The Owls Approve: Archie

The Blogger Who Didn't

8:55 PM
By Beka Burke
3 Comments

My normal writing and reading style has been to do it in my down time at work (sorry, work), but then something struck the system and it wasn't safe to use personal credentials on a company device. As a result of the shit hitting the fan, I went from working my normal 40 hours to trucking through 50-60 hours. It wasn't a pleasant four weeks.

Now that things are winding down from we're-all-desperately-fucked to oh-shit-St.-Patty's-day, I'm getting off work at a reasonable time and I'm not fucking exhausted, so I aim on trying to catch up on the month's work of blog posts. Maybe.

So, life now, as a pregnant equestrian?

When I was lucky and not exhausted, the boys got ridden both Saturday and Sunday. I'm still taking lessons with Katy every week. I'm probably jinxing the fuck out of myself, but she said that when Whiskey and I make our rated debut post-baby, we're skipping straight to First Level. I wish I had more documentation, but she said that my smart pasture pony has the movement of a First or Second Level horse, now that he can actually pick up the right lead. Fingers crossed.

This is the good-boy face of a pony who picked up the right lead. 😍 #justalittlejointjuice #whiskeytheappaloosa

A post shared by Beka (@bekaburke) on Feb 25, 2018 at 9:49am PST

I made it to Saturday of this past weekend riding Whiskey myself, but officially bowed out after he started bucking in the trot to canter transitions (okay, so submission needs work!). Katy put the Spotted Dickhead through his paces on Sunday and she'll continue to do so for as long as I can hitch a trailer (maybe longer if I can convince her to come to me).

I'm still trail riding Archie, but the concern now is less about my safety on my rock-solid, ancient trail pony and more about crossing that 20% weight guideline. He willingly waits for me to mount and dismount at the picnic table. He doesn't seem uncomfortable with my change in balance or my weight, but I'm keen on keeping the old man functioning f o r e v e r.

Latest on the weird little teeth. #boldarcher #seniorhorse #ottb #expiredteeth

A post shared by Beka (@bekaburke) on Feb 21, 2018 at 3:29pm PST

Archie

Deets on the Feets.

4:14 PM
By Beka Burke
4 Comments

When I asked the vet to come out and take rads of Archie's crippled appendages, he asked if I was noticing any changes. I said he was moving so well on the Equioxx that I pulled him off everything else. So no, the Kid's good. Which just raised the question - then why was the vet here?

I told him that my farrier had mentioned possible coffin bone changes in the cripplest right front, as the growth pattern had changed and the dip in Archie's hoof wall had returned. Vet quickly assured me that this did not indicate coffin bone changes, but rather that Archie's toe had gotten away from my farrier. We still continued with the rads to make sure there weren't any other beneficial changes we could make. I had thought keeping up with maintenance of that right front's ringbone progression was a practical decision, but the vet thinks, at this point, it is what it is and the only reason to shoot rads from here on out would be for shoeing changes or gait changes.

Crippled right front - Archie pulled the silicone pad.

Crippled right front - Vet said that he needed to lose an inch of toe.

Less crippled left front. Vet explained that this image indicated a slight medio-lateral imbalance, as you can't see straight across the joints.

Less crippled left front - with pad still in. He said that Archie was 2-3 mm high on the lateral side.
Lateral being further from the midline, so the hoof is higher on the outside wall.

Farrier came the next day and was grumpy about taking off an inch, but I'm pretty sure he accomplished it. He was half an hour late for the visit, so I didn't get to stay and watch, as I had to take Whiskey to a lesson. Vet also recommended Natural Balance shoes (maybe the only thing I haven't tried on this horse...?), so the farrier is going to get me an estimate on those.

Not the best angle (he was eating and this hoof was placed back), but I think that's about an inch, given the location of the old nail holes.

It seems like a lot for a horse that primarily walks on the trail, right? But it goes back to comfort and quality of life. I'd love to have Archie with me for another decade, so whatever it takes to get him there.

Achilles

auribus teneo lupum

3:49 PM
By Beka Burke
5 Comments

Archie

Grandpa's doing pretty damn well. I took him off the SmartFlex Senior that he's been on for about a decade when my vet recommended that he start Equioxx. He's been pulling me around on trail rides and marching around the dirt box. We had drama at the barn this summer/fall, but I'm great at covert fisticuffs and the issues have been mostly resolved, which means he's putting weight back on. It's the great catch-22 of senior horses with arthritis - I don't want to see your ribs because you're a senior, but I still want the thought of them because of your shitty joints.

My farrier recently noted some changes in his hoof structure on that shitty right front. While he didn't seem overly concerned about additional possible lameness issues in my already crippled semi-retired geriatric, I still set up an appointment with my beloved vet to get maintenance rads of that hoof. It's been two years since the shit hit the fan, so it feels like time. That'll be Friday.

Whiskey

We've had a ~~couple~~ few more lessons since last I wrote. Two were with friends who outshine my inverted one-lead pony. One time, I got to use a driving rein (a la Mary-Kate) and then worked on a "bow-tie" exercise, but not at the same time. Trainer is at the point where I'm no longer allowed to hold his face or have more than the barest of contact. He's solely responsible for his balance, but I am supposed to invite him to come over his back. This takes a level of finesse that neither of us were really sure I had. Surprise, I do!

My third lesson was solo and it was devoted to building topline - or, rather, teaching me the tools and contact I needed to keep him using the right muscles while also not enabling him to brace against me. It was a lot of "Supple! Hands forward! Supple! Hands forward!"

The time change has really fucked me over, though. We moved barns back in the spring and this new barn just doesn't have adequate light for me to ride after work. There are a few flood lights, so I'm thinking Whisk is going to be introduced to side-reins in the semi-dark. I'm not killing myself about it because we aren't working towards anything big any time soon - mostly just getting his muscles to reform in the correct places.

Zoom zoom.

Best Bitches

The big girls are good - though Savannah has recently had a cystocentesis for a urinary analysis and culture, as well as abdominal radiographs. Poor old lady has been battling chronic UTIs for the past seven years or so. Between the culture and the UA, we've determined that she has proteus bacteria, but fortunately no stones. Just sludge. Twenty days of simplicef and a temporary diet change.

Tiny terrorist, Hedwig, on far left, looking way too big.

The tiny terrorist is doing well, too. She started obedience classes recently and has caught on quickly. I trained Scarlette and Savannah all by myself and they were well-trained and obedient dogs, but it's much harder when I'm not the only one doing it. Which is to say, D needs dog-training, too.

Okay, so I'm good at spoiling.

Shittens

Speaking of assholes and urine, D's cat blocked again. For those unfamiliar with the horrible construction of a male cat's urethra, that shit gets blocked by the thought of blocking and then the cat can't pee. Good-bye kidney function and hello sepsis and rupturing. Fortunately, we caught it quickly and they were able to unblock him with relative ease. D and I had already talked about the PU surgery (he becomes a she, as we used to call it) and, also fortunately, he's completely on board to slice up that member in order to lessen the likelihood of this ever happening again.