I'm definitely considering the hip replacement and/or whatever kind of surgery the doctor recommends.  I have an appt with the ortho to discuss the MRI results on Tuesday...I think he'll be referring me back to the replacement specialist so still have more appts, but my hip has started to ache even when sitting.  I know it'll only get worse so if surgery NOW will make recovery easier, I'd rather do it sooner.

Still don't have pics of Chip.  I have a short video, but it's upside down (anyone want to fix it and upload it for me?).  He's officially mine now, but not here at home.  He's staying at my trainer's place for a bit so we can introduce the lifestyle changes he'll experience here.  This is NOT to bash people who show...I completely understand needing to keep a horse in pristine condition for showing and/or selling.  Chip is beautiful...clean, glossy, gorgeous mane/tail, no nicks/marks, etc.  First thing he did here was to roll in the sand and get some "TN grunge" on him.   In some ways, he's going to look a lot worse after living with me...he'll be in the pasture, rolling in mud, getting sun bleached, that sort of thing.  So it's kind of "bittersweet"...I'd like to think that most horses (I know some like the stall life!) prefer living with other horses in a more natural environment, but I'm going to regret that he loses some of that "pretty."

One of the other differences that really struck me was the way he was sort of "bubble wrapped" at this barn.  Again, I understand it, but it was both humorous and annoying.  For example, I played with Chip in the indoor for just a few minutes the night before I picked him up.  When I took him back to his stall, I "sent" him in instead leading him into the stall.  The previous owner told me "that's not how we do it.  He could hit his hip or his head, so we always lead them in, turn them around, then take off the halter."  Well, damn, if the horse can't figure out where his hip/head are going into and out of his own stall, he needs to learn!  LOL  Just little things...where it was all about structuring the environment TO the horse (making sure a door is open as wide as possible, not walking by a Gator) instead of teaching the horse to deal with it calmly.

So far, I'm thrilled with him though!  He's pretty uneducated, but you can see his willingness to learn. What he does "wrong" is only wrong because no one has taught him to do it differently...and even then, it wasn't wrong for his previous lifestyle, just wrong for what he'll need to do as an MP horse.