The Vet Comes for Another Visit

Friday was the day. The temperatures were in the low 80s and the sun was shining. The ponies had no idea what was coming when they ate their breakfast. The vet arrived around lunchtime and got started working on the barn horses. I fit my guys in and they got the luxury treatment ;).

Knots relaxing

Jellybean got off easiest. She was due for shots and a coggins. Unfortunately for her, she was a little bit sassy, and the vet doesn't tolerate crazy when he can so easily sedate. She got a quick shot of calm and then the rest of her shots and blood draws. And she was all done!

Causing a ruckus

Knots was pretty straightforward as well. I just wanted the vet to check his teeth and see if they needed some attention. Well go figure, they did. So he had to wait until the end of the day to see if there was still time. Eventually, there was time, so he was also sedated and then floated. The vet also cleaned his sheath so he should be very comfortable. Fresh teeth and clean downstairs.

Gracie was the real complication.

She needed shots and a coggins. I asked the vet to check her teeth. She also needed a float. I also asked the vet to check out a couple of weird things on Gracie. She had a weird mole thing. It started as a tick-like growth and has been expanding. The vet suggested it might be a sarcoid and we decided to remove it. He also suggested I send it off for biopsy, which would differentiate between a sarcoid (remember Oberon had one?) and a melanoma. We opted not to pay the fee, since it will come back if a sarcoid, or not if melanoma.

It needs to be sprayed with a liquid bandage for a few days and she should recover just fine :) Onto the teeth! Nothing too exciting, but hopefully she will be a bit more comfortable and maybe even gain a bit more weight.

Gracie also had a weird swelling in front of her right udder. I asked the vet to check it out, and he mentioned the first line of inquiry was an ultrasound, which should start out at 100 dollars. He suggested it could be a tumor or edema, and that it may be uncomfortable for her. So I think once we save up some more money, we can call him back out and check it out.

This leads to another aside about Gracie. I think we are at a point where we are going to start investigating if there is a physical reason that Gracie has such a tendency to buck when she is cantering. I definitely think it is somewhat strength related, but my previous hypothesis of training issue is starting to seem less likely. We'll see how it goes as we move through the summer.

All in all, a stupidly expensive day at the farm. Hopefully this investment in preventative care will allow us to skip some emergency vet visits this year.