Thanks to all of you for inquiring about Ace’s abscess as well as your encouragement. The abscess is looking really good! Actually, it’s completely healed up and just needs to grow some hair over where it burst.

Ace is feeling really good these days. When he gets out of his stall in the morning he gallops and bucks and rolls and acts like a very happy, feeling-good horse. Of course, in doing so on Sunday his back end slipped out from under him. He popped right up though and got away with just a scrape on the inside of his fetlock. Naturally, it’s the same leg that had the abscess. If it’s not one thing, it will be something else.

On another very horsey note, I went down to the barn Sunday afternoon just to spray some fur-all on Ace’s heel. When I walked into the arena, Dave and Tracie’s three horses were standing quietly in the arena. Ace was standing quietly in his stall. Then I did a double take; his stall door was wide open! Ace has moved into Classic’s stall in the arena, but has not been integrated into the herd yet since he was healing (the horses are turned out in the arena except when they are eating). But the boys managed to let him and tried to speed up the acclimation process. It could have been bad, especially if they trapped Ace in his stall, but everyone came out of it relatively unscathed. Ace has one bite mark on his side and one slightly tender spot where he probably got kicked. And they broke the plug on his heated water bucket. But really, that’s not so bad compared to what they could have done. We figured that because of this, and since Ace’s abscess is better, it’s time to focus on getting him settled in with the herd so he doesn’t have to stay stalled any more. Ace sure will be happy about that!

I’m looking forward to Christmas, but am going to be sad to be away from my boy for four days while we spend the holidays with family. Hopefully we can get back into training in January now that he’s all healed up and once we’re beyond the holidays.

Nearly four years ago I was fresh out of college, officially living and working in a new city an hour and a half away from home, and getting married in two months. Throughout college, I rode, worked at my barn, and taught lessons when I was home on breaks. But now that I was living in my college town 12 months out of the year instead of just 9, it was time to find some horses here.

A series of contacts led me to discover Tracie, who works at my Alma Mater, attended a church that was one of my clients, and also happened to have horses. I didn’t know her and she didn’t know me. But I sent her an email anyway, telling her about my horse background, that I was looking for someone who needed help exercising or training their horses, and some people she could talk to for personal recommendations. I was going out on a limb for this, knowing she could say “no way” to some complete stranger asking to ride her horses.

But five minutes later, there was a new message in my inbox.

It was more of a book than an email, really. Tracie was thrilled. She and her husband Dave had recently bought two young horses to make their herd four, and didn’t have as much time for the original two horses. They also needed someone with horse experience who could provide animal care on the few occasions they went away.

A few weeks later, I met her face to face and went to their house for lunch, where we spent several hours getting to know each other. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

A Classic Thoroughbred

My second visit out to Dave and Tracie’s actually entailed a chance to ride their horses. My charges were Marahute, a teenage Appy/Arab mare, and Classic, a 20-year-old Thoroughbred mare. At first I split my time between the two. I like a horse that needs a little bit of work, that’s going to keep me challenged and thinking. That was Marahute.

But riding Classic was like coming home.

The 15.2 chesnut with a white blaze had all the trappings of a refined Thoroughbred mare. The delicate muzzle, the soft brown eyes, the long legs. She had a comfortable trot with just a little spring to it and a rolling, gorgeous canter. She was light in my hands and off my legs. And she had that extra little bit of energy that I love in Thoroughbreds.

Classic was willing to try whatever I asked of her. After spending much of her time as a (wonderful) trail horse, she got to play the hunter with me. And she was good at it. She could get that hind end underneath her and have a sweeping working trot, rounding her neck and back just so while staying light. She was such a joy to ride.

Classic reminded me of why I love horses so much, and thoroughbreds in particular. After riding Marahute, who challenges almost every step of the way, Classic was a breath of fresh air. I could feel my whole body (and mind!) relax with her.

Classic could be a little bit of a grump about grooming, was very protective of her space and food, and hated to be tied. But those were just little quirks that we learned to deal with.

She knew exactly who she was, where she stood in the herd, and what she wanted out of life.

The Heartache Of Horse Ownership

When I first met her, Classic was developing just a tinge of arthritis in her hocks. It was just enough to make her the tiniest bit stiff when she first got going, but she’d work out of it very quickly. The exercise was good for her; developing the muscles around the affected joints providing strength and relief.

But over the last year, the arthritis had gotten worse; enlarging her joints, weakening her back end, and making her uncomfortable. Dave, Tracie, and the vet decided to retire her from riding last winter. But she would stand and stare as we rode the other horses, pricking her ears dancing around, making it obvious that she wanted out too. So, Tracie and I would take her out for a bareback walk/trot ride. She’d shove her head into the bridle, drag you out of her stall, and take off trotting when you were mounted. We are all about listening to our horses, and Classic very clearly said she wasn’t ready to be retired yet. So we kept her in light work.

But then in August, Classic lay down for her afternoon nap and couldn’t get back up. She didn’t look too distressed or uncomfortable, she just didn’t have the strength to get those back legs under her. Dave and Tracie almost had to put her down that day, but made a last ditch effort to get her up … and she did.

Even though mentally Classic didn’t want to be retired, physically it was time.

We knew at that point that our days with our well-loved horse were truly numbered. Over the next few months there were more incidents as she continued to weaken. But there were also long grooming sessions, hours of hand grazing, and playing at liberty in the ring. Classic just kept hanging on. It was obvious in her face that she just wasn’t ready to go yet.

Saying Goodbye

The vet and many horsey friends had assured Tracie that she would know when it was time to let go. After 15 years together, with an extra three months to pamper her, prepare mentally and emotionally (as much as you can anyway), and say goodbye, it was time.

Today, for the first time in a very long time, Classic can run without hurting. She can lay down, have a good roll, and get right back up. She doesn’t have to worry about being too weak or hurting too much. She can be young and healthy again.

That’s the gift you’ve given her, Tracie.

Some gifts are more difficult to give than others. And this is a painful one - for all of us. It may never feel like the right decision to let her go. But it was the kinder one.

I know that Heaven is going to be much better than any of us could ever possibly imagine. And I also know that we can’t imagine it without Classic. God loves us and wants nothing more than to bless us, and for that reason I believe that she is there waiting.

It’s not goodbye forever, it’s just goodbye for now.

Don’t know that “just” and “abscess” necessarily go together in the same title, but that’s what was wrong with Ace.

When I got home from Thanksgiving travels and went to see him on Saturday morning, he was nearly 100% sound. However, he did have a gunked up heel, and I could tell he had some sort of cut. I got some warm water and a clean towel to clean him up and see what was going on. He was pretty well behaved, seeing as it was the first time I had to treat a boo-boo on him and I didn’t know how he would react. He kicked his foot out to the side just a little to threaten and tell me “ouch, that hurts!” but didn’t actually try to kick me or anything. Once I got the dirt out, I could see this nice, round spot just above his heel. Classic abscess. Fortunately, a small one.

He had only been slightly lame for two days, it burst on its own, and now he’s feeling much better. Dave, Tracie, and I triple teamed him to clean it out with betadine, put a drawing agent ointment on it to make sure all the gunk was out, and wrapped his foot up but good with vet wrap and duct tape. We’ll see how long he manages to keep his “boot” on, and are planning to keep it wrapped up for probably five days or so to make sure it’s completely drained and doesn’t get infected.

On another really really sad note, Dave and Tracie made the incredibly hard decision to put Classic down later this week. For those who don’t know or don’t remember, she’s their 24-year-old thoroughbred mare with bad arthritis in her hocks. Last summer she started going downhill; she’d lay down and wouldn’t be able to get back up. We’ve had quite a few of these incidents throughout the fall, but were always able to get her up, and she never seemed too concerned. But when she gets stuck down, she grinds her hocks into the ground and has really torn them up and they just won’t heal. Over the weekend, she went down again. She was very upset, almost couldn’t get up, and hasn’t been quite the same since. It’s obvious just looking her eyes that it’s gotten bad enough that she is now very uncomfortable. She doesn’t even want to be touched or brushed. Instead of waiting until she finally can’t get up at all, or she injures herself trying to, or is in too much more pain, they’re going to let her die with dignity. It’s a very difficult, sad, decision, but I’m confident it’s the right one.

It’s going to be hard week for all of us as we prepare ourselves and say goodbye, especially for Tracie. We’d definitely appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I’ll be back with a tribute to this wonderful horse later this week.

Ace has been at Dave and Tracie’s “Crosswinds Ranch” for nearly two months now. Their four horses — Midnight, Louie, Classic, and Marahute — and my boy Ace have had the opportunity to meet each other over the fence, work in the arena together, and get to know each other through the bars of their stalls. Taking our time letting them get to know each other seems to have paid off, because putting them together in the pasture was pretty much uneventful.

Midnight is definitely the herd leader, followed down the totem pole by Louie, Marahute, and Classic. We put Ace out first, and then brought Midnight out.

Midnight took a look for a minute, cantered up to Ace with ears laid back, the two of them turned their tails towards each other …

… and then they walked away and started eating.

Next we let Louie out, who also went straight towards the grass. After a few minutes the three of them cantered off towards the end of the pasture … and went right back to munching.

We were just going to put the three boys out because we didn’t want them to get too jazzed up if all five were out, getting everyone running and stressing Classic’s weak and arthritic joints.

But the three of them were handling it so well, so we went ahead and grabbed the girls and tossed them out too. And they went right to eating. Everyone was comfortable enough to take some time to roll. The freshly-bathed Marahute enjoyed using her the grass and her damp fur to turn herself green.

We watched them for a while and then headed back into the barn to finish up chores. As it was getting dark, we heard a ruckus and Tracie could see out just enough to catch Midnight and Ace going at it. They were kicking a bit, and Midnight chased Ace into the wire fence. Fortunately, the fence has a bit of give, and the nearest post broke, and neither of the horses were hurt. Ace had a dust mark on his neck from the wire, but that was the only way we could even tell who hit the fence.

When the boys knew it was getting close to dinner time, they hung out near the gate and kept Ace in the back of the pasture, which didn’t seem to phase him much.

So, all in all it wasn’t too bad for their first time out together. After they’ve had some time to re-establish the pecking order in the larger space, we’ll put the boys loose in the arena together so that they can get used to coping in the smaller space when bad weather comes.