Ernie got his teeth done (finally!) today. Dr. Barry came out with assistant in tow and floated down all those lovely hooks he had forming on his back molars. It took a fraction of the time it usually takes to do his teeth; normally it's a 2 hour affair, although this time we did slightly OD him on tranq in order to keep him compliant enough to do the power float. Last fall we had to tranq him twice because the first dose wore off before Dr. Barry was done and Ernie was less than happy about what was being done to him. This time he was a complete wobbling drunk barely able to keep on his feet. But it got done. I'm sure his jaw and mouth are sore, but he's seems calm and got some Bute tonight with dinner to help a little.
In other news, I took Stella up to the arena today, knowing full well it'd probably be occupied in which case I wouldn't be able to let her run loose. She seemed calm enough on the walk up and in to just put her right to work. Apparently, I was wrong. That period of running and bucking and acting like a total fool is actually pretty critical in getting her full attention when it's time to focus. I put her in side reins and sent her out on the lunge and thought I was OK when she didn't take off bucking. She went into the trot fast and maintained a less-than-relaxed pace for a while. There was a lesson going on as well as another horse being ridden around the outside track. Lucky for me, this rider decided it was a good idea to push her horse into the canter EVERY TIME she came around right by Stella, which of course sent Stella into a fit of rushing off with head held high and scooting away from the approaching mare. She's gotten better about not paying attention to the horses that go by her, but when she's got excess energy she reverts back to being anticipatory and high strung.
This scenario repeated itself several times over the course of 20 minutes or so. Finally I had to ask the rider of the horse if she could time her canter departs in a different place so as not to spook my horse. She agreed, but Stella continued to be leery and lay her ears back every time the mare approached her. This sweet, good-natured mare who loves EVERYBODY actually got pissy with another horse. Interesting. And kind of funny.
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