Rio's HOME!

Happy Monday Readers!
I know you've all been waiting excitedly for this post... The trek to bring Rio home.
The forecast for Thursday in CT was wind and driving rain. Much like the day I brought him to Cornell. Not surprising I guess. Fortunately, when I checked the weather for Ithaca, it said mostly sunny skies. So only part of the drive would be nasty. Of course, the entire CT portion of the journey was bumper to bumper traffic:

Once in NY though, it was smooth sailing! About halfway through I followed some signs to a gas station that sold diesel in a town called Parksville, NY. Have you ever been here? It's a strange little place! When pulling off the exit, you stop at a four way intersection. Looking left and right, the Main Street appears abandoned. It looks straight out of around 1950. I looked it up online here but there's no mention of it actually being deserted. Very odd... Anyway here are some photos I grabbed quickly at the stop sign since there wasn't another car nearby anywhere.

I finally arrived at Cornell around 1:30 PM.

I had the chance to speak with the vet about Rio's new needs, what meds he was taking and for how long, and the damage to my credit card. It all took about a half hour, and by 2 we were on our way HOME! The drive home was beautiful, mostly because I had my boy with me, but also the skies had started to clear up:

 Of course once in CT more traffic....

Finally at 7:45 we pulled into the driveway, and found this adorable surprise waiting:

My neighbor is so thoughtful! 5 lbs of carrots AND a balloon bouquet welcoming Rio home. He sure is a loved boy.

Life at the farm is SO MUCH BETTER now that Rio is back. Even Ducky and Jamp seem more relaxed. I shall leave you with some photos of Rio feeling happy to be home again.

Rio Update!

Every day last week I got the same report from the hospital about Rio, "He seems a bit worse today." Sunday couldn't come soon enough for me to visit him. While most people were celebrating Easter, I hopped in my car and drove to Cornell. It's amazing how much quicker the trip is in a car than when hauling a sick horse! (4.5 hours versus 6!)

I was really worried about what I would see when I got there. I was pleased to see that he really hadn't lost weight, and he was relatively interested in what was going on around him. His interest increased about 40 fold when he realized I'd brought cookies...

Today I finally heard the results of his spinal tap. He does in fact have EPM, which I spoke a little about here. As crazy as it sounds, this is the diagnosis I was hoping for. Had he not had EPM, he likely had a brain tumor. We have been treating him for the disease since Tuesday just in case, so I'm glad we went ahead and did that. It's very expensive medication, but worth every penny if it can help my boy. 70% of horses show significant improvement with this treatment, and about 20% of those will improve almost back to normal. I'm just hoping my best friend can improve enough to come home. Time will tell, but I have high hopes for Rio. His brothers are missing him at home!
So that's all we know for now. I'll leave you with some photos of Rio in his fancy, padded stall.

M.I.A.

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been missing all this week. As you probably read here, my best friend Rio is very sick. I had my vet out on Monday again and we decided it would be best for both my safety and Rio's that he go to a veterinary hospital. So Tuesday, Rio and I made the 6 hour trek up to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

There was wind, driving rain, and snow along the way...

But we finally made it. Test results so far all have come back negative, which means we still don't know for sure what's wrong with him. The spinal tap results will take a few more days, so until then we wait. I'm planning to go visit him this weekend, and hopefully it's not to say good bye. I promise to be back to regular posting soon, once things settle down some. Until then, here are some photos of my handsome boy at the hospital.