Ed's ball

For those of you who don't know, the UBF's name is Ed. Or Edward if he is misbehaving breaking buckets and pulling the water over himself. I don't know how we came up with Ed, it just kinda suited him. The name on his passport is Yukon BV which seemed so distant and impersonal for a foal with so much feeling. 

After Ed's castration - cue the jokes about Ed's balls, Ed Balls being a prominent member of the Labour party in the UK. It just so happens that Ed really loves playing with balls too. Encouraging him to move more I put a gym ball in his field and he adored it. 

He cantered, he bucked, he leapt on top of it, he threw it in the air with his teeth and chased after it like a dog. It was beautiful to watch and the movement meant the wound where his own balls used to be, healed perfectly.

Enjoy. Click on link below - I'm too thick to be able to to put the video directly here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ7PPuws8dY

Recovery #2

I've never had to have a horse castrated before, I've never had a horse so young. All the male horses in my life have come to me as geldings and I never gave it much thought to when they were castrated and the personalities they had as colts. I felt awful having the UBF done, although of course I knew it was necessary. I felt terrible he had to go through another operation in the short time he has been with me, more pain, more drugs and more washing of places that are sore.

He was a fabulous patient. He allowed me to wash the wound between his legs. Twice a day I lead him around the farm to keep him moving so that the wound would stay open and could drain. He learnt to have fly spray on him and was gracious enough to let me massage oils into his skin to aid the healing. I was still cleaning the wound on his jaw which was taking a long time to heal. Everyday I loaded his breakfast and dinner with antibiotics and painkillers which he struggled to eat even when heavily disguised with apple juice. So many things to worry about.

I took pictures of his willy daily and sent them to the vet to let her know how swollen it was. I worried the flies would cause an infection. I worried he wasn't moving enough. I worried he spilt most of his food containing the drugs he needed. I worried he saw me as a negative thing in his life - with all the aftercare I was imposing on him.

But all that worry was unfounded, as it usually is. The UBF recovered like a champ.

And everyone breathed a little sigh of relief that there was no longer a stallion on the yard.

Castration day

He managed to delay the removal of his testicles three times before it was actually done. The first two appointments were scuppered by rain. It was a fairly pathetic drizzle and I felt amused that the vet wouldn't do the operation in such inclement weather - living here in Spain, nothing is done when it rains.The streets are quiet and appointments cancelled as we all marvel and comment on the deluge. To be honest, when it does finally rain here in Mallorca it usually really gushes, pelts, lashes down.

The vet postponed the castration for valid reasons, nothing to do with not wanting to get wet. For when the horse comes round after the sedative, lying down in the field, he could panic and slip when trying to get back on his feet.

The third time I had to cancel the operation due to the UBF pulling a muscle in his neck. Well, I think that's what he did, he couldn't reach the ground to graze but this was quickly remedied with an anti-inflammatory and his hay tied high so he could eat. It did look very alarming though, and after a quick Google I'd convinced myself that he had a spinal cord injury and nothing but a bullet would suffice. I worry. A lot. Of course the next day he was fine.

On the actual day his balls came off the weather was perfect, the UBF was feeling well and the vets were on time. Everything was explained to me and I signed forms in case of injury, death and intestines popping out of the wound - at least I think that's what the vet said, I'm still learning Spanish at snail-like speed. The UBF was sedated very heavily and he crashed to the ground with both vets controlling his fall - the rest of the operation I won't go into, I can imagine some of you crossing your legs already. I covered his eye from the sun and sat on his neck until the sedation started to wear off.

I now had a gelding. 

Worms

I'm pretty fastidious about worms and trying to prevent them. Every day, twice a day I clear the UBF's little paddock of his poo and pile it high in the corner - so that it rots down and becomes useful for growing vegetables and the like. I clear the poo to prevent the UBF grazing near his own faeces which will more than likely contain worm eggs. It also looks nicer too, a clean field, and I'm a little pedantic about that.

I didn't give the UBF a worming paste when he arrived due to his operation and all the drugs he needed to take to recover. I imagined his tummy was a little sore and his body overwhelmed with painkillers and antibiotics so I thought I'd wait a while.

The 2 enormous white roundworms I found in his shit yesterday had me running for the Equimax quicker than a quick thing - keen to get the tube of paste down his throat and rid his tiny body of any infestation. I won't post a picture (of course I took one!) to save any of you squeamish folk a trip to the bathroom.

Worms are gross. The pus coming out of his jaw as he heals, is gross. And soon he is to be castrated which will entail all sorts of grossness. I bet you can't wait for the next instalment.

Good job he's cute.