Day 38

Friday is the big day!!!

Doc has his appointment on the 19th at 8:30am to be gelded, and see what we can do with those wounds.  Dr. Jen is generously going to allow Alicia and I to hang around and watch the procedure.  It will be a first for both of us, so personally, I am a very nervous mama right now!  I have seen hundreds of surgical procedures on animals (I am a registered veterinary technician), but never on a horse.  All of my years of experience have been on small animals.  I know what to expect, but seeing it in person is always exciting the first time.

I am working on increasing the distance that we drive with the trailer loading lessons.  Today Doc loaded in the trailer like a pro, so after a couple of ins and outs, we closed the door and took off for a drive.  I decided to take him somewhere different to unload this time, so we drove the two miles along the dirt roads to my house.  I unloaded him in my driveway and we wandered around exploring the yard for a while.  I was really impressed at how calm he was.  I made sure to close the gates because I wasn't sure what kind of horse I would have once I got him out of the trailer.  Amazingly, even though he was nervous and sweaty from the drive, he simply stayed alert while we wandered around and checked out the sights.  He sniffed at my two horses, but they were more worked up than he was about the visit.  He likes the taste of my lawn, but not enough to stop for very long.  We played some of our Parelli games for a few minutes, then I decided it was time to see if he would load again...  Ha ha!!  Not so easy once he has ridden in the trailer for a while!  I had to go back to basics, and it took about 1/2 an hour to get him loaded again.  Of course, I couldn't just slam the door as soon as he was inside either.  I had to let him get in and out 3 or 4 times before I could shut him in.  Sometimes these things are really a test of a person's patience, but it is sure worth it in the end! 

Did I tell you that I was able to measure him?  Our boy is 15 hands tall, and about 1000lbs.  That is a big horse for only 15 months old!  Does anyone know how to predict their ultimate height?  Please e-mail me if you have any tips:  CalifJackie@aol.com

Tomorrow I plan to take Doc down to Gail's equestrian center and play for a while in the arena and round pen.  It will be good to give him a few different experiences in the trailer before we do the "deed" on Friday... 

Wish us luck!
~Jackie