tender loving maintenance

One of the nice things about taking this little unexpected break mid spring was that it gave me an opportunity to do another full inventory of the state of things. Evaluating where Charlie is in his health and well being, and thinking about it in terms of what all we will hopefully be facing over the next weeks and months.

always amused by this comic artist. maybe it's the birds. or maybe it's the vague existentialism lol

Seemed like a good enough time, albeit a little early, to do Charlie's hocks again. Everyone has their own comfort zone about joint maintenance, and hock injections are well within scope for me personally. So when Charlie's PPE showed that he'd likely be a card-carrying member of the hock maintenance club, I was cool with it.

i spy with my little eye.... sleeping ponies!

I've also had the benefit of speaking with his former race trainer who was able to fill me in on the care he received under her (like his tie back surgery and the suspensory strain he did back in 2011). She did his hocks on the track, and actually did his stifles once too.

oh man, look at Royal there on the left, homeboy is laid out haha

My vet who did his PPE and has done his injections since then feels like his stifles are in great shape, tho, luckily. And so far we've been able to keep them healthy and lubricated by building muscle through strength training.

It certainly helps that those joints are surrounded by big strong muscles that can provide support to the joint, vs hocks that are harder to improve with strength training alone.

charlie did not appear ready for wakey wakey yet, so i just sat down to hang for a little bit

And it's not unusual especially for large horses, who maybe had major growth spurts, to sometimes need more support in their stifles. So far tho we haven't had to do any interventions for Charlie. That day may come eventually, but maybe not.

really tho, everyone was drowsy and dopey in the warm sunshine

In the meantime tho, I like to stay ahead of the curve with his hocks. They aren't in very bad shape at all - in fact one is almost totally fine. But considering Charlie's occasionally sour attitude and decidedly not stoic nature, it's easier for everyone involved if I can reduce as much friction (literally!) as possible haha.

"c'mon, mom, just five more minutes!!"

The first time we did his hocks, there was quite a bit of pressure in the one. And the synovial fluid was kinda watery and had that slight rusty tint, indicating inflammation in the joint. This time tho, it was nice and viscous and healthy looking. A good indication that we were getting the joint taken care of before it became aggravated or inflamed again.

meanwhile i got mugged by a roving gang of chestnuts lol

So that's always reassuring. It was also nice to have this particular vet evaluate Charlie again in general. She has done his PPE, and previous injections, and also another lameness exam soon after I bought him to just double and triple check that the funkiness in his RF was indeed hoof soreness and not anything else (which we confirmed).

charlie's life does not suck, guys

I don't get to see this vet very often bc there's another good vet who buzzes around my farm constantly, and is there seemingly every week. So it's usually really convenient to just text her when I need a look at the horse, or more SMZs or omeprazole or Surpass or something. Plus, in the instances where I've needed more urgent care (like Charlie's whole splint situation last fall), I was able to just add him on to other appointments she already had at the farm.

big cat stretch after he finally decided to get up!

I really like this original vet tho, and especially since she did Charlie's PPE it's really useful to get her thoughts on where he is now, compared to where he started. And her verdict? She's really impressed with his overall condition right now! His weight and muscling are just so so so different now from the first time we laid eyes on him, 4 weeks after his final race.

then out of the sacrifice field and into greener grazing areas

Plus she declared him sound as a dollar during the exam too, which I will never ever ever get tired of hearing from a vet haha. Tho yea, flexions showed that we wouldn't exactly be wasting our time doing the hocks either lol.

wherein he also got to appreciate the spring flowers

Plus, conveniently she was able to take a little looksie at the latest ding in Charlie's universe: a gnarly puncture he picked up on his forearm. I had cleaned it out the night before and flushed it with betadine in one of those curved tip syringes that I love so much now (pictured bottom left). But was eager to have a vet look at it just to confirm there wasn't anything worse going on.

Luckily the puncture goes up instead of down toward the joint. And while it's a bit deep, it isn't terrible. So hopefully it'll heal on its own with nothing more than SMZs and regular scrubs and flushes (vet recommended chlorhex instead of betadine) to keep it draining. Tho she also gave him a shot of gent just to be reeeeeally sure haha. Bc let's be real, it's Charlie.

oh haha, there was also this too. a nice meaty chunky puncture up in the fleshy part of charlie's forearm. bc sure. why not. 

So. Ya know. Maybe now that Charlie's all juiced up again he'll do something stupid and end up back on stall rest, making it all pointless anyway. Which. Ya know. Wouldn't be the first time.

But hopefully tho, that won't be the case. Hopefully instead he'll be feeling like a million bucks and will be ready to hit the ground running when I get back on him in a few days (for an awesome trail ride!!!!). Fingers crossed lol.

Have you done much maintenance for your horses? Is it something you're comfortable with, or something you try to avoid at all costs? I know a ton of horses out there get their hocks done, but maybe your horse has had other hot spots too, like fetlock or neck or knee or SI?

Is there anything you wouldn't inject? Or would you be the first person in line to dunk your entire horse in a giant vat of steroids should that become an option??