A Truby in Tucson: Truby Check Up!

Truby had a vet appointment Tuesday. Nothing major, just a couple of booster shots. Somehow I decided that an 11:30 - 1pm arrive window was a good idea. It wasn't. It was 109f, if you're wondering.

All the other horses were in their shady stalls in front of fans

Truby was sunbathing

I got to the barn in plenty of time to give Truby a good bath, and deep condition her tail. Even though the desert dust cleans up pretty easily, I wanted to give her a good scrub and wash off old sweat and help soothe any little bug bites she might have. She enjoyed it, and even let me rinse her face with the hose! That's a new thing she's only begun to let me do since moving to the new barn. I guess it's so hot she doesn't mind it so much.

She's so WHITE!

for the moment, anyway

The vet came right on time, which is great, because I was HOT and ready to go home. Or at least wallow in a water trough. Truby was a perfect pony for her exam and vaccines. We chatted a bit about how she was doing (great!) and got chastised for her being chubby. I had noticed over the last 6 weeks or so that she was bulking up, and had started to cut down on her grain and flaxseed. About 3 months ago I switched her to Triple Crown low starch, and I think that's part of the weight gain. I'm sure it's a better grain than the low starch I was feeding before. She wants to cut down on hay, but I reminded her of the ulcer history, and she agreed to try cutting just the grain first.

I love her practice - very devoted to gentle handling and making everything as positive an experience as possible for their patients. They do large and small animals. While I also love Cookie Doctor, Dr S is really my go to. Very experienced, constantly learning, very enthusiastic. The clinic holds a horse specific lecture once a month on varying topics, and they are fantastic! I've learned a ton. Next month's lecture is on ulcers with a guest speaker. Dr S made sure to remind me, and I'm looking forward to it!

I can't help it, I love to see her eat forage of any kind

YEAH! EAT THAT HAY
(this was right after she got hosed off, not a weird skin problem)

One of the past lectures was on travel safety. Pretty good, but sorta old news/common sense stuff. Great for newbies and a general refresher though. It's always good to review safety, right? As a special bonus, we all got coupons for half off microchipping. Wow! That's a great reward for attending an hour lecture!

At least I thought it was half off. Turns out, it was for a FREE microchip. We double checked the coupon, and then again with Dr S, since it's her practice, and yup, free microchip! Since horses get stolen/lost/let out in AZ all the damn time (seriously, it's scary) I was really happy to finally get her chipped. Plus with fires, sometimes the only thing to do is let livestock loose and hope for the best. Knock on wood nothing ever happens, but now we're a little better off if it does. Plus, free!

She was really pleased overall with Truby's health and her new home. She loved the barn and the set up. With big turnout areas and regular turnout being so uncommon out here, she's glad that Truby gets both. I had to give her a little tour (fitting, it's a little barn) and show everything off. "Here's the wash stall with hot and cold water! Here's the indoor/outdoor stalls! Here's the HUGE turnout! Here's a human bathroom!'There's the 1/4 mile on property trail!"

Flies are INSANE here right now. I've never seen anything like it. There's a literal carpet of living flies on the barn aisle, in the stalls, and the lower parts of the walls. Our barn is clean. It's cleaned at least twice a day, instead and out. The horses get fly sprayed. We have fly traps ALL over, and the barn aisle is treated once a week. I don't know. It's an Arizona thing, apparently.

Anyway, I told Dr S about Truby's itchy hives, and how her ostentatious fly sheet keeps the bites down enough to where she's not breaking out. I'm sure she's still getting some bites on her legs (homegirl does not tolerate fly wraps) but not enough to cause the reaction. I also had to show off Barn Owner's geldings, that wear special belly sheets, with a pouch for a snug fit around the sheath. She had never seen those before, raved about it, took pics, and showed her tech and ride along, too.

Stop showing off and put my fly sheet back on!

The only really bad thing was the discovery of a melanoma. A little tiny 1 cm bastard on her head. I had just assumed it was a bump. As careful as I am, I don't know why I didn't think it could be a melanoma. Good news is that it's tiny, we know it's there, and we can keep an eye on it. Dr S was confident that it didn't need to be removed or tested. She's pretty hardcore, so I trust her. This is the second melanoma Truby's had. The other 10 or so years ago. That did have to be removed, and was found to be benign. I suppose only 2 melanomas in 18 years isn't too bad for an old gray mare.

Can YOU spot it? It's tiny.

Our vet has an equine package, where you pay a sum up front and all your basic needs are covered for the rest of the year. Truby's includes her vaccines, fecal tests, a discount on dental work, and maybe something else. When the visit wrapped up, the tech told me that since I had the package, the only thing I needed to pay for was the coffee.

What?

The coffee. You know, everything was covered by the wellness package but the coffee.

The coffee? I asked dubiously.

Yup.

Then she broke it down, because I am clearly an idiot. You have to pay for us to come out and visit Truby. A FARM CALL FEE.

Omg, I about died. Might have been a little delirium from over heating, but we all got a good laugh, and I think I might have to give them a Christmas present of Starbucks giftcards this year. You know, to cover the coffee.