Sad Realizations

I've come to an uncomfortable conclusion this morning. To make matters worse, I'm realizing it one month to the day that I had to put Bob down.

I had my farrier out on Saturday to trim King and Longhorn. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately), my farrier didn't have his tools to take care of Longhorn's skis for hooves. We discussed our options and decided to wait until sometime in January before tackling Longhorn's feet.

The farrier said that Longhorn had foundered and that I would have to get him trimmed on a regular basis. I'm not sure how well that will work considering I can't even touch him.

This morning I went out to do morning chores and decided I'd see if Longhorn would be friendly. He came up to me as he has been (looking for treats). But as always he steps far enough away so I can't reach him. This time he was within arm's reach so I slowly reached out to touch his butt and he let out a fast kick.

With Longhorn's founder and his inability to get over being scared/friendly, I'm simply not able to care for him any more. Don't get me wrong, I won't stop feeding him. But I realized this morning that the only option he's left me with is euthinizing.

I doubt that we'll ever be able to trim his feet on a regular basis without having to tranq him every time (if he'll even let me get near him). I can't dump him out into a pasture because I wont' be able to catch him and his founder issues will never be resolved. I can't leave him in his small pen forever. I also can't risk getting hurt or having others get hurt because he's unfriendly. He will kick at anyone that he doesn't like or even people he doesn't mind. With so many other tasks at hand and everything changing, I simply don't know what my other options would be.

I've decided after the holidays to euthinize Longhorn. I'm not really sure how well it will go but I don't know that I have any other options. I'm rather devistated. But I've given Longhorn three months. He's slowly coming around as far as accepting me (by bribing him with treats). But he still won't allow me to touch him without sending out a forceful flying kick that could do some serious damage.