[Bonus Prompt 1] Vet Check

Come morning, Pigeon had long since run out of treats in his ball. He frantically paced the fence line, only stopping to shake his head, call out for anyone that might approach him, or to crib anxiously on the top fence board. By 5:30am, he’d started such a ruckus that even Dylan couldn’t sleep through it. 

Bleary eyed and with his shirt on backwards, Dylan stumbled down the steps into the kitchen where Evan and Dawson already sat. The smell of coffee hit the teen’s nose and became his first priority. 

“How long’s he been actin’ like that?” He asked, splashing coffee onto the counter when he overshot the mug. He grimaced, filled the cup, and wiped it up with his hand. The first piping hot sip burned on the way down, but helped wake him up enough to find a seat at the kitchen table. 

“Since around three or so,” Eva sighed. “I called the vet to come out and make sure he doesn’t have any underlying issues causing it, but I have a feeling he just needs time.” She sipped from her own mug, looking as tired as Dylan felt. Even Dawson had circles under his eyes. 

“A vet? For some noisiness?” 

“He needed a checkup anyway,” Dawson answered this time. “Normally we do it after they’ve settled, but,” another whinny interrupted him and Dawson raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘see?’, “He’s not settling.”

“He’s also shaking his head quite a bit, so his teeth need to be looked at,” Eva added. A defeated sigh fell from her lips when another whinny reached their ears. “Come on Dylan, let’s go take care of morning chores. Dawson said he’ll make breakfast for when we’re done.”

Morning chores seemed to take twice the time they normally took. Since Pigeon had to be cared for last as a quarantine horse, he only worked himself up into a bigger frenzy the more he saw them tending to the other horses. The calling grew less frequent once he could see his new people, but his pacing grew more erratic, his head shaking so frequent Dylan wondered if he would hurt his brain by doing it. When he voiced the concern to Eva, though, she rolled her eyes and told him to focus on his work. 

The sun was finally cresting the distant mountains when they got to Pigeon’s quarantine set up. The horse was covered in sweat, eyes whale-like and frantic. He’d formed the beginnings of a rut along the fenceline from his pacing and, from the looks of the top fence board, he’d been cribbing a good portion of the early morning, too. 

“I guess that treat ball didn’t last him very long,” Dylan sighed. He grabbed Pigeon’s food, opened the small gate to the paddock, ducked under the electric wire that ran along the top, and was immediately rushed by the horse as he shoved his face into his chest and inhaled deeply. For once, the horse didn’t seem like he cared about the food at all. “Hey there, bud,” Dylan said softly, patting his cheek. “Let’s get you some breakfast and I’ll hang out with you for a bit, okay? We got Doctor Elliot coming out to visit you, too.” 

Pigeon nickered softly, finally relaxing as he rested his head against Dylan with his eyes closed. Once the horse’s breathing calmed, Dylan pulled away to dump the food in his feed pan near the run-in. 

“You can stay here and muck his paddock out first,” Eva said, observing the scene with a contemplative look. The gears in her mind were turning, but she wasn’t sure they were finding a solution yet. “The vet texted a few minutes ago and he’ll be here shortly. Get his paddock cleaned, scrub his buckets, and make sure you sanitize the wheels on the wagon and your boots before you go dump the manure.” She sighed and resisted the urge to go into the pen with her farmhand. This horse was not going to be an easy one.

Doctor Elliot arrived shortly after Dylan finished cleaning out the pen, parking his truck near it and hopping out with his bag of gear.

“Morning, Dylan. New arrival?” He asked, taking in the quarantine sign before he joined Dylan in the paddock.

“Yea, he just got here yesterday. He’s having trouble settling in.” Dylan nodded to the rut from the pacing and the chewed up fence board. 

“I see. Well, let’s get a halter on him and take a look to see what we can find out.” 

As it turned out, Pigeon was a perfect gentleman for the vet. Through pokes, prods, squeezes, pats, and temperature checks, leg lifting and lights shining in his eyes, Pigeon barely moved or blinked. He was as happy as a lamb in spring now that he had some company. The only time he balked slightly was when the vet nudged a bad tooth. Eva joined them toward the end of the exam, having finished cleaning up from breakfast and making P.M. grain. 

“What’s the verdict?” She asked, crossing her arms over the fence, careful to avoid the strand of electric fencing on the inside.

“Well, good news is, he is very well behaved for exams,” Dr. Elliot said with a reassuring smile. 

“And the bad news?”

“Young Dylan here mentioned he was doing a bit of head shaking, and I think I found the cause.” The vet waved her over and opened Pigeon’s mouth to show her a rotted tooth in the back of his mouth. “That tooth there, in the back, is in pretty rough shape. It’s bad enough off to be painful to the touch and it’s likely infected. I’m going to go ahead and give him some antibiotics to clear it up, but you’ll need to have Clark out to do his teeth and get the tooth out. I’ll give him a call while I fill out his paperwork and see if he can squeeze him in today or tomorrow.”

“What about the pacing and stuff?” Dylan asked, stroking Pigeon’s neck. The sweat had dried now, leaving the hair crunchy and gross. 

“That could be a lot of different things,” Dr. Elliot sighed. “From what you told me, though, Pigeon is probably bored and dealing with a bit of separation anxiety.” 

“Horses can get that? I thought that was just dogs.”

Eva rolled her eyes at the teen. “Yes, Dylan, horses can get it, too. It’s not as common, but if you were left in a stall 23 hours a day, you’d probably get some separation anxiety, too.” 

Dylan’s cheeks flushed and he turned his focus back to Pigeon for a moment to hide them. “So how do we fix it?” He asked after a few moments. 

“First, get him taken care of medically,” the vet answered this time. “Then,” he looked at Dylan, meeting his eyes to make sure he was paying attention, “you give him a job. Keep him busy. Prove to him you are worthy of the trust it will take him to accept you’re coming back.” Dr. Elliot finished cleaning up his supplies and sprayed himself down with the can of Lysol by the gate. “I’ll have the bill in a moment. Let me just call Clark and get the paperwork sorted.”

“Thank you, Dr. Elliot,” Eva said with a grateful smile. When he was done she turned to Dylan. “Hear that, kid? You’ve got some work cut out for you.”

Dylan rolled his eyes. “Is there anywhere I can work with him while he’s still in quarantine? Does he really have to stay in this pen the whole time?”

Eva nodded, though her face revealed she felt bad about it. “He came from an auction house, Dyl, he could have picked up anything from strangles to EHV. It won’t do us any good to have an entire farm of sick animals.” Dylan started to look defeated, but Eva surprised him by continuing. “However, this paddock is plenty big enough for you to ride in. You’ll have to keep the equipment in this pen until he’s cleared medically, but I’ll allow it for this situation. Have Aubrey or Isabella coach you, though. I don’t want you trying to do anything you’re not ready for yet.”

The teen’s face lit up. “Hear that, Pige? I get to ride you, bud! I’ll come as soon as morning chores are done.” He started to wrap his arms around the horse’s neck to hug him, but, remembering he was in quarantine, thought better of it and settled for stroking his neck and giving him a few chin scratches. “Maybe we can do some jumping, too.”

“No jumping. He needs to see the dentist first and you can barely canter. Walk and trot only.” Eva’s expression didn’t leave any room for arguing so Dylan quickly nodded in agreement.

“Alright, alright. No jumping.”

Pigeon, happy to have a human around no matter what they were doing, didn’t seem like he minded what they did, so long as he got to spend time with them.