Today was the day. At about 11:45 the vet pulled up into the farm yard and the next several hours were spent catching the horses, drawing blood, doing some dental work and giving shots where needed. It is always a busy day when the vet comes, not to mention expensive so we make the most of every visit.
I have a wonderful vet with a great "bedside" manner. He has the heart of a teacher and he talks to us as we go through the horses. He doesn't just talk, he is instructive. Today, one of the boarders helped with the work and Dr Thompson taught Steve as he worked. He explained what he was doing and why. Our horses for the most part are very easy to catch so in that respect the work went really well. One exception was one of the yearling fillies and she just did not want to be caught today. But she was finally caught and the work was done.
If you have never seen an equine dentist work on a horse's teeth, I can tell you it is a real experience. Have you ever been given something for free that costs you a lot. That is what my "free" gelding, Aladin, is doing to my wallet. He is 20 years old and not 14 as I was told. They say "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" but perhaps one should. He is a horse that is a hard keeper. Tonight he is in his own stall and starting to get a special diet of hay and grain (topped with corn oil). This will start to put weight back on him. He had his teeth worked on and wormed plus coggins pulled. The vet says the teeth work should help him chew better and therefore start to utilize the feed he eats to the fullest.
Aladin is my charity horse. He was given to me because he had no other place left to go. My maternal insticts kicked in and I felt sorry for him and wanted to make him fat and healthy looking again. My granddaughter fell in love with him and rode him while she was here. With TLC he looked great at the end of the summer and into the fall but with winter and his teeth needing to be floated, he has gone back to looking like the ghost of a horse he did last spring when he came to the farm. He is part Arabian and part whatever. He is easy to catch and he doesn't mind being ridden. But he is not an easy keeper.
He makes me appreciate my Rocky Mountain Horses that looks great even after a hard winter.
Later everyone. Thanks for reading. Have a good night's rest and tune in again tomorrow.
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