Retired horse - end of the road?

lostinrates

Have you watched him eat? Tried him with different textures can be interesting. We tend to be pretty shoddy about teeth IMO, (or use them as an excuse).

Dentists rarely agree, IME. (they are also one of the first jobs to be ditched when money gets tight.)

If your guy's teeth were done last week do you think he's showing any sign at all of putting on condition? i know its early days.

FWIW, I take digitialor phone photos of mine regularly (usually fortnightly/three weekly). I find I see in pictures what my eye misses, or becomes used to.

re boundaries: not a critism, I wonder if its not natural for some people. If you can live with it then its noones business but yours. Keep smiling.

GotToChange

I am going to bring in and feed shortly; I will watch him eat tonight.
I can see no difference in his condition (yet) - what will usually happen now is that the lack of 24 hour access to grass (however sub-standard the quality) will result in him dropping weight/tone and the bucket feeds (of chop/alfalfa/veteran mix/barley rings and sugar beet) and hay and haylage won't make up for it no matter what I do.

I could cry.

BitterAndTwisted

I probably wouldn't bother bringing up the vet's visit with the son/your friend at the moment. I can see quite clearly how you have come to feel victimised and used by this wretched farmer and bringing it up with him might not get the answer you know you want: it's just possible that you might not be understood properly and risk alienating the one person who sounds like they are on your side, albeit with one hand tied behind their back.

Any luck with finding a new place for horsey? Some fantastic suggestions were made earlier. I'm thinking specifically about the poster who found somewhere themself by asking anywhere and everywhere, no matter how unlikely. Sorry, I've forgotten your name, poster.

lostinrates

gottochange, I pmed you some ideas. (only nbecause you mentioned befor you'd like my input, otherwise would not have been so rude/cheeky: but I do think you can cut costs/condition more easily. ). They are quite sketchy, and if you like the sound of any of them let me know, we can work out something more specific.

I just rally want to repeat that you are doing just fine, and here is a good place to vent, so don't feel bad about that. Only YOU know wht is right for YOU and the ideal situation is nonexistant (even when you own your own place it can be hard to get things right. ).

trudij

If you are going to let a "dentist" loose on your horses teeth, make sure they are BAEDT accredited - at least then you know they have gone through the BEVA training,done the hours and have sat the exams to know what they are doing. Most of the old school dentists who dont think they need to get the qualification seem to forget that horses have a lot of teeth further back than they can go without a gag - and that you CANNOT see the back of a horses mouth properly without one. I work for one of the BAEDT examiners - he was the first vet who qualified as a dental tec - one of our other vets also sat the exam before they started getting windy about vets coming along and doing it (dont forget too - if you have a vet do it, they can administer sedatives/painkillers (if needed) and also remove teeth (which is classed as surgery - so no layperson can legally do it other than wolf teeth!!!)

http://www.baedt.com/ if you wanted to have a look (sorry Ive taken this off topic a bit - but teeth and people slagging vets off (not that anyone has here!!) and claiming that their farrier/mate/dentist does a better job really grates when I know that a lot of them quite simply dont !!!! )

As for your mate getting the vet out - Id be cross, but hopefully he meant well by it - Id take him paying as a sign that hes feeling bad about things and wants to help you if he can - its hard for sons to stand up to their parents,whatever age they all are !!

HUG

GotToChange

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I probably wouldn't bother bringing up the vet's visit with the son/your friend at the moment. I can see quite clearly how you have come to feel victimised and used by this wretched farmer and bringing it up with him might not get the answer you know you want: it's just possible that you might not be understood properly and risk alienating the one person who sounds like they are on your side, albeit with one hand tied behind their back.

Any luck with finding a new place for horsey? Some fantastic suggestions were made earlier. I'm thinking specifically about the poster who found somewhere themself by asking anywhere and everywhere, no matter how unlikely. Sorry, I've forgotten your name, poster.

BitterAndTwisted . thank you. You're right, it would probably go wrong if I was to try to broach the subject of the vet's visit. I am sure that it was well-intentioned but sometimes he gets it wrong and that comes largley from being put in the middle by both me and his own father; both of whom should know better.

We have just been talking about the farm and all the issues for over two hours; part of my anger comes from seeing my friend be pushed around in the way that he is (e.g. his Dad is staying away all night and will head off out again tomorrow afternoon overnight and away all day Saturday - leaving him to look after everything, as well as a full-time job 8:00 to 4:00). It is not his choice and it isn't fair. I know that my presence doesn't help matters but he needs someone to talk to.

It is true that the boundaries of all the relationships have become blurred - the expectation today that I check on the horses and take the dog out still grates. When he found out that I couldn't/wouldn't, he grumbled "it'll only take five minutes" and said that he will always take the dog with him now - but that wasn't the problem. I shouldn't even be at home or in the village during the day - I hate the assumptions that are made and the reaction that I get when I can't toe the line. Bonkers.

x

GotToChange

trudij wrote: »

If you are going to let a "dentist" loose on your horses teeth, make sure they are BAEDT accredited - at least then you know they have gone through the BEVA training,done the hours and have sat the exams to know what they are doing. Most of the old school dentists who dont think they need to get the qualification seem to forget that horses have a lot of teeth further back than they can go without a gag - and that you CANNOT see the back of a horses mouth properly without one. I work for one of the BAEDT examiners - he was the first vet who qualified as a dental tec - one of our other vets also sat the exam before they started getting windy about vets coming along and doing it (dont forget too - if you have a vet do it, they can administer sedatives/painkillers (if needed) and also remove teeth (which is classed as surgery - so no layperson can legally do it other than wolf teeth!!!)

http://www.baedt.com/ if you wanted to have a look (sorry Ive taken this off topic a bit - but teeth and people slagging vets off (not that anyone has here!!) and claiming that their farrier/mate/dentist does a better job really grates when I know that a lot of them quite simply dont !!!! )

As for your mate getting the vet out - Id be cross, but hopefully he meant well by it - Id take him paying as a sign that hes feeling bad about things and wants to help you if he can - its hard for sons to stand up to their parents,whatever age they all are !!

HUG

Wow - trudi thank you. I feel a little confused now. I am not sure if the dentist is registered but am equally worried about the suggestion that the vet may not have enough dental knowledge to say that he needed his teeth doing. I can't see any signs of problems but am now worried that the hay or haylage might be presenting some difficulty; only because it isn't all getting eaten, not that he chews it and spits it out.

Thank you again for the info advice and hug, I shall do more research.
x

lostinrates

It can b confuing, gottochange. Possibly the best solution is a vet who has taken the additional veterinary dental study, if available. Ther are very, very good non-vt dentists, and some vets who aren't that hot on teeth! In an ideal world it would be easier. Most of us have to go with the best we have.

orlao

Hi GottoChange

Glad to hear you and your boy are doing ok.

It is completely up to you about what you do.....all we are doing is giving advice but none of us are living your life and you have to do what you feel is best....it's all too easy to say what we think you should do from the safety of our PC screens!

Cheeky s*ds though, not telling you that they got the vet out even if it was with the best of intentions:eek:. Regards his teeth, some old horses can't have that much done even by the best dentist as there teeth are loose so can't be rasped properly.....in those circs I've always used a hay/hayledge replacer which is soaked so no chewing required....they are often the horses who are fine on Dr Green but struggle to keep condition through the winter. Have a look at Simple Systems food, if you ring them they are very helpful.

http://www.simplesystem.co.uk/index.asp

trudij

How are things going now???