Up to date

The vet came out on Thursday to float Gem and Jul's teeth and to give Alex and Never their booster shots. Jul's teeth look incredible, just a little grining to get some of the points off and a rotting molar had to be pulled, but really good otherwise. Not bad for a 36 year old mare. Her son Gem wasn't as lucky, though. Dr Esser said that if I had to prioritize floatings in the future, to put him low on the list as he didn't have much to work with anymore. She did the best she could with him, though, and he seems to be dribbling less, so I call it a job well done.

Then it was on to booster shots. Alex was a little skittish, but he stood pretty well and took the shot like a trooper. I wish I could say the same for Never. *sigh* It took forever just to sedate him. Dr. Esser tried to inject directly into the vein so he would sedate quicker, but he was just not having it. CJ, the vet assistant, wrestled with him for about 10 minutes before the good doctor finally was able to inject in the muscle instead. Then we had to wait for 20 minutes. I was so embarrased, I wanted to hide.

After the wait, he was sleepy, but not so sleepy that he couldn't put up a fuss about the vaccinations. We took the opportunity to trim his feet while he was sedated, and while he was bratty and we still had to fight with him, we managed to get his front feet trimmed. His hind feet still look okay, and that's good because he kicked Ken when he checked the left hind!

Still, they're done and trainer will be picking him up on the 10th. Thank goodness. I just don't know what happened to him. He was so good before he was gelded, it's like his brains were in his balls or something. Everything he learned before seems to be gone.

I hope Jessica can help him to be an equine good citizen.

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.