All Vetted

I had our trailer all cleaned out yesterday before we confirmed the vet appointment and I realized we'd need it this morning.  So I figured I'd be out there with the bucket, shovel and hose again this afternoon, because the first thing the four-foots do when they get in is christen the trailer - lol!  But as it turned out the trailer the guys used to haul the horses out west was still sitting out at J's.  It needed to be dropped back off at M's place which is right over near Eric's where we were picking up Amyra and Thunder, so new plan. 

Two birds with one stone, we'd drive out to J's and hook up to M's trailer, head to the farm and collect Sunny and Rufus, then to Eric's for Amyra and Thunder, and then to the vet's. 

The trailer's a 24" stock, longer, but not quite as tall as ours, and with no front tack, but nice a roomy especially for not-too-long ponies like ours.  Sunny and Rufus could both stand crosswise without bending their necks.

Four on board

Thunder started snorting and bobbing his head at me when I got to his stall.  He seemed happy to see me, but happier to be outside as we walked to the trailer.  Eric says once he got past the whole nervous anxiety thing, he's been lovely to work with.  He's still watchful and kind of wary in the barn aisle - eight years of outside living doesn't make adapting to a stalled environment easy, even when the stall is spacious and the barn is nice and light. 

We decided to load Amyra, the lone mare, in last since if someone was going to kick it chances favored her - or Sunny and he was already in the spot next to the mid-gate - getting annoyed at Thunder for sniffing at her. Thunder took a minute to sniff the strange trailer, then stepped on like a champ, but Amyra out-did him, bailing right in like she's been loading daily for years instead of once - today - in the past year.

At the vet's we pulled up in the not-too-terribly-wide alley between the clinic and the storage units next door.  The clinic's located on a busy road, and to make things even more interesting, the power company is retrenching or something equally loud requiring heavy equipment next to the road in front.  So no shortage of noise and traffic, it's just about reached freezing, and the wind is picking up by the minute.  Fun, fun, fun.

But in spite of our running a bit late, they were able to get to us right away, so we got everybody unloaded and lined up in a row of sacrificial victims along the trailer.

Rufus, Sunny's ears, &Thunder's back
(Amyra's beyond Thunder)

 Rufus and Sunny didn't flinch at getting poked, and Amyra stood like a rock for her draw and her rabies shot.  Thunder was good too, for him.  I requested the female vet for his sake - not great with strange men - and he'd been stellar for her when she did his rabies shot earlier this year.

He wasn't quite as copacetic this time, but we accomplished his draw with only one pull back, and it didn't involve the needle.  He actually spooked at the clipboard when she was drawing in his markings for the health papers.  I untied him for the draw, and although he danced a few steps when the needle went in, he stood for the draw itself just fine. 

In around half an hour, including time to chat, we were loading them back up again - this time in reverse order.  Thunder and Amyra in first and then Rufus and Sunny.  We dropped the last ones in off at the farm 

"Really, that's all you wanted us for?"

and then swung back out to Eric's to return Amyra and Thunder.  I was really glad to get the trailer left off at M's and head home - that wind is getting nasty!

We'll have the blood test results back in a couple of days, and one more moving hurdle ticked off the list.