February 21st, 2010

February 21st, 10:30pm: Well so much for the webcam this evening, huh? Sorry, the cold makes it really tough. Windchill (I can’t help it, I like this spelling) was lifted up a little after 6pm this evening. Unlike last night, which took two attempts to get him standing, tonight’s lift only took one attempt. He stood and quietly munched hay. He’s a lot more alert tonight, a lot more sociable, and seems very happy and busy, chewing on boards in his stall and walking slowly around his stall. He has real hope now, and his spirits seem pretty high. The Duluth News-Tribune was out to interview him today, Will and Amanda. Case helped Amanda with her camera. I hope the news-trib will take payments on the equipment…kidding, Case can pay them with the halter he keeps trying to pull off Wind Chill. He has a long road ahead rebuilding loss muscles and we have to continue monitoring him for frostbite symptoms and internal organ functions. Only time will tell if his growth will be stunted by everything that’s happened. But he faces each day at a time. Guess we could learn from him, huh? I refuse to accept that he won’t make it. Fortunately, so does he.

Just curious. I know I’m reading each one for the first time since they were originally posted. I have them printed out somewhere but I’ve never gone back to read them. I don’t know how some of the newer Windchill friends can sit and read the story in one sitting, it’s honestly too draining for me to do so I’m reading it in chunks as I post it.

February 21st, 5:01pm: We received some good news. Since the media will be talking about it shortly I thought I would let you know that the owner did sign Wind Chill over to us, he is now officially a part of the animal family here. People have been asking the current status of charges against the various individuals involved – we have been entirely focused on Wind Chill’s survival and after the initial reports, this has been in the hands of the Douglas County Sheriff Department and the District Attorney’s Office. I don’t know what will happen but we know from having worked with the Sheriff’s Department through this, they have been not only professional but have tremendously warm hearts, constantly checking on Wind Chill. It’s bittersweet how Wind Chill came into our lives so the news that he had been signed over to us was both good – and sad. Sad because of how it came to be. Sad that he started as somebody’s dream, but that it almost ended in his own nightmare. I’ve had plenty of time to get angry during the long hours, I think Kathi probably has as well. We try not to get angry about those things when near him, but if your thoughts and prayers are keeping him alive then it seems to me negative thoughts are going to have the opposite effect I think. But as angry as I know a lot of people are, I guess I think we should all stop and realize that Wind Chill is here because his owner did finally call this farm that cold day. I won’t debate that it could’ve and should’ve been earlier. I guess I won’t even get into what should’ve occurred when he went down and continuing backwards before he ever hit that point. His owner made the right call that night and now here he is. And this week, yesterday, I believe she made the right ‘call’ again for him. I guess I think that act deserves a prayer on her behalf. I will, and I hope you will too.

February 21st, 11:25am: Wind Chill received a really nice offer from an artist (Deborah Sprague) who painted a picture of he and Walker and is auctioning it off to raise money for his care:

Painting by Deborah Sprague of Windchill rescue colt and Walker
(click to see larger image)

Thanks to “Deb and the boys!”

As I go through my old posts I see the longer things went the more I was prone to making more and more spelling and other mistakes. At one point I fell asleep writing a post and a Windchill follower wrote to ask what the rest of the post was – and that was at like 2am. I woke up to that email, looked at the screen and honestly couldn’t remember. I had learned early on that as I posted to keep saving as I wrote so the post wouldn’t get lost due to my forgetting or equipment/internet failure, so I would save directly to the server and there were so many people watching the blog posts day and night that they were literally reading my posts as I was writing some of them and emails would start coming in before I had finished the post!

February 21st, 5:30am: Brief update – have to get to work for a meeting…Wind Chill is awake this morning, cold hasn’t phased him though he seems to be moving a bit slower, probably stiffness from being down so much and then we lift him up in the evening and he needs to start the circulation going again. The meds are effecting him as well at this point. It’s cute, the powder supplements in his grain – he keeps sending that back with the waiter. He’s learning what he likes and doesn’t like! (By the way, he likes all of you and he is doing his best to slowly email you back but as you already know his front legs are just coming back up to speed and he has trouble with the laptop keyboard – keeps stepping through the laptop) Not to mention the little guy has a journey ahead to rebuild muscle mass. One of the issues Kathi hit early on in trying to administer meds is that he has NO muscle, having withered away to skin over bones. But he sure has willpower.