Sandy had a special visitor yesterday. The vet. In case your horse has never told you, vets smell funny. Even a horse who's never met a vet will tell you there's something to be very wary of when they meet up with one.
Of course, Sandy snorts at everyone, so we were completely caught off guard when he immediately accepted Dr. Hansen's presence in the stall with him. Oh, sure, he snorted a couple of good ones, but he let the vet come up and pat on him and give him some happy drugs without flinching.
Happy drugs? Sandy was getting his teeth checked! Lots of sharp points it would seem (I'd rather thought so as he isn't able to digest his grain) and wolf teeth like Dr. Hansen has never seen before. As big as molars and very difficult to remove. Of course, each time a vet encounters something like this on a mustang they start talking evolution. Here, however, is my counter thought:
I could maybe buy their theory of our mustangs being more primitive if we hadn't been tossing domestic horses (ranch, cavalry, etc) out with them over the last 100 years or so. There's no way that the teeth of domestics are going to be that changed in such a short matter of time when nothing else evolves that quickly. Sometimes you just get a horse with bigger teeth is my thought. I wonder what the teeth are like in some of the more primitive Spanish bred horses? It'd be interesting to see, wouldn't it? When Jay did Sandy's feet the other day he said the walls of his hooves resembled the Andalusian horses in that his walls were so thick, yet a lot of people would say that's a mustang thing.
Happy drugs? Sandy was getting his teeth checked! Lots of sharp points it would seem (I'd rather thought so as he isn't able to digest his grain) and wolf teeth like Dr. Hansen has never seen before. As big as molars and very difficult to remove. Of course, each time a vet encounters something like this on a mustang they start talking evolution. Here, however, is my counter thought:
I could maybe buy their theory of our mustangs being more primitive if we hadn't been tossing domestic horses (ranch, cavalry, etc) out with them over the last 100 years or so. There's no way that the teeth of domestics are going to be that changed in such a short matter of time when nothing else evolves that quickly. Sometimes you just get a horse with bigger teeth is my thought. I wonder what the teeth are like in some of the more primitive Spanish bred horses? It'd be interesting to see, wouldn't it? When Jay did Sandy's feet the other day he said the walls of his hooves resembled the Andalusian horses in that his walls were so thick, yet a lot of people would say that's a mustang thing.
My Mouth Feels Funny
In anycase, the teeth were done, Sandy was good, and all is well. We decided to ride him while he was still feeling the effects of the drugs, thinking that'd have him a bit relaxed. Wrong. He seemed to realize he was in a groggy state of mind and compensated for it with a few more spooks than we suffered through the day before. Nothing bad, just appeared to have made one too many trips to Starbucks! He was jittery down to the bone, but listened to Jay and came back down each time he thought about jumping. He stood nicely for me to dismount, though, which I was thankful for.
The Midwest Mustang Challenge starts today in Madison. I'll try to update as I get info, but it may be best to keep an eye on the Power Guides in the left column on the side of your screen. Jessie will be trying to blog from the event, although she's bound to be too tired to do much. However, if you see her blog (Jessie and Remington) or any of the other Midwest trainers showing up there, you'd best go check it out! Best of luck to all the competitors!
Join the Hay Burner's Club and donate $15 towards Sandy's upkeep and I'll send you a 5x7 photo (once the horse is here, of course.) Or buy advertising space in the form of a button.
2 comments:
Farrier, vet and riding in one week, you are really moving right along on your list of things to do.
I'm with you about the size of teeth. Sometimes I look at those herds of mustangs and think there sure are lots of quarter horses out there in that mix. Then there'll be an Arab and so on.But then isn't that how they came to be in the first place? Was it the Spainards turning their horses lose and leaving them behind?
I agree with Mikael, sounds like things are moving right along. I found Jessie and Remington at the fair today! Couldn't stay long enough to watch her, but gave a few words of encouragement. LOL, Remington thought Steve's finger was a carrot!
Post a Comment