A big day for a small lad

Today was a BIG day for Tama.  Poor boy, it's the first time he's ever met a vet before and she takes his testicles away with her.

 There was also plenty of derogatory comments flying around about the small size and funny shape of his testicles, but luckily he was too doped up to hear them.  (I believe her actual words were "Well ya wouldn't be getting the ladies too excited with those things my boy"). 

A rather undignified pose, but it gets the job done

In all seriousness it was actually lucky that he was able to be gelded at all, as one of the testes hadn't properly descended yet.  Took quite a bit of time and extra shots of sedative to entice it out but we got there in the end.

We also checked his teeth while he was under, and while I'd originally guessed his age at about nine months, the vet thinks he's a bit younger than that.  I see the DOC website states that Kaimanawas usually foal between September and March, with most born in November, so I'm now thinking he's probably closer to seven months than nine.

The bonus is that he has to have antibiotic powder twice a day, which means he gets hard feed twice a day!  So perhaps soon he'll forgive me for my part in all this.

Just like a big kid

Today was the most beautiful sunny and settled day we've had in months.  We took all three-and-a-bit horses (Honey is round as a barrel and definitely feeling pregnant!) on a walk down the driveway to stand in the shed for a groom.

Tama is leading so nicely now and learning how to overcome his own 'roadblocks' like narrow gateways and changes in footing.   I had to keep reminding myself to watch his body language and give him breaks - it's easy to forget he's not just like the other horses.

He stood quietly eating his hay while I groomed him (almost) all over, and picked up all his feet.

He'll probably be a far better kids pony than Hokey Pokey will, he's just so stoic and unconcerned about everything.  Several times today Hokey Pokey got bored and kicked up a fuss about nothing in particular, acting all startled, and Tama didn't even bother to raise his head from the hay pile.