Option B, Version 2.0

1:47 PM
By Beka Burke
6 Comments

I rode Archie on Sunday before it got too, too warm. I was still glistening in sweat once we were done. I'm pleased to report that after a week of being out of his stall, we were able to canter laps without stopping to cough. I texted this to my vet on Monday and brought up something that I hadn't previously mentioned to him: Archie was getting hay in the stall, too. Derp derp.

Smile cue transitions to the kiss cue.

So we've started Option B, version 2.0. Archie is being segregated from the other geldings overnight so that he can stuff his face full of hay, in a pasture, and we can determine if this is the cause of this month's episode of Killing My Pony.

I pulled him out of the pasture on Tuesday and he was drenched in sweat and blowing, hard. I stuck him under the barn fans and let him chill. I've been trying not to hose him because I don't want his hooves getting wet, but the ceiling fans seem to be sufficient in getting him cooled out. Once his respiration had dropped into the normal range and most of the sweat had dried from his neck and back, I tacked him up. I wasn't planning a long ride, but primarily wanted to see how his esophagus was reacting to the hay.

And after walking a lap around the outside of the ring, I dismounted and undid his girth. In that short amount of time, Archie had started blowing hard again. I coated his feets in oil and hosed him off for a while before setting him back under the fans. Once he appeared recovered, he got his beet pulp with a little extra electrolytes (which he gets daily) and I turned him back out into the lane.

Last night was down right cool compared to Tuesday and I pulled a non-sweaty Archie out of the lane pasture and tacked him up. I heard a little offness to the rhythm of his shoes, but neither was loose and it wasn't the sound of a shoe that's hanging on by a nail. Lo and behold, what I later took for slipping in wet mud was Archie actually ripping off his LF. I was super impressed with his balance, though, because he kept me comfortably centered and I had no fucking clue what was going on, so was no help.

Where's Waldo?

The good news is that his coughing still seems improved. He had his warm-up cough and then just one big cough when I first asked him to canter. We were able to trot and canter around for about ten minutes with no little fits. Vet still wants to continue V2.0, so hopefully none of this changes. And the farrier will be out next week to do another round of shoeing. I think his toes are long and that contributed to the loss of shoe, because otherwise his feet look great. (Thanks, Sarah!)