Crazy Old Horse!

We had quite a scare today. Mom came over and the horses were right by the backyard, so we walked out to visit with them. Shadow acted like he was terrified, and tried to walk away, so I put an arm around his neck. He jumped backward and fell down on his butt then rolled over and just lay there flat out. He was breathing heavy and rolling his eyes and I couldn't get him to get up. He tried a couple of times to get up, but couldn't seem to use his rear end. I sent Mom on her way just in case we had a tragedy on our hands, and got Chip to come look at Shadow. Chip did not seem to think it looked good either. We decided to leave him alone and let him rest a minute. Shadow lay there for about half an hour and I went back out to check on him. This time he tried really hard to get up, but his hip looked like it could be broken or hurt, and he couldn't get his back legs to hold him up. I sat down with his head in my lap and was having a talk with him and he just stopped breathing and his eye got all glassy. I thought well, hell, this is it, but then he woke up and tried to get up again. I got a halter and rope on him and Chip and I tried to help him up, but again, he just fell back down and didn't try again. We decided that he probably was giving up so I told Chip that I was going to sit with him for a while. Chip started to walk away and all of a sudden Shadow heaved himself up and got his hind end under him and stood up. We braced him for a minute so he could balance, and I unhooked the halter and he just limped off, looking for the other horses. Crazy old man! Last time I checked on him he was trotting through the pasture calling to the others. I hope he is going to be ok. He is 30 years old and that really scared us. He is a dear old friend.