Steve Holt! visits the Vet

Today, Steve Holt! went to the vet. I've noticed that he's got an eyelid that appears to be a bit puffy, and when you look at him straight on, only one eye seems bright and wide open.

He does not appear to be bothered by it. His spirits are just the same as they've always been; he's goofy and and curious and enjoys life. He eats and pees and poops (important things, it seems, as these are the first questions out of both the vet tech and the vet's mouth upon visiting the clinic.) So what is wrong with our dear mustang?

Darling led Steve Holt! across the pavement and into the clinic, where the Good Doctor Plotts was waiting. He asked the pertinent questions, to which we answered yes, he's eating and peeing and pooping. He offered Steve Holt! a treat, which of course is what my ponies have come to expect from the man in the green jumpsuit. It was consumed vigorously, a good sign according to the vet, as it meant he was chewing without pain (although he added that horses can be stoic creatures...but the treat was hard and there was no hesitation at all with the chompers.)

A quick look at the teeth, and the Good Doctor Plotts pointed out that the 3 1/2 year teeth were coming in...and the baby teeth falling out. The left side had already been lost and new one in place, but the one on the right was loose and wiggly. No time like the present for a quick removal!

Sheesh! I wish it were that easy for us!

Next, it was time for the temp to be taken. No real reason to think he had any sort of abnormalities in this department, but it didn't hurt to take it, said the doc. Steve Holt!, however, was not convinced and attempted a little Irish Jig. Not one to like his toes tap danced upon, the Good Doctor Plotts ushered our youngster into the stocks where he had little choice but to stand and tolerate the less than dignified rectal thermometer. Okay...so I'll give up the easier dental program for the thermometer under the tongue.

Once in the stock holder, the lights dimmed and our vet become an opthamalogist. Did I spell that correctly? A little light was shined into his less than happy eye, which was even less happy since the light began shining, and an equine opthical exam began. No flash photography, please.

A second vet came out to take a look. It seems whenever I'm at the vet, it's for an eye issue and I end up with multiple vets. Sandy had that lovely little laceration going, but Steve Holt! was not so serious. In the end, they suspected a mild case of herpes that was bothering him. Something he'd had from foalhood, and would have his entire life. Probably never bother him more than it was right now, they concluded, but if it should, and if I saw that his pupils were looking off, definitely call. Oh, and get him some over the counter tear stuff, because he has a dry eye.

And that was that. Steve Holt! was loaded back into the trailer and hauled home, where he promptly dunked his face into the cool tub of water waiting for him, undoubtedly washing out the last bit of bloody flavor left on his tongue from the unexpected dental exam.

Don't forget to sign up to take part in the Blue Moon Party! Just fill out your info on Mr. Linky!

Steve Holt! meets Dr. Plotts

Steve Holt! and his entourage made a drive up north to Kulshan Veterinary for a quick visit with Dr. Plotts. Nothing wrong...just a training session and an opportunity to meet a vet and get a lesson on the state of unwanted horses.

Steve Holt! had not seen a vet before, and as we all know, they smell funny! But Dr. Plotts is a great one for buddying up with a horse before asking it to do anything strange or out of the ordinary. Just as he did with Sandy, he began by petting, rubbing and scratching; finding his soft spots and concentrating on making him feel good before beginning to explore the rest of his body.

He checked his eyes, looked inside his mouth, and made an attempt to take his temperature. That last part wasn't on Steve Holt!'s to do list, however. The two of them had a bit of a converstaion, and a compromise was met...the thermometer slipped in beneath the tail for just a moment and the good Dr. called it good.

The interesting part of all this today was when the mouth was opened to reveal the new teeth coming in. Steve Holt!'s got a couple of caps which his adult teeth are pushing forward and out. Horses loose teeth at 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and 4/1/2. Based on the information from the BLM, Steve Holt! should be loosing his 3 year old teeth...but he isn't. It's his 2 year old teeth that are being pushed out! Dr. Plotts was pretty sure that this horse is not a coming 4 year old, but closer to 2 1/2 or three. Of course, he said that this is only if Steve Holt! follows the pattern.

Then the good Dr. began feeling his jaw, and once again said he was feeling the molars erupting that would take place in a 2 year old. Upon examining his knees, he said they are not closed up and are the knees of a 2 year old. Knees close up somewhere between 36 and 40 months.

I don't know if the BLM will change the paperwork or not. The only concern would be that if someone else adopts him, I'd like them to realize he's still pretty young and that they ought to wait another year before really doing anything stressful.

All in all, Steve Holt!'s visit went very smoothly. After we got home I gave him a bit of a break, then hauled him to the riding club where I set up a few trail obstacles. I've decided that I'm only going to work on obstacles for the next week to see what happens.

And might I say that we had the BEST. RIDE. EVER!!!

The last ride on Monday had been so stressful that I'd hoped it was one of those break through type rides, and after having yesterday off, it would appear that it was. I'd set up ground poles, some pole bending poles (to back between), and another trot over pole that was raised a few inches. I started out doing some in hand work, then saddled and went out and began walking over poles. As he loosened up he broke into a jog. JOG, mind you, not trot, and he kept his head at a reasonable level and stayed at a steady speed with little help from me. We did circles and went over the poles, and he easily broke into a lope...left lead...relaxed...slow... Unbelievable!

All I did was circle around the obstacles, occasionally breaking to back between poles, then back to some circles and trotting and eventually loping over the ground poles. How I wish I'd had the video camera there! His reins were pleasure horse, noodle loose at the lope, and while it surely wasn't a finished horse lope, it was actually quite nice.

I was very proud of my boy today!

Trick Pony

For some odd, unexplained reason I've decided that I must, at the age of 47, start taking risks that I never took as a child. Such as...hopping on the back of my trusty steed, no saddle, no bridle, and trotting around the pasture. At some point I must have fallen and hit my head because the following day I decided I needed to stand up in the saddle, despite my notoriously poor balance and weak knees.


Sandy and I have been for a handful of rides these past few weeks. I'm a little confused, however, as he's been sweating quite a bit; much more than he was prior to his eye injury. Before we could go all day. He was slow, but his breathing was never heavy and the only sweat was under his saddle. Now, however, we can't get more than ten minutes up the trail before his neck is wet. Fifteen minutes and his chest is soaked, he's wet from his ears down to his elbows, and even his muzzle is damp. He also seems to want to stop a lot more frequently, but then again, he's always been on the poky side, so that could just be normal.

I called the vet, who feels Sandy is too young to have gotten this much out of shape with such a short break, but that he's also too young for metabolic issues. His short term suggestion is to monitor the heart rate. So today I headed out with a stethoscope in hand...but then realized a watch with a second hand would probably have been in order. Oh, well. While I couldn't really get an accurate reading, I could certainly tell that his heart was pumping a lot harder on the way up than it had been before leaving, and I could also tell it was beginning to slow down after a few minutes of rest. But what I need is an exact count so that I know just how much it drops, and how quickly (or not) it's back to resting rate.

The sweating only happens when we climb. I rode in the arena for over an hour, and while most of that was just walking and jogging with very little loping, it still didn't cause the sweating that ten minutes on the hill causes. He also cools out and picks up the pace once we're off the hill, such as when we rode up to see Mt Baker a couple of weeks ago. He struggled going up, but once there he had no problems.

Something is up with my guy, but I'm at a loss as to what it is. The good Dr. Plotts has recommended taking it easy and gradually building back up. If things don't improve here in the next week or two, or if he seems to get worse (or the heart rate isn't dropping), then it's another trip to the clinic for some blood work.

In the meantime...it sure gives me an opportunity to perfect my trick riding!

Three Hundred Dollars Later...

It was the big day. The day that Sunny had an appointment with both the farrier and the vet. Still not willing to allow me access to her feet, the vet needed to be called in to administer a tranquilizer so that she'd relax enough for Cheryle, the farrier, to trim those long over due toes.

We'd discussed using Ace, a mild tranquilizer that slows down an anxious horse, or whether or not the option to just put her completely under would need to be used. When Cheryle called me the other day, she told me she'd twisted her ankle and her doctor had her in a leg brace. It seemed that putting Sunny all the way under was going to be the best option. However, when Cheryle arrived it was without the brace and she was willing to give keeping Sunny on her feet a try.

The trouble with Ace is that while it works well on a horse who's issues are high energy, it doesn't work as well with horses who are dealing with fear. Sunny's problems are fear based, not due to an over abundance of energy, so we weren't sure just how effective it was going to be on her. The drug would take ten to twenty minutes before she'd begin to feel it. In the meantime, we gave Quiet Storm her vaccinations.

Quiet Storm did not like the vet. He smelled funny! But it was just a quick jab on the left, then another on the right, and it was all over for her. Lucky girl...

Meanwhile, the drug was beginning to take effect on Sunny. Her head was dropping and there was a bit of drool dripping from her lips. She hadn't liked the poor vet, either. He was just an unpopular guy, no matter that he was there to help. Even with the Ace, Sunny wasn't too certain she wanted strangers up close and personal, so Dr. Anderson administered yet another drug. This one started with a T, but I don't recall what it was. He wanted to try to keep her on her feet if he could as things would be easier all the way around if she didn't need an IV. Easy is good!

Sunny feels drowsy...look at the angle of those hind legs! I thought she was going to fall over and land on Dr. Anderson.

Once Sunny began relaxing even more, we went to work. Dr. Anderson held up the hoof while Cheryle worked with the nippers to shorten the toes. Sunny couldn't balance without Dr. A holding her up, but at the same time, this made it difficult for Cheryle to see the hoof. Thankfully, a pretty job isn't what we were after. We started easy, meaning the left front hoof. The left is Sunny's easy side, and of course one doesn't get kicked by a front foot. From the left front, we then worked our way to the right front. Having strangers on her right side brought Sunny back to life, but she honestly didn't have the energy to fight and it was just a few moments before she was back to her droopy headed drugged out state.

Trying to nip off the tip of the toe from an unusual angle

The back end was a different story. Since they were on the right side, they naturally gravitated towards her right rear, and again Sunny bounced back to life as Dr. A attempted to pick up her hind foot. She didn't attempt to kick, but she was frightened and yanked her leg out of his grasp as she made an attempt to jump away. I suggested perhaps moving back to her left side where we knew she'd be more comfortable with them.

To help take her mind off the fact that they were working on her hind feet, Dr. Anderson grabbed her tail and brought it up over her back. I think it may have helped hold her too, like a rope, lol! But mostly it helped shift her attention to the opposite side they were working on so that she wasn't focusing on what was happening to her feet. No sense getting Cheryle kicked in the face, that would never do!

We must have looked like a 3 ring circus, with me holding the head, Dr. A holding the tail and hind leg, while Cheryle chomped away at overgrown toes.

It took about an hour, probably a bit more, to get the whole thing done. The drug would begin to wear off, we were told, after about 45 minutes, but it seemed to be taking longer than that. It was quite some time before I was able to get her back to her paddock. Of course, we left her alone and didn't pester her any more except to bring her a pan of grain last night (normally not thought of as pestering, but I held it while she ate, and to Sunny that's a bit of a bother.) I'll give her a day or two to relax and forget about the negatives before I begin work with her again.

Darling took pics throughout the process and more than once found herself having to jump back as Sunny went careening off to one side or another in an attempt to escape what was happening. Thanks, Darling, for doing such a terrific job! You're going to make a wonderful photographer!