This is Charlie

This is my OTTB. Her registered name is Bitz of Code, her barn name is Charlie, and when she's being a little spicy, I call her Miss Charlene!

        Charlie was born into the life of a Racing Thoroughbred, here in California. For a time, her home was at Golden Gate Fields. From birth, she was raised with the hope that she would become a racehorse, and she was put through the process that all racing horses go through. According to her previous owners she was one of the most well behaved of the young horses in training, and therefore a favorite at the track. To this day, I have no doubt that they were being truthful. Charlie has a really good head on her shoulders.

        Charlie's racing career would not take off, however. She would never get the chance to run a real race. Depending on your views this could be either a fortunate turn of events, or an unfortunate one. She sustained an injury during her training, which was never hidden from me, as I considered buying her. They did make light of her injuries in an attempt to offload her for the maximum possible sum, however. I was told that she had sustained some bone chips in one of her front knees. They said that she'd been put on pasture rest for about a year, and that she was recovered, sound, and rideable. I had never dealt with a horse with bone chips in its legs before, so I was not familiar with how severe a problem this could be. Before even going to see this horse, I got online and researched as much as I could about bone chip injuries. The general consensus was that each injury would vary in severity depending on the placement of the fragments. Without having her looked at by a vet, there was no way to know how severe her injury was. I kept this information in the back of my mind as I decided to go further with the process of potentially buying her, and I went to see her in person.

        My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, offered to help with the purchase of a horse, if I really wanted one again. As he was only my boyfriend at the time, that was an incredibly kind gesture, and I took him up on it! I had not had a horse for a few years, it was something I gravely missed, and I wanted to get back into the lifestyle. His only request was that I do my best to avoid buying a money pit. I agreed to that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, of course.

        The first moment I laid my eyes on Charlie, I fell in love, but I tried my hardest not to show it. She was tall, she was clearly underweight, and when I did a short trial ride on her she felt like an absolute train wreck. She was only 3 years old. She looked sad. I didn't know it at the time, but she was in pain, and I'm pretty sure she had forgotten what a life without pain even felt like. Even though I didn't know the details of her condition, it was clear that she was not 100%. In spite of that fact, this precious youngster never once complained, or balked at anything I'd asked her to do that day. Only three years old, and she had such a willing personality.

The first time I met her. 3-year-old filly, Charlie.

        My initial thought process was that with time and better nutrition she'd gain the weight she needed, and her condition would improve. I was more than willing to do that for her. There was just something about her that was calling to me. I had felt it when I saw her ad, and I felt it even more when I saw her in person. She was not the type of horse I had been looking for, but after we left, I couldn't stop thinking about her. On our way home, my boyfriend and I had a talk. I let him know my concerns about her weight and condition, but I am not a vet, so my ability to spot some flaws is limited. I told him I really liked her, and I'd like to buy her. We decided that if she passed a soundness exam, then we'd buy her.

        The day of her soundness exam, I went to my preferred vet clinic with my boyfriend and my mom, and the seller met us with my potential new horse. The seller kept telling us that he had no doubt that she'd pass the soundness exam. It was almost like we were in a movie with a terrible plot, because over the course of her exam it was determined that she was not sound. Shock! Surprise! GASP! The seller did some guffaws of disbelief. After asking the vet a few more questions I had a decision to make.

        I will never forget my mom's reaction until the day I die (it was so out of character). She helped me to shoo the seller away so that we could huddle, privately, and make our decision. This horse would potentially be under my mother's care, for the most part, so her opinion was definitely a major driving force in my own decision. I expressed that I really liked this horse, and if at all possible, I wanted to go ahead and get her. We discussed the questions that hung over this young horse's fate, but I made the case that she was such a young horse. That she had such a good head on her shoulders, and that if we could heal whatever was wrong with her, she had so much life left to live. To my shock, my mom actually agreed with me. Somehow, she admitted that there was just something about this horse, and she felt very similarly to how I did about her. My amazing boyfriend, who was not a horse person and had no experience with these animals, had no idea what to think. He was trusting our judgement, and I took that very seriously. After going back and forth on a few potential outcomes we might have to face, we decided to take her, so long as the seller agreed to our counteroffer price. We decided on a number, offered it to him, and he immediately agreed. My boyfriend actually bought her for me, and to this day I am so grateful to him for that.

        Charlie was now our horse. There were a lot of feelings going on between the three of us. There was a lot of nervousness, but also a lot of hope. The biggest emotion that I felt was relief. I was resolved to be the best horse mom, and if I had to solve her issues bit by bit over a long period of time, so be it. I had a horse, she was all mine, and I would do my best for her. I did suspect there would be some unpleasant surprises in store for us, and I had no idea how many issues she might have or how deep they might go. I suppose I just had faith that everything would work out how it needed to. This is where I have to say, don't do this if you can't afford to. I'm extremely lucky to have the job I do so that I can afford to care for her, and to also have such wonderful support in my family, and my boyfriend (whom I married, and is now my husband).

Charlie, day 2 of living with us.

        Straight away, feed was the most important thing. When we got back to my parent's ranch, it was early evening, and it was then that I discovered that she had an underbite! It was not severe, but it was definitely there. Her body condition suddenly made a lot more sense to me. I knew a horse's ability to grind their food was essential to their ability to absorb nutrients. Underbites, even a small one, could interfere with that. She had been the 'low man' in the pecking order at her previous home, on top of having an underbite, so it was no wonder she was starving. I was confident that we could remedy that much of her rehabilitation, at the very least. As for the rest of what she might need, only time would tell. Boy, did it!

        We took her to a family friend, who did Equiscope treatments at the time, to get her overall body condition assessed. I was not prepared for the findings, and for a few short moments I was terrified that I had made a huge mistake in buying her. Our family friend did a few tests and was fairly certain that she had a knee injury as well as a stifle injury, and that because of those all of her legs had issues due to compensating for the pain. I had one horse with four different legs. I was assured that her prognosis was highly likely to be good, we just had to determine what the exact issues were and make a plan on how to go about fixing them. Charlie stayed with our family friend for a week to get Equiscope therapy, and she began a whole new diet (per the instructions of our family friend) while she was there. This family friend took in unwanted horses pretty regularly and rehabilitated them. Many of them were ex-racehorses or racing line foals with major physical issues. Unfortunately, this family friend passed away due to complications with COVID-19 only a short time later, and OTTBs lost a much-needed ally. I am so extremely grateful for all she did with Charlie's initial care. She is, and will continue to be, sorely missed.

        I left there in tears, wondering just how anyone that is active in an actual horse industry could have missed the signs that something was clearly wrong with this poor, sweet girl. I was angry. I was even angry at myself for not being more careful than I had been with her. Trust me I beat myself up over it for a while. Once before buying her, and also once afterward, I had ridden her and though I had not pushed her to do much more than a light trot. Then I was beyond angry that the seller had taken her on a mountain trail ride, which he'd actually given me pictures of. Now that I had knowledge of her condition, and noting the seller's weight at the time he was riding her on that trail, it made me insanely angry.

        I feel the need to make something clear, at this point. I am fully aware that there is such a thing as a race fit horse. Typically, the condition of a horse's body would be heavily manipulated to benefit the horse as it is doing its job. Racehorses are typically kept lean for a few reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is for the rapid expulsion of heat. These horses are lean, with good muscle tone, good overall general quality of health (hair and hoof quality), etc. Charlie was not race fit. She was starving. You could see her hip bones jutting out, her spine had no muscle or fat to cushion it, her ribs were visible, there was no fat along the crest of her neck, you could feel the bones of her pole (the space just behind and between the ears), her mane and tail were like straw they were so dry, and her coat quality was dry and somehow also sticky. The vet did note all of these things as being poor, when I took her to the soundness exam. Needless to say, I vowed not to ride her again until we got her body into a far healthier state.

        Not long after that, we had our usual vet come out to take X-rays of her legs, and we also got her teeth done. The X-rays showed the knee chips, and an OCD lesion in her rear stifle. The cartilage was being compromised in both. These were not injuries that could be 'rested' into healing. These things would require surgery to fix, and that was something I suspected we'd have to face when we got her. After throwing around some ideas, my mom and I came up with a plan to get Charlie into the surgery she needed, and thus on the road to a full recovery. Thanks to God for opening up that pathway, and to my mother for helping me take it on, the plan worked.

        Charlie's injuries just so happened to be on the same side in both legs. Her left side. So, she went into surgery for both at the same time. The veterinarian that did her surgery was a leg specialist, and he was the one that did her soundness exam before I bought her. I feel incredibly lucky to have had him as her surgeon for these procedures. Between our regular vet and the surgeon, we got all of the information we could ever need about her situation, and they were both extremely thorough on how this would all need to go for the best outcome. They both told us that after surgery her prognosis would be good, so long as we followed her recovery care to a T. Everything went swimmingly, and she was now on the road to recovery.

        Charlie's recovery came and went with a few hardships, but nothing that kept her from making it through. She did have to be sedated for some of her bandage changes, because the sensation of the bandages coming off freaked her out, and we did not want to risk her re-injuring herself. Other than that, she was a very good patient. My mother is the most amazing caretaker ever, and most especially deserves all of the praise for doing the things that I could NOT do. She did Charlie's prescribed injections during part of her recovery. My dad also deserves so much gratitude and praise for assisting in almost all of Charlie's care as well during her recovery. He was an amazing supporter during that time. I cannot handle giving injections. I tried like the dickens to psyche myself up so that I could do them myself, I really did, but I just could not do it.

        After a few months of intense recovery, Charlie was cleared for hand walks. We did these as prescribed, until she was cleared for light turn out, and then for full turn out and light riding. In only a few months Charlie was putting on some really good weight, her icky coat had shed out making way for a nice new shiny coat. Her hooves would be another journey all their own, but now that she'd made it through the big issues, I had a feeling that all the rest would fall in line. I'm very happy to say that they have. She was such a trooper through all of these shenanigans! Though she is a young horse and does some rather idiotic things, she has continued to be a very brave and levelheaded sort of girl. There were some points where I did wonder if she would be different once she was actually healthy, and she has been, but the changes have not been negatively impactful. She runs, jumps, and plays with a lot more vivaciousness than before. When it comes time to work with me, and learning how to be a team with me, she does not hesitate to show up. She displays the desire to learn and be a part of a team. Who could ask for more?

        From May of 2020 when we bought her to now, Charlie has gone from being 15.2 hands tall, and 963 lbs to 15.3 and 1/2 hands tall (almost 16 hands), and right around the 1200 lbs mark. She's always going to be long and lanky, it's just how she's built. Her hoof condition has improved a lot, and her underbite has even lessened. It is still there, but it is less pronounced than it was to begin with. I don't think she will ever be a hard-core competitor in any discipline, and I'm okay with that. I feel like I'm the luckiest horse mom just to have her.

        I would like to end this little story by saying an ENORMOUS Thank You to my family for going on this roller coaster with me. She could not have thrived without you.

        To my husband: Thank you for giving her to me. She is my very best girl.

        To my mother: Thank you for everything you always do for her.

        To my father: Thank you for everything you always do in support of our shenanigans!

God bless you and thank you for reading!

E. G.