McLintock
So we're taking a slight gamble, but hoping it plays out well.
Tuesday we took the little gelding to have a vet check. We used Roach because Chatham broke his hip last week. They went ahead and gave him a whole hip replacement and he thinks he'll be back to it after Christmas (I think he's pushing 80, tough old guy).
There was nothing major outside. She did think he had a lot of sand in his gut as it was making some swooshy noises and suggested an intense round of psyllium. She also thought he might have some ulcers because he was sensitive around the girth, but with as enthusiastically as she was poking around his girth area I don't blame him for being a little flinchy.
He had some hooks and will need his teeth done. She then looked at his eyes and went straight to suggesting squamous cell carcinoma. I explained the previous owner's story with the fly exposure and how the spots were supposedly much worse previously. After some reading I suspect he may have had the misfortune of having summer sores in his eyes (ulcers created by a stomach parasite that flies end up depositing in wounds, pretty nasty). Dr. Roach suggested sending pictures to another vet who does a lot of work with eyes. We took pictures and got the email from his office staff and sent them along.
We did flexion tests and he came up with a vague bob when his right fore was flexed, but moved perfect on the other three. We did two flexions in the hind after the front right and he trotted even so it was very slight and only when aggravated. When we tried him out Sunday I had poked around his front suspensories and he had twitched a little high on the right so I wasn't terribly surprised that he showed a slight positive on the right front. She was talking about xrays and nerve blocks or just doing a round of bute and retesting in a month or so.
We initially called the owner and said we'd be taking him back. The prospect of eye surgery was more than we wanted to invest ontop of his purchase price. She offered to drop $500 off the price right away and we politely declined. I told her we had sent in pictures and were waiting to hear back on a second opinion, but we were pretty sure he was going to be heading back North.
Needless to say we were not looking forward to a six or seven hour roundtrip to take him back. Chris and I did a lot of serious talking and hoping that the other vet would get back with us.
Since this pony was 100% for the lesson program we shifted to the business angle. How long would it take for him to earn back his cost? We had dropped the initial price from $2500 to $2300 already on account of his eyes being questionable. She was willing to knock off another $500, which would put him at $1800. At what price point could we potentially make back his costs and be even financially if it were a big issue?
I figured the eye issue wouldn't be more than $1500 to deal with, even if they completely removed his third eyelid on the left side. The eyes weren't bothering him and the tissue wasn't red and angry at all. I want to take the previous owner at her word about the flies and that the part on his actual eyeballs is just scar tissue and nothing too nefarious.
I called her back Tuesday evening and offered $1500. I don't think she even batted an eye. She admitted with the knowledge we shared she'd have a hard time moving him on at their original asking price and would rather see him in a place that sounded like they would get it taken care of and use him well than not. She will send us back the check and then I'll mail her a new one for the agreed upon price and there's that. We have another Haflinger pony. We're calling him McLintock after the John Wayne movie (Kelhan's favorite) or Mac for short.
During the vet exam he was extremely good and showed what a nice-natured pony he is, which can be hard to come by.
Yesterday morning after her regular lesson I had Susanne climb on him and give him a test ride for me. He was a little sticky here and there (really wanted to sniff all the new poop), but not at all phased by the new environment. His mouth was a bit noisy, but new bit plus teeth needing to be done makes it understandable. I wasn't quite going to throw Susanne on him in a bitless bridle since he has never been worked in one before, but we'll work up to that and see how it goes. Chewy's bridle and bit fit him pretty well. He moved well under Susanne and was not a runaway by any stretch of the imagination. I have a couple other students I can use to feel him out until I am ready to get back in the saddle, which is a nice place to be in.
Yesterday I got an email back from the other vet saying that the spots most likely won't vanish on their own and should be removed. Depending on the treatment chosen it would be between $750 and $1500 for all three spots done at once, right on the money.
Left eye
Right eye
Personally the spot that bothers me is the one on his third eyelid. Fortunately I envision it as being the easier one to treat as well since it can be removed without much ado to my understanding.
The current plan is to get his teeth taken care of and perhaps have a second (third) opinion from Chatham about the eyes. We will get it treated, but how soon is going to depend and since he's gone at least a year I don't suspect putting it off a few weeks or a month will hurt. The other vet said it could require a second treatment four weeks out so he could top out at $4500 in costs with purchase and treatment outside of his basic care, but hopefully he can earn that back in the coming year and then some.
Yesterday I dewormed him, which he was okay with once he realized he couldn't back out of it. It rained last night so I went from five lessons today to zero. We moved Mac into the spare stall Dave and Marty had. Once it dries out a little more we'll move him into the turnout and he can start getting acclimated to the herd. Cinnamon apparently thinks we've brought her a handsome man as she has been standing by his gate sniffing and squealing while lifting her tail.
We'll see what the weather looks like tomorrow and whether we'll have dry space to work. Saturday was already cleared out being Christmas Eve. There is also a 100% chance of rain Saturday so it is just as well!
By the way, Mac sports a pretty spiffy mustache.
Tuesday we took the little gelding to have a vet check. We used Roach because Chatham broke his hip last week. They went ahead and gave him a whole hip replacement and he thinks he'll be back to it after Christmas (I think he's pushing 80, tough old guy).
There was nothing major outside. She did think he had a lot of sand in his gut as it was making some swooshy noises and suggested an intense round of psyllium. She also thought he might have some ulcers because he was sensitive around the girth, but with as enthusiastically as she was poking around his girth area I don't blame him for being a little flinchy.
He had some hooks and will need his teeth done. She then looked at his eyes and went straight to suggesting squamous cell carcinoma. I explained the previous owner's story with the fly exposure and how the spots were supposedly much worse previously. After some reading I suspect he may have had the misfortune of having summer sores in his eyes (ulcers created by a stomach parasite that flies end up depositing in wounds, pretty nasty). Dr. Roach suggested sending pictures to another vet who does a lot of work with eyes. We took pictures and got the email from his office staff and sent them along.
We did flexion tests and he came up with a vague bob when his right fore was flexed, but moved perfect on the other three. We did two flexions in the hind after the front right and he trotted even so it was very slight and only when aggravated. When we tried him out Sunday I had poked around his front suspensories and he had twitched a little high on the right so I wasn't terribly surprised that he showed a slight positive on the right front. She was talking about xrays and nerve blocks or just doing a round of bute and retesting in a month or so.
We initially called the owner and said we'd be taking him back. The prospect of eye surgery was more than we wanted to invest ontop of his purchase price. She offered to drop $500 off the price right away and we politely declined. I told her we had sent in pictures and were waiting to hear back on a second opinion, but we were pretty sure he was going to be heading back North.
Needless to say we were not looking forward to a six or seven hour roundtrip to take him back. Chris and I did a lot of serious talking and hoping that the other vet would get back with us.
Since this pony was 100% for the lesson program we shifted to the business angle. How long would it take for him to earn back his cost? We had dropped the initial price from $2500 to $2300 already on account of his eyes being questionable. She was willing to knock off another $500, which would put him at $1800. At what price point could we potentially make back his costs and be even financially if it were a big issue?
I figured the eye issue wouldn't be more than $1500 to deal with, even if they completely removed his third eyelid on the left side. The eyes weren't bothering him and the tissue wasn't red and angry at all. I want to take the previous owner at her word about the flies and that the part on his actual eyeballs is just scar tissue and nothing too nefarious.
I called her back Tuesday evening and offered $1500. I don't think she even batted an eye. She admitted with the knowledge we shared she'd have a hard time moving him on at their original asking price and would rather see him in a place that sounded like they would get it taken care of and use him well than not. She will send us back the check and then I'll mail her a new one for the agreed upon price and there's that. We have another Haflinger pony. We're calling him McLintock after the John Wayne movie (Kelhan's favorite) or Mac for short.
During the vet exam he was extremely good and showed what a nice-natured pony he is, which can be hard to come by.
Yesterday morning after her regular lesson I had Susanne climb on him and give him a test ride for me. He was a little sticky here and there (really wanted to sniff all the new poop), but not at all phased by the new environment. His mouth was a bit noisy, but new bit plus teeth needing to be done makes it understandable. I wasn't quite going to throw Susanne on him in a bitless bridle since he has never been worked in one before, but we'll work up to that and see how it goes. Chewy's bridle and bit fit him pretty well. He moved well under Susanne and was not a runaway by any stretch of the imagination. I have a couple other students I can use to feel him out until I am ready to get back in the saddle, which is a nice place to be in.
Yesterday I got an email back from the other vet saying that the spots most likely won't vanish on their own and should be removed. Depending on the treatment chosen it would be between $750 and $1500 for all three spots done at once, right on the money.
Left eye
Right eye
Personally the spot that bothers me is the one on his third eyelid. Fortunately I envision it as being the easier one to treat as well since it can be removed without much ado to my understanding.
The current plan is to get his teeth taken care of and perhaps have a second (third) opinion from Chatham about the eyes. We will get it treated, but how soon is going to depend and since he's gone at least a year I don't suspect putting it off a few weeks or a month will hurt. The other vet said it could require a second treatment four weeks out so he could top out at $4500 in costs with purchase and treatment outside of his basic care, but hopefully he can earn that back in the coming year and then some.
Yesterday I dewormed him, which he was okay with once he realized he couldn't back out of it. It rained last night so I went from five lessons today to zero. We moved Mac into the spare stall Dave and Marty had. Once it dries out a little more we'll move him into the turnout and he can start getting acclimated to the herd. Cinnamon apparently thinks we've brought her a handsome man as she has been standing by his gate sniffing and squealing while lifting her tail.
We'll see what the weather looks like tomorrow and whether we'll have dry space to work. Saturday was already cleared out being Christmas Eve. There is also a 100% chance of rain Saturday so it is just as well!
By the way, Mac sports a pretty spiffy mustache.
