Tuesday May 17th

Tuesday May 17th

The day started out like normal, Katherine and I carpooled, we helped toss hay for morning feeding, and we got started on mucking horse stalls. At 8:00 AM we helped bring in the horses who are on night turn out. Many of the night turn out horses are red stars, but most of the staff has learned to trust Katherine and I's horse experience and has been letting us handle these horses.

However, there are still a few horses we cannot handle. There is a gorgeous white horse named Yeti, with glass (white/gray/light blue) eyes that was recently gelded and is on a 30 day waiting period to allow excess testosterone to exit his system. There is another recently gelded stallion named Cash. Cash, unlike Yeti, has not mellowed since the surgery. He still exhibits combative attitude toward other males and goes for almost every mare he sees when let out. For this reason, he has been put in "solitary confinement" (in his own paddock) until the vets have a chance to look and see if they missed anything during the gelding.

Speaking of vets, when Katherine and I drove up this morning, to our surprise there actually more that 3 cars parked in the gravel parking lot. In fact, there were around 30, and a bunch of college-age people milling around talking in jeans and scrub tops. It turns out, a local vet college came to practice equine sedation and giving shots to horses. This is a win-win for Long Meadow and the College since the students are able to receive practical, in-field training and practice while Long Meadow receives free medical care for the horses like surgical procedures and vaccinations during the students' practice (usually very costly procedures).

We usually take our 10 AM break in a big conference room that overlooks the riding arena. Today, when we went upstairs with coffee and a granola bar for morning break, the vet students were observing a real gelding operation in the arena. Such a pleasant show to go with morning snack!