Another vet visit, and a stunning discovery

Never needed his shots and Coggins test before he went to the trainer's barn, so I had the vet come out to do that and float Heather and Zora's teeth as well. The appointment was Tuesday, and when the receptionist called she said 'they' were on their way. I didn't think much of it, until the truck pulled in and both my preferred vets stepped out.

Apparently, Dr Esser, the younger of my preferred vets, who has been with the clinic for almost a year, had reservations about her ultrasound readings of Zora and Hope. Since it was a slow day she asked Dr Johnson, the senior vet, if he would double check her findings, at no charge to me. I was a little relieved, as they had passed the second possible due date with no sign of birthing in sight.

We sedated Zora first, and as Dr Esser was prepping the power float, Dr Johnson put on the glove and palpated. A minute later, he had the verdict: open. Not pregnant, but coming into heat if we wanted to breed her. HECK NO!!! I was somewhat relieved, as Zora was apparently a maiden mare and in her early twenties.

So we floated her teeth, then did Heather's. Then we did Never's shots and blood draw for the Coggins test, and tried to get him to stand still for pics (the new paperwork has the horse's pics on it. Cool!). I decided to give Alex his shots while we were at it, he and Never will have their boosters in 4 weeks.

Then it was Hope's turn for palpation. After the sedation kicked in, Dr Johnson reaches in and... OPEN!!! Neither mare was pregnant! I was somewhat relieved, and a little disappointed, as I would have loved to see what Never would have sired. It's better this way, though, even if Jac is pissed because she couldn't go to Rolex because of foal watch.

Foals

The vet left a while ago, and after sedating, palpating, and ultra-sounding we have the verdict: Hope and Zora are pregnant. *sigh*

I kinda thought Hope might be, as she's been acting moody and looking slightly round. I though Zora was pregnant a month ago, but then thought she wasn't because I thought I saw her in heat. I wasn't even going to have her checked, but I'm glad I did. Dr Esser thinks that Zora might have two weeks, but Hope may go a little longer. I'm going to keep a close eye on her anyway, as maiden mares can really fool you.

The total cost was about $415 for the trip out, the palpations and the Dormosedan, but it's worth it to know for sure who to watch. It looks like I may be going to Rolex by myself, as Jac doesn't trust Ken farther than she can throw him. *S*

Vet visit

Last May, Never (the 3yr old colt I had gelded in December) smashed his pasture gate and got in with the mares. I didn't think he covered anyone, but recently a couple of the mares are looking a little more round than usual. Considering the possible due date would be while I'm at Rolex, and the fact that one of the mares is 25 while the others are maiden mares, I thought it best to know for sure if they are or if I'm just paranoid.

I'm not totally sure which vet will be coming out, but it should be one of the two that I requested. Dr. Johnson is great, he talks to you and explains everything, and doesn't treat you like an idiot. Dr Esser is the new vet, and she seems nice enough, so I'm willing to give her a chance. She's the one that gelded Never, and she fielded my paranoid follow up phone questions with patience and grace. She also tracked down information on spaying mares for me, so she's got bonus points right there.

I'm not sure what result I'm hoping for at this point. I'm sort of half hoping that Emmy (Diadem Fa-Emerald) is pregnant. The plus side would be that she's purebred Arab, so the baby would be purebred. Emmy and Never's pedigrees are both heavy Crabbet and CMK, so that's a plus. And Emmy is the last of her bloodlines, a Royal Diamond granddaughter on her dam's side mixed with Babson and old Egyptian on her sire's side.

The minus side, of course, would be her age (25), and the fact that this would only be her second foal. Her first was born 4 years ago, and she didn't live long. We think she may have been a 'dummy' foal, but she may have had coat color dilution lethal, or lavender foal syndrome. I'm going to send some DNA samples in for a study, I hope it helps find a test like the one for SCID.

The other possibly pregnant mares that I'm having tested are Hope and Faith. Both are acting a little different, I haven't seen either in heat lately, and while Hope is a high percentage Pinto Arabian, Faith is a graying-out brown grade Quarter horse. Both have excellent conformation and any babies would be registrable as Half-Arabs. Problem is, I don't think I have enough room at the inn, so to speak. I have two possible foaling stalls, though if I got creative I could maybe have three. I'll definitely need to make separate pastures so no one gets bullied or chased, but I was going to do that anyway.

So, I don't know how this is going to go. I guess in the end, I'm just hoping for healthy, happy mares. If they have foals, I'll love them no matter what and I'm prepared to keep them forever if need be.