Monday, November 8, 2010

Zipper Horse 2 And Needle Nose

Last month I had the vet come out to do everyone's annual dental work. Since I always try to get as much as possible out of a barn call, one of the items on the to-do list was examine Sarge's scarring. The vet found a nidus inside a skin button on Sarge's side, so he decided to remove it.


Sarge was on house arrest for two weeks. Thank goodness I only had to do the twice-a-day antibiotics for five days this time instead of ten like Judge. It's amazing how many messy and destructive ways an active four-year-old (of any species) can devise to stay amused.

No sooner did Sarge get sprung from solitary than Milton The EvilPony™ showed up with what looked like a large pimple or small abscess on his upper lip. I found it the hard way when it splurted while I was haltering him. Just dandy: Milton seriously distrusts anything involving physical restraint.

Usually when something like that bursts it drains and heals. No such luck. Instead, Milton quickly sprouted a second oozing hole. I called the vet. Guess what he found?


Those are two huge wood splinters that were buried under the outer skin of Milton's upper lip. An EvilPony™ stick his nose where it didn't belong? No, he'd never do that.

Both equines are doing fine now. My checkbook, not so much. Dentals For Everyone Day ran me $784, quite a bargain considering. I haven't got the bill for Milton yet, but I'm expecting around $300 for that little adventure. Not all that long ago, Judge's tumor removal bill was almost $600.

Which brings me back to one of my perpetual rants. Horses are a huge responsibility. Craigslist and other dumping grounds are overflowing with the helpless victims of people who can't or won't understand that simple fact.

Yeah, I know, hoping that people will take the time and trouble to learn what's involved before they get a horse is probably a waste of time. Look how many don't consider what they're getting themselves into before they buy cars or houses they can't afford. Look how many give no thought at all before they reproduce.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can relate. Most of my income goes toward keeping my animals fed, in vet care, and housed under a dry roof. Even so, I wouldn't have it any other way. I too appreciate evil ponies who are really sweet in most ways.

Keep up the good work.

Mr Lear said...

I used to have 3 horses, one was called Craig and i rescued him. He escaped one day and got caught in barbed wire. Bill was like £200 for tranquiliser so he didn't panic, £300 for moving. Fun times considering he was only £75 to talke off the rescuers hands...Good thing he didn't escape to France.