Success and Frustration

Never is now a gelding!

I was so impressed with his behavior. He took everything in stride, hardly blinking at loading into the trailer, though the last time he was in one was when he was 4 months. He loaded and unloaded like a pro, and while he had a little sweat on his neck when we got to the clinic, he was dry and calm when we got home.

At the clinic, he was a sweetheart, curious but not volatile or jumpy. He led to the holding stall, walked right in and turned around so he watch everybody. When I came to pick him up after surgery, he saw me and whickered. I think I melted a little. *S*

I had his shots done and his wolf teeth pulled, so all we need to do is his Coggins test and booster shots in a month or so.

That was all the success part of the story. Here's the frustration part:

It's been cold here for the past few days. Not the 'oh, it's 30 degrees and I need a hat and mittens' type cold, but the 'it's 15 degrees with a wind chill of 25 below, break out the lined pants and two pair of long underwear to walk to the barn' type of cold. I had Never on stall rest on Friday, and turned him out on Saturday to get some air. I wasn't looking forward to hand walking him, but it's something that needed to be done.

So I thought, until I looked out the window and saw him doing laps in the pen! I checked up on him a couple of times that morning, and noticed he would eat, then trot around trying to catch a glimpse of the other horses (my round pen is on the other side of the barn, effectively blocking most of the view of the pastures). I had to bring him in around noon, however, because the wind was picking up and the pen has no shelter.

That's been the routine for the past few days. Today, it's a balmy 25 and no breeze, so he gets to stay in the pen all day, at least until the blizzard hits us. He's swelling a little at the mouth of his sheath, but after a couple of calls to the vet, 3 digital thermometers, and convincing Never that playing with his tail was really okay, we determined that there probably wasn't an infection and he's probably just a little puffy from all the stall rest he's gotten.

I can't wait until he's all healed so I can stop worrying about infection, and start focusing on his training. He's going to be a wonderful show horse, and maybe he'll even like trail riding!