Annual vet visit

It has all been rather quiet on the BG front this week. She is still tender on her near-fore so I am not doing any work with her. She doesn’t yet like the new head collar I got her so I have to put on the old one, then the new one over the top and take of the old one. Hopefully as the new one softens and starts to smell of her she will stop being so fussy.

She has missed one tea this week when she refused to come in. The fly spray has been on most evenings and mornings but doesn’t seem to be working too well. Her hooves are getting dry cracks so I am alternating between just putting water on or using the remains of my hoof moisturiser. We also had a delivery of hay this week ready for the winter thanks to P1 and P2’s owner. I think it could be a hard year for hay and be very hard to come by at winter time.

The big news this week is that the vet came out for BG’s annual vaccination. Just the flu one this year as she had the flu and tetanus one combined last year. As the vet said ‘that should save some money’, however I had her sedated and her teeth done too which I didn’t do last year so no doubt the over-all bill will come to more. I have no idea how much it will be yet.

I put BG in on box-rest for the day. Since her hooves are still warm with a pulse I thought it would do her some good, and also it would ensure I could catch her. Went up at lunch time to top up her hay and get ready for the vet and the poor girl was sweated up between her back legs and on her neck. P1 had taken down the electric fencing we had put up and had been rubbing on the side of her shelter and almost knocked out the bars over the field shelter entrance, he had split one of the supports that was holding them in place. So poor BG had been inside terrified as P1 had rubbed the shelter, moved it a little and probably made a lot of noise where he has got some of the side planks loose.

I used some cold water to wipe her down where she had sweated and gave her a good groom. She was falling asleep in the sun and P1 and P2 stuck their heads over the bars and fell asleep too. I sat in the corner and ate my lunch – P1 perked up at that, obviously jam sandwiches smell nicer than I thought.

I had got the head collar on BG but I was still a little worried about her wiping round in her stall and not allowing me to put the lead rope on, as she did for the saddle fitter last year. Luckily though the vet told me to go and catch her whilst he did the paper work (filling in her passport).

The vet was really good with her, and a nice friendly guy. He put the sedative in and then the vaccination, and her head started to drop almost straight away. As BG is head shy I was a bit worried what she would do when he tried to put the strap over her head to tightened the metal in her mouth, but the sedative obviously worked as she was very good with everything, just the occasional pull back of her head.

The vet was very patient with her, shushing her when she started to tense up.

I don’t believe BG has had her teeth done for eight years, but the vet said they were in great condition. He got me to feel inside her mouth so I could see where the (very few) rough bits were. Then he rasped them off while BG’s head bobbed in a slumber and her tongue lolled out.

At her age he said they would normally recommend a dental check up every six months, but considering the condition of her teeth every year would be fine for now.

So I am really pleased with how that all went and very impressed with the vet.

I stuck around for BG’s sedative to wear off. It was supposed to take half an hour, an hour later her head was still bobbing as she slumbered on. I think the heat was also having an effect though. When I let her out she woke a bit and began grazing, with P1 alongside to keep her company.

I love my pony, it was a good day.