I had our plan, our maps, equipment, training for all of us (the horse, Iris & myself).  We felt fully prepared and all ready to go on our next adventure but life had a few other ideas.  If I have seemed rather quiet on social media over the last few weeks it’s because my attention has been firmly fixed on Tizon, the clubs wonderful horse.  At the end of last month, Tizon was struggling to breathe and couldn’t stop coughing, he went through many tests, all came back clear and then a lung flush procedure showed that he has a very severe condition that is like Asthma, it’s called Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO) we were treating this condition prior to this as he has had a history of coughing ever since he moved to us but I had never seen him like this before.  Weight dropped off him, it was like feeding a sieve and the muscles fell away leaving a sorry sight that broke our hearts.  He went straight onto antibiotics, had a nasty allergic reaction to the first dose so we swapped him to another and then also he has been on steroids as well as pain relief and medication for his condition.  
Our mighty black beauty with a brave heart turns out to be quite a difficult patient and getting his food to exactly the right combo has been a fine art to hide the tastes of all the powders but finally we are getting there. On the day that we were going to be leaving on our 50-mile ride he is in recovery, resting and on his last day of steroids.  The cough thankfully seems to have stopped but now we wait and see if he can manage off the steroids and just on the other medication.  
For his owner the news has been tough, a condition like this is second down on the unwanted list after lameness.  For me, the thought of this horse no longer being with us if he can’t work is incredibly hard.  We have trained together for 8 months and not only do I trust him to carry Iris on adventures he has been a faithful therapy horse for many children at the club and we share a close bond.  Iris has been helping me make up his feed, carefully measuring out doses of medicine and taking his food to him. I have been particularly impressed with her abilities to follow instructions but aware that her latest sleep issues could be connected to the change of events.  
So where does the plan go from here, we have to add another plan, think of it like a pre-plan.  Tizon’s rehab, a chance to learn new things, how to build up a horses topline of muscles from scratch.  Lots of fun exercises, obstacle courses and in hand work.  My pre-plan will merge into everyday life, we can involve his work into our therapy sessions and Iris’s homeschooling.  Projets designing games for him and the other ponies will be a fun challenge.  I have discovered through being an autism parent you forge a new gift, turning disasters into opportunities – the art of flip thinking.  Maybe my journey wasn’t meant to be 50 miles in May, but I will still walk by his side, Iris will still be there and we will look after each other on a different path.