June 08 - The dentist comes...

Bit of an update from me! As I sit here typing, looking at my red string, too scared to get it dirty!! I have one question for you all. When did you get a real equine dentist to look at your horses teeth? Me well I have been looking for someone who "understands" teeth for nearly a year! Well after some disgruntled visits from my local vets 6 months apart I knew that what they were doing just wasn't working. More intuition than anything. I finally got onto a chap who is a qualified Equine Dentist and made a time for him to come out and look at my 3 partners! The result. Well poor Jazz, she had a loose tooth that was cracked in half, she was dropping food when eating and rubbing her jaw and I knew she was in pain. Well she was poor girl. She was so brave, the tooth was removed and after she recovered from the sedation she looked a bit brighter. I really felt for her though, having a tooth pulled with no pain killers. She has perked up no end, she's not rubbing her jaw while she eats, she's not dropping as much food and she seems to be happier. Star had terrible teeth, even though he was "floated' only 4 weeks ago. He had a sharp ridge on his very back molars, he had ramps and goodness knows what going on. High and low points, sharp teeth digging into his jaw. His bite was out.....due to poor chewing action from having sharp teeth. The end result was he had excess pressure on his TMJ and this would have been like having a headache all the time. He was so brave for the procedure which took over an hour! After having major work done he spent about 20 minutes yawning and licking and chewing. I think maybe some of his rearing might be because he was suffering ongoing discomfort! Lucky I wasn't riding with a bit in his mouth...poor boy. Scout, well he's as solid as they come. No surprises in his mouth, it was not too bad really. He did however have 2 really sharp teeth...sharp enough to cut your finger I can tell you! I could see where they had been irritating the side of his cheek! Such a good boy to put up with all that. He was the dentist's favourite, he asked me if I would consider selling him. I thought about it, looking at him all the while, then said, "nope sorry he will never be for sale. He has found his final home here, I can't think of selling him. He might be big, boisterous and beligerant but he's a great partner and he has taught me so much in such a short time." He's like a street kid really, he is almost expecting that he will get moved on from home to home. When he realises he has a home for life I think he will be happy. He's getting there I think. He lets me put a rug on him, fuss over him and be a leader for him. It's nice that he is "letting" me get close to him So if you can, get their teeth assessed by someone who "knows" how a horses mouth works!! Oh yes, very very excited. I have bitten the bullet and ordered my Fluidity English saddle..... Now all I have to do is sell my normal dressage saddle to cover some of the cost! I have waited and waited and thought and thought and then I just thought. What am I waiting for? Well I know I will have a tax bill to pay...but I will manage somehow to pay for it!!! LOL I am just hanging to get into a saddle and ride and continue my Level 1 and begin leve 2 riding..... I have also registered for the SuperCamp in Victoria with Chris Corbidge. I haven't told my hubbie how much all this is costing!! I am hoping to take both boys over there. Jazz will have Querida to keep her company while I am away! Star is beginning to actually like having me around, especially at dinner time. They only get a little hard feed as they are doing well off the paddocks but Scout actually hoovers his food, never seen a horse eat like he does. He makes all sorts of sounds as he eats and it's gone in no time. I have to defend Star so he doesn't miss out. He's learing to be less of a contemplative eater though! Scout gets the message that if he tries to get Stars food then the Alpha horse comes in and sorts it out. Very interesting now, Star stands behind me and waits for me to drive Scout away. He's less bothered about the savvy string now as well. Scout then busies himself with eating grass and then waits patiently to see if there is anything left! How interesting! Star is getting better with the farrier, played with him before the farrier came the other day. He was full of Mexican bucking and rearing beans....and I mean full! It was hillarious to watch him, I couldn't help but smile as he tossed his head, galloped with his head down with much purpose, reared on our change of directions and then OH you want me to stop and look at the poles on the ground. He did a slide stop and put his nose on 4 poles i had put together so they were quite wide. He stopped and looked at me, two ears and a workman-like look! He cracks me up sometimes, where as once I would have gotten bothered by this now I look at the athletisism before me and think, wow how is that going to be when he's really rideable! It's not too far away either! Cool!!! Querida is growing into her skin. She still looks like a baby, still has plenty of growing to do and in the spring she's going to come home to be part of our herd. Will be interesting seeing as she hasn't been split from her mum....hhmmmm. She will have plenty of friends to keep her company and I will put her in a paddock where she will be able to see her mum and then slowly move her further away.