Getting Old Ain't fer Sissies

 "Age is just a number."

This mantra is often intoned by those who would deny the effects of aging. And they're right, to a point. I know a number of individuals of varying species of similar age of wildly different physical condition. Eventually age gets us all. 

It's not the years, it's the mileage.

This morning, as I checked through my emails and social media and dandled the cat while drinking my first cup of coffee, I heard the rattle of a horse against a corral panel. Hoss is currently residing in one of the upper pens with Tess, his current charge. I listened and wondered if what I was hearing was Hoss struggling, yet again, to rise.

Me: Time to feed horses! Meowleficent: No

He gave me a scare a few months ago, with several days of being unable to rise well on his own. I really thought for a while there he had quite abruptly reached the point I was going to lose him. A down horse is a dead horse, and if he couldn't rise on his own, well, he was as good as dead. Fortunately having his hocks injected seems to have mostly cleared up this issue. He's even no longer wearing his protective boots. He still gets up ass first like a cow, but he can get up, and he isn't spinning on his hocks. I call it a win.

So hearing that sound of a horse in a panel, I had a moment of concern. It did turn out I had nothing to worry about. When I poked my head out the front door, he looked back at me, on his feet, in anticipation of breakfast. Likely he or Tess had been sticking their heads through to mess with the horse next door.

Hoss in all his booted glory

Hoss is 17. This is not old age for horses by any stretch of the imagination. These days horses commonly live and work up to their 30s regularly. But just as with people, some horses start to show signs of decay at a relatively young age. Hoss already has some significant arthritis. He's had signs of arthritic changes since he was 5 or 6 years old. Despite this, he had a successful career as an endurance horse, covering over 4,000 miles in 50 mile or longer increments, with fairly few pulls. He was top ten mileage several years, and brought home a handful of other awards as well. Nothing to sneeze at. What seemed to be his downfall was a rattlesnake bite, after which he never returned to his usual self. He now has a hard time recovering metabolically, and is no longer capable of disguising his front end lameness. I think he has some neurological deficits as a result of the bite, which would explain a lot about his current condition.

I love Hoss. He's a fantastic horse, and he's worth every penny I'm spending to keep him comfortable and more. The money spent to inject his hocks and keep him supplied in Equioxx and Lubrisyn is cheap at twice the price. 

Enjoying a graze during post-injection hand walk

I'd spend this money even if he wasn't so important to the breeding operation. At this point he has "raised" 6 foals, quietly teaching them what is expected and how to be around people, and accompanying them on their first trailer ride to their new homes. He has helped with the settling in of new horses and accompanied Demon and DC on their first trail and endurance rides. He's seen me through recovery after several surgeries, carrying me carefully and gently while I regained my riding muscles. He's still the horse I choose to ride for clearing trail or doing a search mission. Even though he'll never hit the endurance trail again, he will always be my steady companion.

Truly, he is worth far more to me than anyone could ever offer to buy him.