The dream

I neglected to mention something interesting.

A few nights before the Morrie Waud appointment, before falling asleep, I asked for a sign--from both Limerick and my own subconscious--of what will happen at Morrie Waud.

I had a dream that my husband and I were alerted to an enormous tornado approaching from the south. I ran outside and saw the angry black clouds of the tornadoes (and yes, there were two of them side-by-side) to the far west and moving away.

I was relieved.

Then I looked to my left and saw another tornado--this one not as large, but still menacing--bearing down on me fast! I ran out of the way. I felt the howling winds dig into my skin and kept my head low to avoid flying objects. But I emerged alive and unharmed.

The dream told me that something I did not expect would be diagnosed on Tuesday; something potentially harmful yet something we could fix before it hurt Lim badly.

I told a handful of people about the dream. I asked what they thought it meant, even though I already knew.

Well, it came true.


On another note, my farrier saw Limerick yesterday. He genuinely believes Limerick does not have laminitis. He does agree that Limerick has pedal osteitis (inflammation of the coffin bone, as shown on her radiographs), however, and it is possible she may have white line disease.

My farrier's wife, who is also a friend, had me lunge Limerick for her. Lim looked fantastic, she moved out well and we managed to get her to trot quickly--something I haven't seen in almost two months! I was very surprised.

We then did a flexion test on Lim and trotted her over asphalt. Once again, she looked much better. When it was my turn to watch Lim trotting, I could barely see anything that was wrong. She was favoring her left fore a little but not much. She used her hind legs well.

I was so surprised but so relieved. More and more, I'm leaning towards what my farrier says. He is a great farrier and I trust his opinions. My vet is also great but I know she tends to be on the cautious side.

My farrier put Sole Guard, which is a black tar-like substance that dries to a shock-absorbing gel, much like a sneaker, on Lim's front soles.

When I asked why she wasn't sore in the back anymore, my farrier and his wife said that Lim's front feet had been ouchy so she was compensating by putting more weight onto her hind legs. Over time, this made her sore in the back. Being off hard ground and on stall rest helped her put her weight back onto her front feet and relieve the strain on her arthritic hocks and stifle.

What good news! We decided it would be good for Lim to be turned out again so today she is out with the others for the first time in a couple weeks.