Tired Dog Ranch

Cornelius & AJ at Romina's Cowgirl Camp in Sublimity 9/19/09

Tuesday, Cornelius colicked - my first, full-blown colic. Thankfully Dr. Jeff Pelton of Four Hooves Veterinary Clinic talked me through the process, and Cornelius passed a lot of gas and feces 15 minutes after I administered a prescribed dose of Banamine. Dr. Pelton kept in close and constant contact with me by telephone until we knew the scare had passed. I don’t know what I would have done had my precious, perfect pony not made it. Thank you, Dr. Pelton.

Moon Ray, BLM gelding prize pony

Thursday, Moon Ray, my precious raffle prize pony, got his hooves trimmed; and Luis was halter broke, both by Megan Perkins of Healthy Hooves, LLC. Thank you, Angel Megan! Luis, you are my little angel who came through two days of major changes like a champ. Moon Ray, I cannot believe that you are going to be a 16+ hand horse. (Thank you so very much, Megan, for bursting my pony-loving bubble.

No! I don't wanna!

Luis, haltered and leading with Megan

Gelding Luis and his dam, Luna, 10/16/09

Friday must be bulleted as there is too much to put in paragraph form:

• Luis (DOB: 05/28/09) was gelded and vaccinated and had his hooves trimmed. (Thank God for the time anesthesia allowed us, and thank God for Simrat Khalsa (Akal Ranch) and Dr. Pelton.)
• Luna, Luis’ dam, had her teeth floated as we found very sharp points all along her top and bottom jawline as well as the longest, more severe hooks I have ever seen - nearly 3/4″ long. No wonder this poor mare has been dropping weight and her jaw has been clicking!
• Cornelius had his teeth floated and at nearly 18 years of age, had only sharp points on his molars and some incisor work to balance his front teeth. All-in-all, his teeth looked remarkably fantastic.
• Five O’Clock Charlie had a lovely, full-size bean removed from his sheath (yes, there is a sheath-cleaning song, but I won’t bother you with that now) as well as his sheath completely cleaned; was assessed for lameness and is terribly arthritic and with very thin, shallow soles (hooves) with P3 (coffin bone) right under the surface of his sole (very painful); had very sharp points on all his molars, incisors that had to be balanced, molars that had to be rebalanced due to not chewing on one side, because he had FIVE LOOSE TEETH that had to be extracted, one which was horribly infected and another that was only sitting in the socket - not even attached. How this horse has survived, not losing a tremendous amount of weight, and remained the kindest, gentlest, most forgiving soul on the property is beyond me. Five O’Clock is on a prescribed dose of antibiotics and bute. We expect a full recovery and sassiness never-before witnessed by horse or mankind.

Five O'Clock Charlie's extracted teeth 10/16/09; for perspective, the last tooth on the right is the length of my index finger

• Blue Jean had her teeth floated (another “wild” BLM horse with really incredibly healthy teeth at the tender age of 24) and only required sharp points be removed. Dr. Pelton then attempted to tap her right hock joint to remove the fluid causing swelling, and we were surprised by the small amount of synovial fluid removed. We gave Blue Jean a cortisone injection in her hock in an attempt to reduce swelling and subsequent pain.
• Margarita was halter trained by Simrat! After Simrat took Lily for a ride, I tacked up Cornelius and went for a short trail ride myself. (I do not recommend riding a horse only hours after anesthesia unless you enjoy walking … trudging … crawling along slower than a slug.) When C-Man and I returned, I found Simrat, Lily, and Rita in the red pen and so let Cornelius mingle with his front-pasture pals. As I approached the red pen, I saw that she had a rope on Rita and a halter in hand! What?! Two babies haltered in less than 24 hours? YES! Rita took to the halter like she had been doing it for years. What a smarty-pants princess! Thank you, Simrat!

Margarita de los Prados and one of her many mothers and breeder, Simrat Khalsa

Margarita and Amy Jo