Darker days ahead?

As the days have progressed from my last uplifting blog on Mickey, his health has gotten worse.  We will not see the doctor again until September 18th to do the next scope.  He is not feeling like his old self.  He is lethargic and tends to lay down whenever in his stall.  When I ride him, he coughs.  I count the first seven times as okay but feel like we need to quit working when he coughs more than that.  And he has each time we have had him out in the last ten days. 

We have done what we can and although Lauren and I are not talking about it much, both feel that even if he can’t compete any more as long as he can still be with us as a pasture horse, that’s okay.  It will be hard but we can handle it.  What I hope against hope, is that the coughing and breathing difficulties do not increase to such a point that it is unfair to Mickey to let him continue on.

Maybe this is a normal part of the treatment, see some improvement, backslide a  little and then improve for good.  I do not know.  I only know the sound of Mickey’s labored coughing is breaking my heart.