This message is from: "Cheryl Beillard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Well .. realizing I had to get the vet back to fill out yet another emmigration form for Yggdrasil (!) (it's Emigrate for those leaving and Immigrate for those arriving, right?), and in anticipation of their start in training this month, yesterday we did the deed and turned the barn into a dental surgery for Veronica (2) and Rannild (3) .. and it took forever. My husband retreated to the house to avoid listening to the groans of by now heavily sedated V, and the grinding ..too much empathy. We started on her with half the normal dose as I have read accounts of how fjords are more sensitive to anaesthetics (?) and remember a Nfld. dog that nearly died when we had to sedate him to remove porcupine quills (his partner in crime, a black lab, and 1/2 the weight, took 3 times the dose and was still growling at us) . It took well over an hour to loosen V's and get them out .. one was quite long, the other small .. the vet thought it was easier when they are a older and other teeth have come in to dislodge them? Rannild's were both small and came out in about 20 minutes and we were all sweating .. even us humans w/o the drugs in our systems. Not a pleasant process but I am convinced it is important to do, to avoid potential problems with bitting/driving, etc. in future. We will give them 3-4 days to heal up and then they're off to the trainer to be started so I can drive them both next spring. By the way, all my current driving horses are bred to Felix (heads up anyone interested in a Bragda/Felix baby, or one from Soleia or Tunica (Kalypso/Courage and Brusvein/Solar grandsires). We have had 100% success with live cover this year within the Felix Group and are all looking forward to a good crop next year. Back on topic .. my vet believes that wolf teeth are much more common in fjords .. but said she sees them fairly often in thoroughbreds too -- I guess we need to define "fairly often" -- that works against your theory, Karen, which had immediate resonance for me .. but I'm not going to give up .. I'll just start taking a poll of people I know with other breeds to see what they have to say. I guess it could be done online through other chat lines to see what comes up .. or to ask more vets .. but it is an interesting topic for me. Gotta go and relieve poor Bragda who is waiting patiently for me to let her rejoin Yggdrasil for his morning feed .. we're weaning him and this is another stage where I empathise with the horse, based on personal experience! Cheryl Where the grass is just about nonexistent and even the leaves on the trees are showing the effects of the drought. ps. My husband (who has a need to work work work) has just finished building a 5 ft high, 2 ft wide stone wall, built of stones we find in large piles around the property, cairns left by pioneers who tried (unsuccessfully) to farm this rocky soil .. as a new paddock, which he has done w/o the aid of a front end loader .. just a crowbar and a trailer and lots of cuts and bruises .. and I think how odd to be doing this, in the age of nylon electric/solar fencers, etc. .. a little like the woodstove and the microwave in the kitchen .. two ends of the spectrum .. anyone else out there building stone walls a la pioneer? ps 2 Last week, when one section was only 4 feet high, two neighbours dropped by on horseback and Rannild, Tunica and V all popped over it easily to visit the newcomers (!) .. just ticking the top lightly .. I think that was a first jump for all of them .. so they can do it, can't they?!
