bridging the gap

Charlie had a check-in lameness evaluation with his longtime vet this past week. It's not our normal time of year for maintenance, but... As you may know already, Charlie's had what I'd characterize as intermittent hoof soreness for roughly 7-8wks at this point. 

gotta feed the meter!

I'm grateful to my vet for MANY reasons.... But chief among them are her practicality, availability, and general commitment to keeping Charlie feeling his absolute best and most capable for my goals as a rider, modest tho they may be. 

random flashback to the Maryland 5* for #ManCrushMonday lol

So this was kinda an interesting visit for us. Basically ended up being more or less an in-person consult. Sure, I jogged Charlie a bit for her, and she did some palpations and evaluations... But more than anything, we reviewed his history in conjunction with his current clinical presentation (which was, to be specific, basically sound). 

From this, my vet laid out her recommended plan of action. The working hypothesis is that.... Multiple mild systemic issues are happening all at once, compounding each other. 

First up... We suspect that the month off Charlie earned after getting caught up in wire fence contributed to overall loss in conditioning and musculature, which then contributed to Charlie's hocks losing the support and protection normally afforded by his fitness. 

another flashback to October, this time from Charlie's last appt with his #1 favorite wellness practitioner. god he loves her haha

So... He's getting a little hock-y sooner than we'd like (reminder: he received his last scheduled maintenance in March). This hind end weakness also contributes to the little bit of back soreness we saw prior to his last acupuncture / chiro treatment. 

Meanwhile, the weakened hind end results in Charlie traveling even more on the forehand than he's already inclined to do -- thus amplifying any front end hoof soreness. 

To be completely honest, I was already thinking about repeating the coffin injections we did back in 2019. Quick backstory: back then, we were pushing hot and heavy for a training level move up, come hell or high water. Along the way, I learned some hard lessons about the realities of conditioning a giant thoroughbred on hard ground, womp, thus the injections.

acupuncture needles all over his fence-caught RH leg (see the scars??)

Since then I've been way more careful about managing Charlie relative to ground conditions and hoof care. And it's worked, ya know? But he's a big body on very-slightly-too-small feet, and there's only so much I can do to protect him from drought-hardened ground and stomping at biting flies throughout summer. 

Actually, before his "tangle with tensile," I was pretty much ready to pull the trigger again. But then hoped that maybe the time off would do the trick instead.... 

Lately, tho, we've just been a little too inconsistent for my (and Charlie's!) comfort. When Charlie feels good, he feels really good. Soft swinging back, happy to be round and pushing. Forward to the jumps. All the things. But when he doesn't feel good... He's cranky about it, and very reluctant to move out. Iffy at the walk, and pretty fucking lame at trot. 

marinating while his barnmate gets treated

Upon first consulting with the vet a little over a month ago, she suggested a few weeks of rest plus 5 days of Bute. We did that, and he seemed better, but then right back to the on/off situation. 

Vet believes this is likely still reflecting an arthritic complaint with his feet, vs anything soft tissue etc. But she's not quite ready to pull the trigger yet on coffin injections either. 

mikey the manager was snoopervising, as always!

Her plan is to "bridge the gap" to bring his whole system back into better balance again: 

1) Start him on Firocoxib (generic of Equioxx) for about 2 months. He's still younger than she'd like to recommend it as a permanent daily Rx, but she thinks it's worth trying it to help him out right now. We'll do ~2mos and reassess at that time.

2) Let the NSAIDs do their thing for the next 2wks, while also striving to get more consistent under saddle to improve his musculature (to better support his joints). This means... Instead of giving him 4 days off or whatever every time he trots up sore, take it on a day to day basis. As in, the soreness may be more transitory than I've been treating it. So if he's sound up front, work him out (focusing on strength and muscling). If he's not sound, so be it.

3) At some point in the near future when he has a more compelling clinical presentation for intervention, we'll do a full workup with flexions etc, and likely do his coffins again. Ideally I'll be able to choose a nasty stretch of weather to minimize guilt for the resulting stall rest. 

a lot of folks swear by their previcox or equioxx. we shall see how charlie likes it!

4) All of this should be wayyyy more than sufficient to keep Charlie cruising along happily thru the winter, plenty comfortable for indoor jumper shows, dressage tests, and even some xc schooling (perhaps in the arenas at Loch Moy?) if conditions allow. 

5) He'll also get another acupuncture / chiro session sometime early in the new year. 

6) Ideally we'll get closer to a full 12mos for his hocks, but nbd if it has to be sooner this year. We can live with it lol. We already know he'll tell us when he's ready, so it's just my job to listen. 

whatever it takes to keep charlie hummin along!

So. That's the plan, in a nutshell. Not gonna lie, it's a little hard to write this so publicly bc I can imagine all sorts of judgement about the medical interventions I deploy to ensure my horse is happy in his job. Why not just step down his work? Is that fair to the horse? 

But... Eh, I'm honestly pretty confident in this care plan. While I still have LOADS to learn in the management of a horse across his full life, I feel really confident and secure in my relationship with Charlie, and understanding how he feels in the work. 

imo he lives a good life

And if that little birthday xc ride was any indication, Charlie is a HAPPY HORSE out galloping around and jumping bigger jumps. And I'm more than willing to give him what he needs to stay happy. 

While all the rest he's had this year has maybe contributed to less happy arthritis, there has been some benefit. Namely: Charlie's muscles AND mentality feel fresh. When he feels good? He feels GOOD. And fresh Charlie is my absolute favorite Charlie lol. So we'll take it, and work the margins, as always.