Taking time off for my family reunion messed my personal schedule up. I had been taking Thursdays off so that I would be able to help more on the weekends when the tech isn't working, but I didn't take the Thursday before off because I would have Sunday and Monday. Things haven't gotten back to normal yet.
Sunday the 12th was the reunion. It was good to home to see everyone and relax.The reunion was the same as always, lots of somewhat familiar faces and a few new and a ton of food! The connecting generation is my grandmother's grandparents. They have long since passed and the next generation is getting to be in questionable health. My great-grandparents are all gone now. It's getting ever more difficult for me to remember how everyone fits together on the family tree. We all ate so much more food than we really needed to.
Monday was less fun because I had to finish a few chores and leave town. I ended up running rather late and still had to run back to grab things twice. Even after that I forgot my belt. I barely made it out of the house in time to make it to my lunch date with my boyfriend. Luckily for me, he has a rather flexible lunch time. The drive back down to Lexington was uneventful.
Tuesday, I rode with Dr. Friend. We had a full truck and a full day. We started off the morning with a new foal exam and a colic exam on the new momma. We treated her for dehydration. I got to watch Dr. Friend do a bunch of chiropractic exams and adjustments on a group of yearlings. That was very interesting. We did a lameness exam on a horse that turned out to be neurologic in the hind end and also lame in the front. Together with the client, we determined that those issues plus her rough manner made her a candidate for euthanasia. We went on to a couple more stops while arrangements were made. The client didn't want to see the procedure, so we were able to practice placing catheters before the hauling company got there. Afterward, we did a couple inseminations. We went out to Dr. Friend's farm to learn/ practice hoof trimming. Unfortunately, a storm cut us off. We got caught in the downpour as we were trying to catch one of the mares to give her a shot. Then we had to go check on the colicky mare from first thing. Despite being soaking wet, it was a fun day.
Wednesday was a pretty standard repro day with Jordan. We got done very early, around 2, so I decided to finish out the afternoon (and evening) with Friend. We went to his farm again to finish what we had started the previous evening. I started a foot, but the mare saw a calf in the neighboring pasture and wouldn't let me continue. Dr. Friend had to battle her to get the hoof finished. I had already discovered that farrier work was not my cup of tea, but I wanted to learn to do it just in case I ever needed to. I was able to start on another mare and do about 3/4 of a foot before we got called out to an emergency. The call was for an unconscious foal. The barn manager and some of the workers had been watching a mare and foal run around a large paddock when, all of a sudden, the foal was not with the mare anymore. They found her unconscious next to the fence. Cranial palpation and radiographs revealed a heavily suspected crack in the cranium, most likely causing swelling on the brain. We treated for dehydration and swelling and left overnight care instructions. Not enough progress was made by morning, so they decided to euthanize the little guy. Then we went to see a club foot horse for a pre-purchase exam. We ultrasounded the tendons and discussed the added risk of using the horse. Our final stop for the night was at a nice barn to see a horse with bilaterally swollen hocks. We took synovial fluid samples from both and flushed the one that he was lame on. Wednesday turned out to be a cool for teaching but unfortunate for owners day.
Thursday was a good day. We found a bunch of embryos and fetuses on pregnancy and heart beat checks. We took some pastern radiographs and floated some teeth. We got a call from a client whose horse likes to fight with his friend. He has a bunch of old bite wounds all down his neck. One of them caused an abscess which had ruptured out the other side. It was a very delicate situation because it had opened in the jugular groove just superficial to the jugular vein. We lavaged the area, and Jordan very carefully placed a drain tube to help it heal correctly.
Friday was a late start. It was wonderful to get to sleep until a normal time for people to be getting up for work. It was very strange though for it to be so light outside and so much traffic. We had a typical repro morning with lots of palpation, pregnancy checks, and lavages. In the afternoon, we went out to vaccinate a pony and euthanize a goat. That was an interesting experience because we had to dilute most of the drugs we used. Our final stop of the day was a hoof sole puncture. The horse had managed to partially remove her new fancy shoe and step on the clip on the front. Since the puncture was so thin, we weren't able to lavage or do much of that. We helped get the foot into a CleanTrax soak and instructed the client to pack and wrap the foot to keep the sole clean until it healed. They were already doing most of that from the farrier's advice. We were able to add some Bute and antibiotics to the mix.
Saturday was so slow that I was given the day off. It seems that people (and horses) have started trying to make weekends a thing again, especially the holiday weekends. I had a fairly productive day of pre-treating some laundry, grocery shopping, and showering. In the evening, I discovered that I was also being given Sunday off, so I decided to run home to surprise my boyfriend for Father's Day.
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