"Well, I'm going to tell you something about my life. I don't want you to get the wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear."

“Look here, old sport,” he broke out surprisingly. “What’s your opinion of me, anyhow?” 

That is what Fitzgerald's Gatsby says to Nick while driving in his car. He wants to set the record straight. Why? Well because there are rumours aplenty surrounding dear old Gatsby.


“There’s something funny about a fellow that’ll do a thing like that,” said the other girl eagerly. “He doesn’t want any trouble with anybody.”

“Who doesn’t?” I inquired.

“Gatsby. Somebody told me ——”

The two girls and Jordan leaned together confidentially.

“Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.”

A thrill passed over all of us. The three Mr. Mumbles bent forward and listened eagerly.

“I don’t think it’s so much that,” argued Lucille sceptically; “it’s more that he was a German spy during the war.”

One of the men nodded in confirmation.

“I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany,” he assured us positively.

“Oh, no,” said the first girl, “it couldn’t be that, because he was in the American army during the war.” As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm. “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man.”


Well, as I said. I too need to set the record straight due to some rumours that have just surfaced about little old me. 

"Um, Gatsby? I really don't think you can call yourself little. You're half Clydesdale. Little just doesn't apply to a horse like you." 

Be that as it may, I am just a child, old sports! Yet I have been slandered! You have to believe me: On no account, not ever, did I kick my vet. Nor did I do anything else to break her leg. I did not cause any harm to my vet. Er, well except perhaps emotional harm, as my eyes deeply upset her on more than one occasion... But that aside, I have never done anything to hurt her in the least. I definitely did NOT kick her and break her leg. So let's just stop that rumour, shall we? I don't even know what gave you that idea, old sports. Though whoever did probably does not read my blog, so I'm not sure this is very helpful. 

Anyway, I really would not hurt a fly. Not with a face as sweet as mine. 

I may be big boned but there's no mean bones in me. 

True, my size has sometimes led to some unfortunate accidents. I just about killed Spode when I was scared of the cart at my intro day, but I have never hurt anyone on purpose. I am not a bad horse and I know my manners. No biting vets, no kicking vets. The vets at Caledon didn't want me to leave I was so good! No more rumours about my behaviour please. I'm a good egg. I'm a West Egg! (Shout out to my literary peeps!)

Luckily that's pretty much the only rumour I've faced in my short life. Earlier there was suspicion that my uveitis is contagious and that my presence on the farm puts other horses at risk. This was made worse by the fact that my dear friend also succumbed to the disease and had to be put to sleep. 

Never forget. Striker was a good teacher and made a positive difference to Spode's life. Forever grateful <3

But uveitis is not contagious. Leptospirosis is contagious. Even then, it's not passed from horse to horse, but rather from wild animals or cattle and their urine (yeah, it's not very nice). If you live on a farm in these parts, it's possible that you will get leptospirosis and that could lead to equine recurrent uveitis like I have. It's sad but true. We live in a bad area for this disease. Ask your vet their thoughts on the lepto shot for cattle if you are concerned. (Yeah, I'm pretty smart for a horse, I know. But when you've been to as many vet appointments as I have and travelled to Ottawa and Toronto to see a specialist who flew here from Florida... you get to know things. Listen and learn, old sports!).

There may also be some misunderstandings about my disease in general, I know. I have not summarized it nicely since most of my blogs have been a play by play as it happened to me. I am not sure if my uveitis (AKA: ERU and Moonblindness) was caused by leptospirosis, but it's pretty likely. My uveitis was recurring every 3 weeks from December onward. These flare ups mean that my iris spasms due to swelling in the back of my eye. This swelling leads to a build up of fluid/pus in my eyes that makes sight difficult during a flare up, and eventually this can become permanent. Every time there is a flare up, there is a bit of irreversible damage. I have "floaters" (jelly-like floaties swimming around my eyes. Basically solidified fluid) and cataracts and scarring in both eyes as a result of the many flare ups I've had. My eyes have a blue tinge because of fluid that won't go away, and the whites of my eyes are usually red due to minor irritation--I've learnt to ignore it. I would say that I haven't had a flare up in a few months, though I definitely have more irritated days and weeks. It's not a full blown flare up. I have also had a few ulcers in one eye. Just bad luck. It is not related to my uveitis. 

Why does it happen? Because my white blood cells mistake the cells in my eyes to a foreign body and goes into attack mode. Yikes. Stupid white blood cells, seriously. When this attack happens, I start to swell. My iris constricts so my pupils are twenty tiny, and my vision goes cloudy. On one occasion, I lost sight in one temporarily, but thankfully after a wicked dose of steroids, I pulled through. 

That happened after my surgery. My surgery consists of cyclosporine discs in the tissue at the back of my eye. It slowly releases medicine and stops the white cell attack. Mostly. These discs contain medicine that is too toxic to be put in the front of my eye long term, so this is the solution. They will need to be replaced in 2-5 years. They have vastly improved my quality of life and saved my vision, at least for now. Crossing my hooves all the time. But they make me susceptible to other diseases by affecting my immune system, which explains my herpes. Hopefully nothing more serious hits me. It's tough being me, there's no doubt. 

But luckily for me, my uveitis is under control at the moment, which is more than can be said for other horses Spode has known. My vision is not perfect, but it's pretty good and good enough for me to live a normal life with a few extra precautions moving from light to dark. 

That's the truth about me and about my disease. The vets in my life have helped me enormously, so I got upset when I heard this latest rumour. I don't hurt vets or any people for that matter because they made my life better every time. Just like Fitzgerald's Gatsby, I don't want the people I'm close to to get the wrong impression of me or the nature of my disease. 

Now let's get back to the party!!

Carry on, old sports. Just had to speak up for a moment. Spode is busy at school teaching young people the dance of my time. The Charleston. Like this:

Bend your knees, kick up your feet, and twist!

Yeah, she's doing the jazz age. Next week she's showing a clip of the movie and debating historical accuracy. Yeah baby! I make a positive impact everywhere I go. Get ready, kids!

Until later, old sports.

Jay.