Gap-tooth Grinning

Today, Dr. Lamb came out to do spring vaccinations, etc. Of course, Guinness volunteered to be first. He smiled to show her his snaggley grin. He now weighs roughly 840 lbs (a gain of 80 lbs since last fall's vet visit). I forgot to ask her to check how tall he is now.

Next, he took his shots like a champ (distracted by cookies as we have yet to play much with needle desensitization). Then she checked his teeth and there were numerous sharp points and hooks, so we opted to float his teeth. While he was under sedation, we took the opportunity to really check out how his forehead wound was healing - fine but with a bump where some of the tissue didn't align quite right.

She also found that he still had one tiny wolf-tooth (lower left) even though his other his wolf-teeth had been removed when he was gelded. She plucked it out, and then decided to pull the remaining (baby) cap on his top central incisor. The poor guy just stood there unconcerned with blood clotting on his lip, taking a snooze while Cody and Smokey took their turns.

Cody was so unconcerned when I went to get him that he didn't even bother to stand when I haltered him - or perhaps he was thinking that if he just stayed down, I'd leave him alone? ;-) He was a champ for his shots and his teeth were fine. He weighs 1050 lbs.

To save $, we just did the basic shots and no Coggins or dental (he didn't need it) on Smokey. I really don't anticipate doing much with him this year since Guinness is now under saddle. Smokey prefers it this way and has been getting more affectionate with me. He weighs about 950 lbs. and looks a bit on the thin side to me.. He will be 18 years old in April.

Even after Guinness was turned out, he came back to us to check out what we were doing. Gotta love his attitude. :-)

The tooth on the left side was his baby upper left central incisor. The tooth on the right was his lower left "wolf" tooth.

Happy St. Patricks Day - and Pat Parelli's birthday!