Today is the day that Tandee, my older mare, and Tripp got their teeth checked. Tripp has not accepted the bit at all, so I quit putting the bridle on him and have been riding him with the rope halter. I wanted to make sure his teeth, or some other mouth issue weren't making him uncomfortable.
Cliff Miller is my vet, but he was out of town today. I have heard great things about Stephanie Vinson who also works out of the clinic, so we decided to have her check the horses. She is just as wonderful as Cliff is! Only do what needs to be done - nothing more and nothing less. After taking care of Tripp, she said that there is not any medical reason that he should not be taking a bit. If he does not adjust to it, I will keep riding him bitless. Why not?
There were a couple of teeth that I was concerned about, so I pointed them out to Dr. Vinson. They were his caps. The bottoms were already coming in permanent, but the tops were loose and will be falling out soon so the 4 yr teeth can come in. She aged him between 3 1/2 to 4 yrs old. Pretty cool!
Here is Tripp getting his 'night night' medicine...
Tripp is a lightweight! One shot and within seconds he was trying to fight the effects - plus the stock was not somewhere he wanted to be. He leaned back and his bottom lip was droopy.....
He is to out of it to argue about the speculum....
Open wide and say "AAAAHHHHHHH" ....
Dr. Stephanie Vinson pulled his wolf teeth (they made it look much simpler on the RFD-TV episode I saw), and even tho his teeth looked real good, we decided to do a light float on some of the edges that were a little sharp. Nothing overly invasive....just got the ones that look like they would rub the cheek...
Poor Tripp can't walk straight...Betsy the Vet Tech had him at the front, and I was holding his tail in case his hind quarters started to drift...lots of walking finally got him almost back to normal...
This is Tandee in the stock. She took a few shots of 'night night'...she didn't rub it in to Tripp that he is a lightweight...YEAH RIGHT!
Tandee is 27 years old and a very lively little girl! She is starting to get old teeth. Two of them were pulled and there are a couple loose ones, but Dr. Vincent said that they were not causing any trouble, so she was leaving them to fall out on their own when they were ready. She has never been easy to keep weight on and always shows a little rib - we will keep a closer eye on her to make sure she is getting her groceries. She has learned to like beet pulp.
After the vet visit we ran a couple of errands, then headed home. Another trailer ride for Tripp and this time he got to share with Tandee.
I will not be riding him for 3-4 days to give his mouth time to heal. I will be working on moving his body around, and those feet. He still doesn't respond the way I would like. My goal is to have him pick them up by himself when I say 'foot' and then tap him. Tandee has had a lot of practice, but I like that she will all but put her foot on the stand for ya! Even forward to rasp from the top. Lots of years of practice.
Tripp did very good today! He has had quite the weekend, that is for sure! Dr. Vincent thinks he is pretty cute! :-)
It was another hot day, and I really don't think I will be calling it paradise today. It just wasn't! Ugh! I hope it cools down in a few days!
Until later....Karen and Tripp
2 comments:
Awesome blog. I look frward to keepin' up with your progress. :) Thanks for helping promote our Mustangs and GOOD LUCK in Texas! :)
Hi Eric,
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the blog. I sure do love the mustangs and hope that I can show people that anybody who has the 'want to' can work with one of these beautiful horses.
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