Despite how alarmingly crazy I am right now, I’ve managed to restrain myself from texting the rehab place 24/7 for updates. They sent me a picture last Monday of him in the aquatred, saying that he was doing great, was very sweet, and had walked right into the water with no problem. Henny’s not dumb, he’s all about the spa vacation.
Every day he went in the aquatred, going for a little longer each time. Then they turned on a few jets to add some resistance. Then on Friday they turned on ALL the jets. Now Henny realizes that his spa vacation is perhaps more of a workout program and would like to lodge an official complaint. Aquatred is hard.
On Saturday I made the trek out to see him. Despite having a mouthful of alfalfa he immediately did the “COOKIE PLEASE” face that he learned from Halo. Guess he’s got me pegged, because of course I came with pockets full of peppermints.
I groomed him, although he was already pretty clean. Daily grooming is included in his spa stay, naturally. His tail was tangle-free and freshly conditioned, and he had nary a fly on him or anything in his feet. He’s certainly not getting neglected in my absence.
I took him out to the back of the facility to walk and graze, and you could tell he’s been a bit cooped up. He’s not on turnout – he just gets to go on the walker once or twice a day (as long as he stays quiet) and then his aquatred. Henry kept his wits about him but he really just wanted to powerwalk all over the place and stare off into the distance. You know… thoroughbred things.
Once he settled and started eating some grass I got to step back and really get a good look at him. I swear his booty has already grown, and I think the “all you can eat” hay plus twice daily alfalfa is working out great… he’s been able to eat way less grain without losing a stitch of his condition.
After about an hour he seemed to get bored of me and started screaming for his new BFF Ricky Bobby, so I stuck him back in his stall, stuffed him full of cookies, and left him to his mound of hay. After seeing how he’s settled in and how well he’s doing and what good care they’re giving him, I feel a lot better than I did last week when I dropped him off.
Maybe 3 more weeks of this won’t be so bad?
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