Chantilly, one of the mares at my old barn, has had a constant struggle with an infection in her right eye, and had it removed in order to sustain her health. She was one of my favorite mares to ride, and she was always the sweetest, both on the ground and jumping.
It started out as an infection in her right eye, which led to the grooms having her wear a fly mask 24/7, even when ridden. They always kept a constant check up on her eye, and when I rode her weekly I made sure her eye hadn't grown worse before or after I had ridden her. During this period I continued riding Tilly in jumping lessons and she was perfect, except for the occasional spook.
Recently her eye continued to worsen and she started to freak out at the sight of her own shadow or when tapped with the crop, leading to her having a surgery to get it permanently removed. After the surgery she was given time to recover, and she was again checked up on daily to make sure everything was healing properly. Today, she is still the happiest mare I have ever seen, and even though I don't see her that often anymore I cherish the moments spent with her.
Tilly has never failed to impress people with her strength, as she has continued jumping, possibly even better and higher than before. She has been healthy ever since her surgery, and is still beautiful; her flea bitten grey coat shines in the sunlight. Besides jumping, Tilly has been teaching the youngest of riders the basics of walking, trotting, and cantering, and has been taking care of them from the ground up.
Tilly has continued to be the most honest jumper, even with one eye, and one of my best friends is showing her this weekend and they are going to kill it. Tilly has maintained the most sincere and sweet yet mare like attitude since her surgery, and I love her for that!! She's a beauty, and she is and will always be a gem to our barn.
I am not the rider in any of these pictures, my best friend is the rider :)
It started out as an infection in her right eye, which led to the grooms having her wear a fly mask 24/7, even when ridden. They always kept a constant check up on her eye, and when I rode her weekly I made sure her eye hadn't grown worse before or after I had ridden her. During this period I continued riding Tilly in jumping lessons and she was perfect, except for the occasional spook.
Recently her eye continued to worsen and she started to freak out at the sight of her own shadow or when tapped with the crop, leading to her having a surgery to get it permanently removed. After the surgery she was given time to recover, and she was again checked up on daily to make sure everything was healing properly. Today, she is still the happiest mare I have ever seen, and even though I don't see her that often anymore I cherish the moments spent with her.
Tilly has never failed to impress people with her strength, as she has continued jumping, possibly even better and higher than before. She has been healthy ever since her surgery, and is still beautiful; her flea bitten grey coat shines in the sunlight. Besides jumping, Tilly has been teaching the youngest of riders the basics of walking, trotting, and cantering, and has been taking care of them from the ground up.
Tilly has continued to be the most honest jumper, even with one eye, and one of my best friends is showing her this weekend and they are going to kill it. Tilly has maintained the most sincere and sweet yet mare like attitude since her surgery, and I love her for that!! She's a beauty, and she is and will always be a gem to our barn.
I am not the rider in any of these pictures, my best friend is the rider :)