Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A visit from the dentist

I don't think anyone has checked Bosco's mouth before so when I had to have him revaccinated I figured we could take a look at his teeth at the same time.

We quickly discovered it was about time, lots of sharp edges that had made some wounds in his mouth, and he had what we call "wolf tooth" in norwegian. It is the tooth that comes up right where the bit lies in the mouth. After a closer examination, the vet discovered that the tooth was broken and he couldn't say if he would be able to get everything out. Poor Bosco was not comfertable with the vet digging inside his mouth, but after lots of sedative, local anaesthetic and deep local anaesthetic he actually managed to get all the pieces out! Took quite a while, but then I won't have to worry about a remaining shard becomming a problem later. After removing the tooth he used one of those drills to smooth out the edges of the teeth. The vet was a really good, explaining evetything he did and showed me what was wrong, and let me feel the difference before and after the treatment.

Sedated Bosco supported by the vet's assistant

Not sure what to do, hindlegs go further and further back. 

Not a pleasent "first trip to the dentist"

Still drugged, the vet checked his genetalia to make sure there was no dirt in the skinfolds and that everything looked normal. After the vet left and I was just waiting for the sedation to wear off, I took the opportunety to groom his face abit. Usually he doesn't like to get groomed in the face so he still got alot of fur left. I took my time and managed to get quite alot of fur off of him. At the same time i cut some hair of his ears and cut the mane behind his ears so its easier to fit the bridle without all the mane messing it up. After a little trip into the "shower", he woke up and was ready to go out again.

This weekend, most of the horses changed herds. They are now divided into the fat herd and the thin herd, so that they can easier control the amount of hay they eat. Bosco was very happy about this because this meant he got his mares all to himself. Before the change he was in a herd where the boss was a gelding called Petrick. He was not really good at it, he only kick harder than the rest of them. Petrick, Mamora and Miriel knew eachother from before at Trollspeilet so they were friends. Bosco was friends with Mamora and Miriel, but Petrick didn't really want him near them. Now Petrick is on the other side of the fence and Bosco got Mamora and Miriel all to himself! He is a happy horse at the moment :)

I can't use a bit in a while and Bosco needs to take it easy after being vaccinated so not much training for us the next few days. Anne, who has a couple of horses at the stable had both a sidepull and a cavesson I could borrow, so I can do some light training. I want that cavesson, the one i got is really ugly and doesn't fit. I might wish for a portugese cavesson, we'll see.