Fall horse maintenance

Jez loves jumping the coop
Jez loves jumping the coop

It  was that time of year again, fall shots. I also had my vet float the girls teeth. My vet does a hand float and though i was thinking id use a dentist this time around seems “horse dentist” in this area is synonymous with “never return voice mails” Since my vet does a bang up job and she was out for shots anyways i decided to go with her. Jez did almost all of her float with no sedation, we only had to use a little bit to get the way far back. Seems my girl has a narrow but highly arched palette. Which might facilitate a bit change for her in the future, well see how she goes over the next couple of weeks.

Circe's new clip
Circe’s new clip

Circe needed more work and we didn’t even attempt to do her with out being dosed. I had had her teeth done soon after i got her and at that time my previous vet thought maybe her teeth had never been floated. We did what we could at the time with an eye toward she would need to be done probably sooner then later. Skip ahead a year and yeah she needed a lot of work again. I don’t know if she just has fast growth or not. Her front teeth, yanno the cribbing teeth, were in much better shape then my vet expected. Thats good news cuz when crib face is an old lady horse you know i’ll be mixing her up a mash to eat with her toothless mouth.The longer i can put that off the better.  We’ll check her again at spring shots and maybe she will get a second float in 6 months. She was good for the float but only because she was drugged. Her tail was flapping like an angry beast. Her pet girl held her lead rope the whole time so Circe knew she was safe and in good hands.

Both girls got their shots including the botulism shot cuz round bales will be fed here.  Side note the girls still have grass in their field so the longer we can wait on the round bales the better for everyone. Both girls got the day off and sent out into the paddock after their vet visit. It was unusually warm for this time of year with the low only expected to be 46 so they stayed out. I fed them in the field put their sheets on and got myself home by 7pm. My days at the barn are getting longer and longer. With Winter just around the corner its hard for me to get my work done and spend my days at the barn. Its always like this in winter. I have to be more resolute in my schedule and its hard because i hate the cold and all i want to do is drink hot coffee drinks, stay warm and pay with ponies when im not freezing. However i cant because someone needs to pay for said ponies. The life of a freelancer y’all.

My vet also cleared Circe for regular work (walk, trot and canter) which is great. Shes not fit so shes still being eased into it but we can get back on track with her. I think ill have Michelle take her for a hack on Weds. Circe will like that.

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