Time for a vet visit

It's that time of year again--time to take the horses in for their annual exam, vaccinations, and teeth floating.  We used to have the vet come out to our property for all this stuff, but as the horses have aged they need the metal stocks in the vet barn to lean on while they're sedated.

We always get very tense when it's time to load them in the trailer.  We never go how it will go--will be out there for an hour trying to convince two 1,000 lb. creatures to jump into the trailer?  Fortunately, this morning they decided to jump right in so we were ready to go an half hour earlier than we had planned.

Doc, our buckskin gelding, got to go first.  First they take vitals.  Then the vet starts with the sedation so it has time to take affect before she starts grinding on his teeth.  Doc is the lightweight with sedation, one dose and he's asleep on his feet within minutes.  After the float is complete the vet administers their vaccinations.  The hard part is waking him up enough to walk him into the stall where he can rest until the sedation wears off.

If you don't know what equine tooth floating is, it's an annual procedure to grind down the sharp points and hooks that develop on their back teeth caused by the grinding motion of their jaw and the wider upper jaw than lower jaw.  Horse's teeth are always growing and the points and hooks can be quite painful for the inside of their mouth and tongue.  The procedure doesn't hurt them, the sedation is just to get them to hold still.

Jasper was next.  Although Jasper weighs several hundred pounds less than Doc, he takes at least twice the amount of drugs to knock him out.  He resists forever until the vet finally gives in and injects him with a little more.  Even with all the drugs onboard Jasper never gets as sleepy as Doc.  He's kind of awake during the procedure, but it doesn't take long because he barely has any teeth left.  Poor guys is estimated to be 31 years old so most of his food is a mash, but he still loves to mouth the hay.  He's severely underweight which I feel terrible about, but he is offered all the food he wants.  I'd be surprised if he's around another year because he's declining.  We still have to do what we can so he has quality of life.

He was also diagnosed with Cushing's Disease a couple years ago which contributes to his loss of muscle mass and failure to shed his long winter coat, among other things.  

Not to gross you out, but the vet noticed one of his molars what hanging on by a thread so now he has one less tooth.  This was probably painful for him and it can be a bacteria magnet so he'll feel better without it.

While the boys were waking up from their sedation we walked through the new breeding barn that the vet constructed last year.  Since breeding season is over, it was empty but we were impressed how fancy it is.  There was a mare and foal in one of the outside holding pens.  Surprisingly, the mare was open to us petting both her and her baby.  They look like duplicates of each other.

Is there anything cuter than a baby horse?