The Horse No One Can Fix

So the saga of Sultan's intermittent lameness is sadly drawing to a close with no answers forthcoming.  There is nothing we haven't done over the past 10 years to try to fix this horse, or at least seriously investigate the source of the problem.  We have trailed him thousands of miles up and down the length of North America to different vet clinics, and lameness specialists.

For 2 years I trailered him 2 hours (each way) every 4 weeks to Rood and Riddle, to have special shoes fitted, at around $350 a time. When he was with Danni's old trainer she had him shod with her farrier at $550 a time (every 4 weeks).

He has had full body bone scans, more x-ray's than 50 horses in their lifetimes, several surgeries, ultra sound, acupuncture, chiropractic work, stem cell surgery (that was a blast at $5,000 plus) he's been nerved, injected, had Lazar treatment, more supplements and medications than you'll find in a small hospital.  He's had stall rest, hand walking, lunging, no turn out, limited turn out, full turn out.  Had his legs daily wrapped and iced.

Everything we did was on the advice of whichever vet we were dealing with at the time, and to date, not one of them (and there have been dozens) has been able to diagnose the problem, or suggest a treatment or program that has any lasting results. No solution, and sadly not much interest either, no matter the amount of money we throw at them.

Throughout the past 10 years we have possibly spent in the region of $100,000.00 on this horse and it's caused Daniela more stress, heartache and tears than anyone should have to deal with.

Why haven't we given up?  is a question I hear you asking, and the answer to that is, because Sultan is the most spectacularly beautiful, stunning horse, truly a "Black Beauty". He is built for dressage, and the most comfortable ride ever.  Riding Sultan is like sitting on a cloud, if feels as though you're floating, which has actually been the case a few times unfortunately for Daniela, when he has unseated her with  lightening speed, and sent her flying through the air.

Sultan on the lunge line

His nervousness and unpredictability, make him a real challenge to ride, a challenge that few have been willing to undertake, and given that he has spent the better part of his life in one recovery program or another, actual qopportunities to ride him have been few and far between.

Today we find ourselves in a sad place, we can't fix Sultan, no vet to date has been able to accurately diagnose the problem, and with only a few exceptions most of them are just not interested.

Danni is in school full time now, she's going back to vet school,  which is very demanding and gives her precious free time.  So we find ourselves having to look for either a retirement home for Sultan, or as a pasture buddy for someone. It breaks our hearts that after all the effort, time, heartbreak, expectations, disappointments and thousands and thousands of wasted dollars, we now are faced with having to give up.
Neither of us ever thought it would end this way.