Love My Vet... Just Say'n

In dreamland post sedation to recheck his tooth

Rio had his dental re-check this morning. We went in expecting to pull the tooth and the ligaments around the remainder of the tooth had actually tightened up around the tooth and healed. Rather then traumatize him again the vet opted to leave the remainder of the tooth. We'll recheck again in six months when his fall vaccines are due. Awesome! In the mean time I get to rinse his mouth with salt water 2-3 times a week to help keep any food from building up and causing another infection back there. Here's hoping he stays healthy and problem free.

While I'd have liked to avoid putting him through 2 sedations and two hours of torture... and the unexpectedly larger vet bill it was an educational experience. I knew that horse's teeth continually erupted through the gum line as they wore down through out life. I knew the reason for annual dentals... that their teeth often ware unevenly leaving sharp points. I never stopped to think about the fact that different teeth come in at different stages in their early life and that because they continually grow and come in at different rates the roots of the teeth are actually very tough and long. Some teeth are harder to pull then others depending on the age of the horse, and that is what happened to Rio. The good news is that while the whole tooth was loose initially it looks like everything is healing up now that the cracked peace has been removed and the infection is gone. Obviously its better he keep the tooth then loose it so I was happy. 

Took advantage of the drugs to trim & pull his mane... long overdue!
Was the easiest mane pull ever!

I love my vet. He treats my horse like his own every time he sees us. He always calms my nerves even if its just a phone call with questions about how to do something, and unlike some of the vets in the area he really is in it for the best of the horse and  not for the money. Rocky only does what is absolutely necessary. He could have pulled the tooth. He could have charged me for more work then was really needed. Not only did he not do that, but he only charged me a half a trip fee. He didn't charge a re-exam fee or a fee for the sedation (usually a $40 fee). He could have easily gotten another $100-$150 out of me today even only rechecking the tooth, but he charged me $25.... and then drove back after he realized he forgot to drop my coggins when he could have just as easily e-mailed it to me and moved on... he is truly worth his wait in gold. I've met plenty of bad vets and farriers in the last 3 years since moving to the central Florida area, but I think I've finally lucked out and have a decent team lined up in my horse's court. 

Spring break starts in less then 10 days and we are good to go and healthy just in time to hopefully take our first lesson with the trainer at the barn over the break. We are definitely in a good place!

If The Tooth Fairy Visited Animals...

As an ESE teacher working primarily with elementary aged kids it seems like at least once a week some kid is enthusiastically showing me a tooth they lost, or at the very least a loose tooth that's just about ready to pull. I usually respond with the cursory "oh wow how cool!" " You'll have to put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy!... how much you think you'll get for it?" When I was a kid... and I'm not "That" old the going rate for a tooth was fifty cents maybe seventy five. Do you know what the going rate is these days!?!? I've had kids tell me anything from a few dollars to $20... really?!!!

If the tooth fairy were real... I wonder what she'd pay for the mammoth size tooth that came out of my horse's mouth this morning... I don't know what it is, but apparently I have bad luck with animals and their teeth. My dog Buster has had a dental every 2 years his entire life when most dogs have maybe one or two in a lifetime. Rio gets his teeth done on average every 18 months. My animals are better taken care of then I take care of myself... literally! I have not been to the dentist in at least 5 years! Though I do have plans to go this summer... but I digress.  I make sure they get routine care to AVOID more expensive problems in the long run and yet some how I've had both my pets crack a tooth that ultimately had to be pulled with in the last 6 months. Poor Buster had a tooth pulled when he was under for surgery to remove tumors a few months ago. The funny thing was that the vet said he probably didn't need a dental, but I had it done because he was already being put under... why sedate twice? And, they happen to realize the tooth was cracked and pull it. 

Apparently Rio's teeth are as stubborn as he can be (typical Appaloosa!) because the vet spent 2 hours trying to pull the tooth and was only able to get the cracked piece of tooth out of his mouth despite the the whole tooth being very loose. He'll be back in a week to re-check it. We're hoping it comes out on its own once it loosens up a little bit more. In the mean time he's on antibiotics to keep it from getting more infected then it already is. The crazy thing is I had know idea anything was wrong in either animals case. Both times they were supposed to be a routine dental. The only sign that maybe Rio's mouth was bothering him at all was his slightly crankier attitude about initially taking the which I had chalked up to a re-occurance of former bad habit. Once the bit was in he rode fine. In fact he's been collecting and coming into the bit better then every lately. And, of course nothing about my animals is ever ordinary. Apparently a lot of horses will have the fourth molar crack or rot  when they reach their teens and into early senior hood, but not Rio... nope it was his fifth molar which is almost always not a problem and which happens to have a longer root because of the order the teeth come in as babies and the age of the horse making it harder to pull. In both cases it is a good example of why routine care is better. Had I waited until I did know there was a problem it would have been 10 times worse. 

I am super lucky to have a great vet as well. A friend of mine opted to have a holistic equine dentist out for a third of the cost, but all I could think as I was holding my horse for the vet this morning was what if I'd had this sketchy dentist out (they don't sedate) and they'd had to deal with this issue... would they even have caught it? For sure there's no way they could have even attempted pulling the tooth with out sedation. Now mind you, I'm not cracking using a specialized dentist. But, a good one who has the proper tools and uses sedation is about as expensive if not more so then going to a good vet anyways. And, finding a good one with proper accreditation is hard. 

It was also, yet again, another example of why its so important to have an emergency fund set up...  Rio's non routine dental ended up costing twice what I had budgeted to have this done... and lets face I work my but off to be able to justify having him at all... totally worth it though! I'm just glad we caught it before it became a bigger issue. 

Poor Rio gets to have his feet done tomorrow as well... poor guy is going to hate me by the end of the weekend, but at least it will all be out of the way. And, he gets a week off with plans to be spoiled rotten so in the long run he'll be happy and feeling better. 

Hopefully next time Rio & I update our handful of readers we'll have had a lesson and be making good progress. Until then Rio sends hugs & asks for carrots!

Hurry Up & Wait...

Busy as always I haven't had many opportunities to sit down and write a blog update. Course I haven't seen my horse in almost 2 weeks either! Between rainy weather, sinus infections, and 50-60 hours of work a week riding has been a bit hit or miss lately. 

I finally made it to the barn this weekend though. The plan was to get Rio's spring cogins, vaccinations and annual dental done. And, of course mother nature chose this weekend to freeze out Florida with with ungodly cold temperatures... at least for FL... I know my Colorado friends and others who live up North are laughing at me. 

I got up early, got to the barn groomed Rio for his annual cogins photo and then patiently sat waiting for the vet to show... Rocky is almost always late, but about an hour in with no phone call I started to wonder what was up. He never did show or even call so I have a hunch his wife who keeps up all the appointments probably did not get it in the books correctly... frustrating considering my schedule is so full that it could take a few more weeks to get it re-booked on a day I can be present. 

On the plus side our friend (we'll call her M for the purposes of this blog) showed up as well and kept me company for 2 hours at which point M & I decided to saddle up and go for a ride despite the cold wind. 

I was very happy with our ride. Having not been out in a while we worked for a solid hour with out getting too tired. Rio was really pretty good considering the cold weather and wind are usually an excuse to jump out of his skin. We did mostly trot work. Varying size circles, figure eights, serpentines and bending lines with a focus on bringing his head down and his back & top line round. Once warmed up he went quite nicely keeping a solid rhythm and pace while maintaining his contact with the bit. He has a tendency to lean on me and let his shoulder fall in or become counter bent when I get tired, but a lot of that is lack of conditioning on both our parts. 

I'm hoping we get a chance to take a lesson sometime in the next few weeks. Day light savings time will make it much easier for me to get out and ride consistently. Still trying to decide on how much time if any to spend in California this summer. It sure would be nice to know I've got some income for the summer and to spend time with my friend, but man will I miss riding, especially if we make some headway with lessons and riding consistency in the next 2 months. 

What would you do?