Bo Update

The more I learn about people, the more I like my horses!

I'm still trying to piece together the story of Bo. I need to make a few phone calls and send a few emails but there doesn't seem to be much time. I swear that even thought we lost an hour because of daylight savings time, I really lost about two hours! The last two nights we've had to run some errands which means we are doing chores in the dark at 9pm. And then I'm on high alert because of the resident skunk.

I've been keeping Bo in the stalls in the hayshed. I've got them all opened up so he can wander between three different stalls. I was hoping to keep him fairly quiet this first week so that he could concentrate on his food and not spend his days anxiously watching the other horses.

Both nights after work, I pulled Bo from his stall to walk him up and down the driveway once or twice. I don't want to make him exert much energy but I do want him to stretch his legs a bit. He seemed a bit more anxious Monday night but everything was new to him. Last night I took him out, walked him half way down the driveway and back to the barn. He seemed a bit more sluggist yesterday so I didn't want to stress him out. I think he's been on high alert from the time he was dropped off at the auction Saturday until Tuesday morning when hopefully he realized there is a routine to Borderlands.

I didn't want to walk him far as he tripped once or twice. There is no muscle left on him but I do want to do small, short hand walks around the yard just to get him out and about. Once he's back in his stall, Bo will wander through the three different stalls to check out the different piles of food I have set out for him.

Both Monday night and Tuesday night I groomed him down the best I could. The first night, I had him tied to the trailer and he couldn't see the herd so he was a bit more upset. Last night I got smart and tied him to the fence so he could at least see the other horses. (No nose touches yet. Bo is still in quarantine). I swear he just about feel asleep. He had his eyes open just a slit there for a little while. I was doing my best not to hurt him. How do you groom a horse that is skin and bone? He's still covered in crusted manure but I can't go after it like I would any of the other horses. I'm petrified of hurting him. But he seemed like he was enjoying the attention. What I could get thoroughly groomed looked pretty nice.

While I was brushing him down and spending some lovin' time on him, I realized that Bo is definitely the skinniest horse I've ever had come in. He makes Brego and Joe look like they were in decent shape when they came in. I'll get more pictures sometime when I can find a computer to download pics. We are still without a computer so I'm "borrowing" some computer time where ever I can find it.

I'll continue to keep you posted on Bo's condition. I just pray I'm doing the right thing with bringing him back to health. I'm so worried about refeeding syndrome but it appears that Bo knows what he can and cannot handle. Excuse my language but...... Bo is a damn smart horse! Can you tell I'm already biased? Bo has my heart already