had navicular bursa with a %25 -%50 chance of being sound again. They could do perfusion treatments to try to get the infection under control. His coffin bone was still ok so even though it was a huge expense we needed to try. Frankie was so special to me and so many other people. I did not think he would be a riding horse again but I wanted him sound for pasture and alive! The doctor said we should see noticeable improvement in three days but we would continue the treatments for five. In three days Frankie was going down hill. He was still in a lot of pain and not setting his foot down hardly at all. We still did not give up and went one more day but still he worsened. Frankie was depressed now and I knew we had fought as hard as we should but it was time to let him go. With the doctors help we made the decision but it was late, dark and raining. Plus I was driving and could not handle it right then. I asked for them to give him whatever he needed to make him comfortable until the next day.

The next day my Sister and Brother in-law went with me for my last visit. Frankie was in good spirits and the drugs had certainly made him more comfortable. We took him out to a field behind the barn and let him graze for two glorious hours. taking him back was so hard because I knew that within 30 minutes of my leaving they would put Frankie to sleep. 

Saying goodbye to Frankie and leaving him was the HARDEST thing I have ever done. My last moments with him will be forever ingrained into my memory. 

Frankie and I 

I had wanted a horse my whole life. I grew up riding friends horse and was always lucky to be around them but still wanted one of my own. After I grew up and had kids I knew that dream would have to be put on hold so I set a goal for myself. I would have a horse by the time I was 40. I only missed it by a few years when at the age of 43 I got Frankie. We spent four and a half years together and had many adventures and many wonderful times. I was more comfortable with him than I had ever been with any other living thing, We were soul mattes and had a bond too difficult to enplane. I consider myself very fortunate to have had that. My life was blessed by his warmth, his inelegance and his devotion to me. I will miss him for the rest of my life.