Aberdeen Riding Club (ARC) is raising funds to help cover the cost of Achils (rather complicated) dentistry work. Don't worry - the bills have been paid - we always make sure that our vets are paid promptly, but obviously the sheer amount of work Achil has needed, even though it has been good value from the vets is difficult for a not for profit club and if we can raise some funds to help cover it, it means we can keep investing other funds into the centre and making the sport more accessible. Achils bill for all the dentistry treatment he has needed over the last two years is currently at an eye watering £13,748.54p.

ARC has always had very strong views on how riding school horses should be managed and treated and it is always our policy to give the horses and ponies the best veterinary care available - this is a side to the club that our members love - they know that when riding at ARC they are picking a centre which invests heavily into the horses and ensures they are all happy and have everything they need into their retirement.

Ardene House, who are the vets that we use, have been absolutely amazing with Achil - they have discounted his treatment, dealt with some really complicated stuff that he has thrown at them and been out in all weathers, most days trying their best to help the big guy! Achil sadly has always had pretty rubbish teeth - he likely didn't have the best dental attention earlier in life and since we've owned him (3.5 years) he has had his teeth done every couple of months to keep on top of them. To date, in the last two years he has required:

The extraction of a broken molar tooth (under general anaesthetic), a filling on another molar, another extraction on an molar tooth with an infected root and then holes drilled into his sinus to flush it out and try to get ride of any infection remaining there from the tooth root infection. That stuff is all tricky enough, but poor Achil then also had a fungal infection in his sinus, which required him to go back to the veterinary hospital to have it all cleared out and flushed out daily and then when he came home he was unlucky enough to get an infection in his skull sutures (the edges of the plates which meet to make up the skull). To further complicate it, Achil is resistant to certain types of antibiotics!

We are so, so grateful to Ardene House for both their continued professional development of their staff which means that they have the skill set and knowledge to help Achil, but also for how committed they were to his care - he needed daily injections over Xmas and New Year to try to combat the infection and they were out every day without fail, often in the vets own personal time to help.

We are all so incredibly fond of Achil and he has done so much for so many people riding and he is only 13 years old - he is now much comfier in his mouth than he has likely ever been thanks to the care he has received and (touching wood firmly) he is currently off all antibiotics and other medication and the infection seems to be staying away. He is allowed to start doing some work tomorrow, so hopefully (again touching wood) he will soon be back in work doing what he does best - helping all our riders. He is one of the most generous horses we have ever met or had the pleasure to own, so we were hoping that our members may consider making a small donation to his fees - whilst we have paid them and obviously the club has the funds to do it before we commit to having the work done, it is a large amount of money for a not for profit club to find and inevitably that money has to come from somewhere - making a small donation to Achils fund means that you are supporting our club and sport even more than you already do. Go on......... chuck a wee bit in the pot for the big guy!