The Big Day is Over!

The day before "the big day" (I'm referring to vaccinations and teeth float, no weddings around here!) I worked My Boy out in the arena. It was so warm that I was in a t-shirt and he worked up a sweet smelling sweat.

I am trying to convince him here, actually, I am BEGGING him, to be good tomorrow for his big day with the vet. I promised him all of the cookies and carrots in the world if he just cooperated.

Look at his sarcoid! It looks weird, but much better. The original bump and scab is gone. It has these interesting little veins fingering out from it now though, I wonder what the vet will say about those?

The big day is here! After arranging goats in a separate corral so that we have access to Paint Girl's mares big barn, we are set.

After Paint Girl's mares got their shots (lucky girlies, no teeth filing for them this year!) My Boy was brought into the barn.

Where am I? What's the fuss?

The vet and I decided to go straight for the twitch, since he is so difficult to get a needle near. And so begins the rodeo.

The good thing about the big barn is that we could back him into a corner. He nearly squatted on his haunches. He tossed his head. He evaded us until he couldn't stand the pressure then would burst forward and spin around. Wow, he's got a good spin on him, the vet declared.

Um, yea, I think all those years of reining were really working in his favor.

We tried the chain. We tried everything. We'd been down this road before. Then we decided to just calm him down and forget getting the twitch on, and go for the needle in the vein. You see, he had no anxiety about her tapping the injection site as we had him too worried about being twitched. We rubbed him and got him calmed down, then I used my gloved hand to form a sort blinder next to his left eye, and in went the needle. He started backing up but she was able to get him a good dose of the sedative. She gave him the strong stuff. The one for the difficult horses. Yea, my spotted pill is officially on that list.

Oh, Nellie! Within seconds, my horse began to get lethargic. It was strange to see him that way. He was so drugged but OH, he's a fighter! He still tried to resist the rest of shots. However, the vet got them done. When the sedative got to his brain and we racked him up in the dentistry gear, which is a halter sling of sorts.

He was perfect for the teeth floating. He hadn't had them done in at least three years (I've owned him for one year.) They weren't bad but did have some sharp points so I am glad I had it done for him.

Mercy, look at the size of that electric file!

One last squirt, the strangles vaccination up the nostril, and he was done. I'm just thankful I don't have to go through this more than once a year! I think it was as stressful for me as it was for him. That adrenaline gets going in both of us, which I'm sure does not help.

The vet was pleased with the way his sarcoid had healed. She said there was even some hair follicles and hair growing back on the original bump site, which I hadn't noticed. However, like me, she was concerned about those fingered blood vessels creeping down. She had me put some more Xxterra on it before I put him away, and told me to do this for 3 days.

I led my very slow and loopy spotted boy back into his own shed to relax until the rest of the sedative wore off.
He stood in a dozed stupor for about 45 minutes. Poor boy, he looked so sad all drugged up. I asked my sister, do you think horses know what is happening to them during sedation, but can't do anything about it? Or do they remember everything that happened once they came out of it? What do you think?

Then he wandered out and began to nibble on the itty bitty green grass shoots popping up around his pasture. All is well that ends well when my horse is trying to eat. Here he is back to normal, enjoying his dinner later that evening.

Oh, and guess what? Four hours after I applied the Xxterra to the sarcoid, this is what I saw at feeding time (warning: gross picture ahead. I figured it could be educational for those of you that have yet to experience 'the wonderful world of sarcoids.' )

Yep, can you believe how fast that stuff is working this time? It's already oozing! Obviously those fingers were "abnormal flesh" and needed to be treated (the Xxterra only works on abnormal flesh.) Hopefully a few more days and we'll shut down this sarcoid for good! But who knows, maybe it's a fighter like it's spotted host..... I'm just thankful those fingers are creeping down, not up towards his eye.

It was a stressful morning, but it sure feels good to have the horses vaccinated for the coming year.

The only complaint I got from My Boy was that he didn't get to pick a toy out of the treasure chest afterward!