The Vet Visit!
I know it has been over a week since the vet came out to the farm to visit Skittles. As some of you know, my mom has been very sick. She went to the doctor this week and was told she has pneumonia. With her being sick it has taken a long time to get this post up…
Dr. Seal visits Skittles twice a year. Ponies need shots just like kids do. He comes in the spring and in the fall. At this visit, my mom had several concerns that she wanted to talk to Dr. Seal about. Skittles needed his shots and a new coggins test. A coggins test is very important. You must have a negative coggins to go to horse shows or travel with your pony. A coggins identifies Equine Infectious Anemia which is very serious and contagious. To get a coggins Dr. Seal has to take blood from Skittles and send it to a lab for testing. This must be done once a year.
While Dr. Seal was at the farm, my mom also asked him to do a lameness exam. Since we are jumping him regularly over bigger jumps and working on lead changes my mom thought it would be a good time to make sure he is conditioned properly, a good weight, and is not having any trouble with pain in his legs. To perform a lameness exam Dr. Seal first had my mom put Skittles on a lunge line and have him trot and canter. This gives him an idea of how he moves. Then he does “flexions”. To do flexions Dr. Seal holds up one of Skittles legs very tightly for about thirty seconds then he asked my mom to trot Skittles away. He watches to see if there is any limping or change in movement as that could indicate a problem. After that he used the hoof testers. Hoof testers are a tool that are put on the hoof and some pressure applied. If there is a problem with a hoof Dr. Seal would be able to tell. After doing all four legs and hooves Dr. Seal said Skittles is very sound and has fantastic flexion and range of motion. He also said he had not seen a pony in that good of condition in a long time and encouraged us to keep up the training and feeding program.
After the lameness exam my mom asked Dr. Seal to sedate Skittles so that we could body clip him. Body clipping is a pony hair cut. Show ponies usually stay body clipped throughout the year. We have to body clip him about three times a year. Skittles DOES NOT like the clippers. He starts to kick and rear up if you even turn them on near him. My mom asked Dr. Seal if she should try to work with him but Dr. Seal said if a pony or horse is that combative and was not trained as a youngster to accept clippers then he probably never will and it may be best to simply sedate him each time. To sedate skittles Dr. Seal had to give him a shot in his neck of medicine that makes him go to sleep. Dr. Seal told my mom it would last about an hour.
It only took about a minute before Skittles started to go to sleep. You could tell because his head got lower and lower to the ground. My mom had to try and hold him up while Ashley started to clip him. It was really scary because he stumbled a few times and his little tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth. Dr. Seal told me it was all normal and he would wake up soon and be fine. The clipping took about an hour and a half. Skittles was just starting to wake up when Ashley was finishing. I felt very sorry for him because when all of his hair was gone he started to shiver. My mom and Ashley covered him with three blankets to keep him warm. When we were all done and Skittles was awake and warm we put him in his stall. Ashley kept an eye on him for the rest of the evening.
Dr. Seal waited with us until we were all done and Skittles was safe in his stall. He told my mom that he would be back in the fall to give him his fall shots. Dr. Seal is very nice but I am sure Skittles is glad he will not see him agian for a long time.
I was glad to know my pony is very healthy and his new hair cut was so cute. Thanks a lot Dr. Seal and we will see you in the fall!
You always have such great pictures! I bet Skittles looks sharp with his fresh clip job.