February 18th, 2010

February 18th, 9:50pm: Windchill has been on his feet for 3 1/2 hours and finally out lasted us. I hope you were able to see Windchill’s first live broadcast this evening. Took awhile to get it going. Unfortunately the cold temperature made it difficult to keep the cam going and it finally gave up – long before Windchill obviously. Nothing we could do would coax Windchill into laying down, apparently he’s had enough of that. He’s tired – his little eyelids keep dropping but he refuses to lay down. We put a second horse blanket on him that one of his new friends donated to go with the beautiful new black halter that Dan’s Feed Bin donated to him. He was surrounded by ladies doting on him and feeding him this evening before he was lifted up onto his feet on the sling. I’m actually surprised he wants to give that up! I think he’s betting that those same nice people will feed him handfuls of hay and grain even when he’s on his feet. And I’m betting he’s right, smart kid. I cannot believe the willpower of that little guy. Quiet and determined. Even when he started to droop, he would prop his head up on the stall wall so he could keep looking at his new best friend Case in the next stall. Then he took a tour of the stall, saw his other friend Sunday in the stall on his left and came back to show us that he can outlast us all. We’re really grateful for all of our new friends, thanks to Windchill. He’s sure taught me there’s an awful lot of good in the world. It arrives in pickups, cars and emails every day now. Time to go eat supper now. I hope your evening has been as great as ours have been. And man I hope that little guy finally lays down and rests.

February 18th, 7:03pm: Man I hate computers. Windchill is on his feet. I’m trying to get a temporary cam in there for right now. Hopefully this will work.

Windchill Live Cam (off the air for the night)

February 18th, 3:30pm: FYI, I’m going to TRY to set up a webcam tonight in the barn. I won’t be able to leave it set up in there because I’m going to use a laptop and obviously if I leave it in there all night – aside from the bitter cold that’s coming and the dust and hay that would wreak havoc with its system – I know the horses would be in there sending emails out in Windchill’s name ordering pizzas and loads of grain to be delivered to their stalls and such. Watch for that probably this evening around 6pm central time.

February 18th, 5:15 and 8am updates: Windchill rested through the night just fine, he seemed to have been really tapped after yesterday’s feats (or is that feets?) of strength. He stayed in the same place, hardly moving. This morning he was awake but still, probably wanting to sleep in late. The mornings kind of worry me. Still kind of scared to peak over the stall door….each morning we’ve looked over he hears the noise and turns his head or at least moves his eyes to look over. I’ll keep the positive thoughts though and try not to worry about the other side of things. We’re turning him over every 6 hours, I doubt it’s his favorite thing in the world but he really seems to understand what we’re doing and doesn’t have any issues with it. His hay consumption is down which we’d expect, I don’t think he could continue eating the way he was as quickly as he was. SLOWLY he’s parts of him are disappearing that shouldn’t be visible. Those that see him for the first time are still shocked at his condition but compared to what he looked like last week – all of this is progress.

DONATIONS UPDATE: We’ve gotten calls from folks who have tried to call unnamed non-profit and not received an answer and apparently there’s not an answering machine according to the calls we’ve received so you all have been calling the house or my voicemail. We haven’t gotten an update yet from them on the amount of donations that have come in to help with Windchill’s care but lots of emails have come in stating they’ve sent money. I’ll let you know when we’ve heard from them. If you’re more comfortable you’re welcome to send or stop by with a donation at:

Dan’s Feed Bin

Dan generously offered to accept the donations or gifts for Windchill and apply it to his supplement and feed needs so thank you very much Dan!

We’ve also set up a fund for those that want to donate directly:

Windchill Fund
Raindance Farms, LLC

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Apparently unnamed non-profit answering machine does not identify their organization on its message which caused some confusion. There are no links or information about Windchill off their website, we’ve been asked why there isn’t info or a link for donating directly to his fund on their site. unnamed non-profit has agreed to accept donations on Windchill’s behalf and forward the monies received for his care – this is a service they’ve offered because we wanted folks to receive that tax deductible benefit for their generous help and we really weren’t set up for the response we received from all of you caring folks.

February 18th, 1:35am: I realize I said I’d only do today’s updates on this page but I granted myself a waiver under the assumption that if I haven’t gone to bed yet it’s still today according to my body. I just did my FINAL final check on Windchill and the others in the barn for the night. I find it’s hard not to hover near him like a mother hen (or whatever the guy version of that is). He was sleeping, apparently done kicking hay away, still under a nice warm set of blankets. He has a favorite now – it’s the red one. Not sure which bed we ripped that one off that night we brought him home. When my kids come to visit next time, I will have the unpleasant task of letting them know one of them doesn’t have a blanket apparently but don’t worry, summer is only like 4 short months away… He looked so peaceful laying there. I can go to sleep now. I think I’ll sleep peacefully too. It’s been a good day.