A visit to the vet (Lottii)

[Cara]

After arriving back from the auction, Cara pulled her vehicle up by the Equine Clinic. She jumped out of the Jeep and walked around to the float. "Hey baby." She whispered as she opened the jockey door and came face to face with the curious colt. "I'll just let down the back." She left the colt and walked around to the back of the float where she carefully lowered the ramp before walking up, untying the Vanner's rope, turning him around and walking him out of the float. She knew that sooner or later he'd need to learn to back out, but since he was only a baby it was just as easier to turn him and lead him.

Walking the skewbald into the clinic, she wondered if she should have called ahead to make sure that Dr Harman wasn't already busy. She knew the rules though and this little guy needed to be gelded so that he could go and join the other horses. And if theory was correct, he would be easier to handle as he got bigger once he was a gelding. "Dr Harman?" She spoke up softly as she entered the large barn.

[Lottii]

A slip of a smile spread across Matt's face as he heard a vehicle pull up. Paperwork was a necessary part of being a vet, but by far the most boring. He prefered doing routine vaccinations to filling out sheet after sheet of paper. He put the papers away into their folder, then tucked that into the filing cabinet behind him. As he stood up to leave his office, he hesitated. His office joined the clinic on one side and a small corridor led to the stabling on the other side. Hearing Cara's voice, he turned and followed the sound.

"Good afternoon, Cara. Who is this young guy?" Matt smiled as he observed the horse. The colt had a stunning skewbald pelt and the vet guessed he was between six and ten months old. As the colt wasn't gelded, he took a guess that would be what Cara was wanting, and probably vaccinations too. Matt rubbed the horse's nose gently and glanced up at Cara. What age to geld at was a controversial thing, but reasonably any time after six months was what Matt stuck to. If the individual horse wasn't dictacting a time for gelding by causing trouble or being overly interested in mares, it usually depended on the owner's requirements of where the horse was being stabled.

[Cara]

Cara looked up as the vet walked out. "This is Two By Two, or Noah." She replied. "He's ten months old." She rubbed his pretty nose as he stretched it out toward the vet, taking in his smell. "Stand." She said softly as the colt tried to walk forward. She shook her head as she gave a little more slack in the rope as the Vanner kept pulling at the rope. She needed to train him, but him being halter shy from pulling so hard he hurt himself, wasn't going to help with the training. "If you have the time, would you please be able to geld him." She chewed at her lip. "I'm guessing that his vaccines would be up to date as the gentleman selling him was very knowledgeable, but truth be told, I wouldn't know. He has been recently wormed though."

She checked the colt once more and asked him to return to her side - which he did with only a little hesitation - and she rubbed his his forehead to reward his good behaviour.

[Lottii]

"Hello Noah, you're a cutie, aren't you." His eyes watched the equine as he spoke but he flashed a smile at Cara. Ten months old, he noted down the fact mentally but his attention was caught by how Cara was dealing with the foal trying to walk forwards. Matt was always interested in the way she worked with horses, they shared the same calm approach but Cara knew much more than he did about alternative therapies and it was something he would love to learn. His thoughts started to turn to one of the mares in the barn who was extremely head shy, wondering how Cara would treat it.

Cara starting to speak again snapped his attention back and Matt listened. "Sure. He'll need a tetanus vaccine first, and if your not sure if he's up to date we can also work out what other vaccines you'd like him to have." Matt paused, mentally compiling a list of vaccines he would recommend. The horse was old enough to have the flu and tetanus vaccines, and because of the size of the yards at the college and the number of horses coming and going, a strangles vaccine could be given as well. "I can give you a worm count kit if you'd like, too. Would you rather have him under local anaesthetic or general? If you think he would be okay with local anaesthetic then I can do it now, otherwise I would have to wait until the small animal vet is around to be on standby." Matt personally prefered castrating with the horse under local anaesthetic, although there was a slightly higher risk of complications afterwards, general anaesthetic had a 1% mortality rate. He knew some equine vets who preferred general though. He busied himself finding the vaccines he would need from the cupboard whilst he waited for Cara's response.

[Cara]

Cara ran her hands over the skewbald's face and ears as she listened to the vet. "Thank you, Sir." She said. "But I won't need a worm count kit. I'll give him another dose of wormer in a week if he shows any signs of being infected." She'd been in that situation before, where she'd purchased a horse that the owner had said had been just wormed and they were invested by them.

She looked up at the vet and then back to the colt who had his forehead pressed against the girl's arm. "A local will be fine, Sir." She replied. "He doesn't exactly seem high-strung. I actually feel guilty for having him gelded." She gave a small sigh and shrugged. She knew all the pros and cons to having colts gelded and it was much better to do so before the testosterone came through at two years.

[Lottii]

Matt nodded, satisfied with Cara's reasoning for declining the worm count. He classed it as part of his duty to offer it, but he wouldn't force it upon anyone. After all, her reasons were valid, and he agreed with her. Worms wouldn't spread very easily across the campus even if the colt was infection, the horses were turned out with the same equines in small groups or singularly. He watched the pretty colt, who seemed to already be seeking comfort from Cara.

"Sure. I don't doubt your aware of the reasons for and against gelding Cara, but I agree he seems like a lovely little fellow as he is. If he maintained that attitude, he would most likely develop into a well-rounded sensible stallion under your care. But he could just as well change as he realizes he's a male." Matt finished speaking, rubbing his hands against his trousers. He busied himself getting the things he would need ready, setting everything up in preparation on the counter at the side of the room. "Whenever your ready..." he said softly.

ooc: Do you want to finish this after your reply?