Pregnancy and Passports

Today was a pretty busy day full of new things! It was the 2nd day of surgeries with the respiratory specialist who was here yesterday, but since there's another vet student from Glasgow here and she's watching the surgeries today, so I was on the road! I started the day by giving a mare that's been here a jag of oxytocin because we're trying to get her pregnant but she has some fluid in her uterus, so they're trying to flush it out. It seems to be working, and yesterday she was a real pain, but she seems to be improving since we're handling her more. Then I went out and did some dental work on a 3 year old. It was cool to see, and a good review since I saw all of those dentals on the donkeys in Spain. Then the vet that I was driving with needed to go to the dentist to have a tooth checked, so I went with her there. A minor detour, but I read a book about diagnostics in the car, so that was interesting. When we got back to the hospital we basically turned right around because an old pony needed to be PTS, so we went and did that. She was already laying flat out when we got there, so it wasn't particularly eventful in terms of learned how to PTS a horse, but she certainly wasn't doing to well so it was good that we could help her. Then we went back to the hospital, had a quick lunch, an then went out to do a microchip, vaccination, and a passport. Considering we were never really taught how to do them I think I filled mine in pretty well! The vet gave me a blank to practice with. It was kind of a long one because it was a skewbald horse, so there were a lot of white markings that we had to fill in, plus a lot of whorls. But he was a particularly cute and well behaved foal, very friendly and curious, and his mom was really chill so I got to practice listening to her heart, since its kind of hit or miss for me when I ca hear them. Hopefully I'll get better at that soon! I also forgot to mention a cool technique I learned about the other day. So there's a horse that has joint pain, and so they took some of his blood, spun it with these beads that trap inflammatory proteins, leaving the anti-inflammatory proteins in the serum. Then they take the serum off after they spin the sample, and then inject it into the painful joint and it should (in theory) help. I though that was pretty cool! Though I may not be explaining it right. Anywho I got off early today and got dropped at a train station closer to Glasgow, or at least the train stopped less, so I got home early for a change! I love working, but sometimes its nice to be home before 9.

Surgery day!

Today was a crazy busy day. We had 4 surgeries, and it was so freaking cool! First I helped clean out a trephining wound on one of the horses staying at the hospital. I've never actual seen a trephining wound that wasn't on a skull, so it was interesting to see. Trephining is when the horse has an infection or mucus buildup in their sinus, and since hoses have terrible anatomy it's hard for their sinuses to drain properly, so you drill a hole in their head to get the mucus out. This one seems to be from a bad tooth, and it was ok for a while but then I guess the skin over it wasn't healing so they're going to extract the tooth possibly and maybe do some sort of skin graft over it, but it's healing we'll and doesn't smell too bad and the bacterial culture came back looking good, so I guess we'll see!

Then the surgeon came in and we were ready to go! Except apparently he didn't like by he just had the word of the trainers to go on for what was getting done for these horses, so there was a lot of calling the vet who told then to come I. And owners and back and forth, so that took up some time. Apparently 2 of the horses had endoscopy done while running to see the extent of the damage done, but the surgeon who came in didn't have the video he didn't just want to go on the word of someone else, so we ended up doing endoscopy on all of them! It was so cool seeing real video of the epiglottis and vocal folds! I was like I actually know what I'm looking at! So the vet seemed satisfied, though he would have rather had the one done while they were running but what can you do. 

So then it was time to start the surgeries! So doing equine surgery is bananas! First you take them into a room that is completely padded, like a mental asylum. Then you put on a special head collar  that is completely covered in vet wrap and is padded so they don't injur themselves when they are rolled on the ground. Then you close the doors and lock them from the outside whole the vet and nurse give the anaesthesia, and when you hear the THUMP, you can open the door and the horse is on the floor. Then you duct tape their hooves so the dont mess up the padding on the room and hurt themselves. Then you get these canvas hobbles and put them on, front feet together and rear together and tighten them. Then you get in a giant hook that's attached to a track on the ceiling and hook it to the hobbles and hoist the horse into the air! I was amazed! The track leads right over the surgery table and so the horse is brought to the surgery table and then lowered down onto it, and you unhook it and rest it's front legs on some metal hooks. So now the horse is laying on its back with its legs up in the air like a bug. The surgeon turned to me and said so how many times have you been in surgery? And I was like umm this is my first time, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this!! It was so amazingly cool! 

So the surgery we did is to help these horses attain a better airflow when they are running, since they are racehorses and that's their job. It's called either the 4 in 1 or 3 in 1. We only did the 3, but still cool. So first you put a gag in the mouth and visualise the soft palate. Then, using hot irons you cauterise the soft palate as far back as you can see. The goal of this is that when it heals it will be tighter so it's less likely to displace and cause breathing problems. Then you make an incision slightly caudal to the jaw, fin midline, and go between the muscles and cut through tendons until you can see the intubation tube. Then you displace the soft palate so visualise the epiglottis. Then do a sub-epiglottal recession, which basically means that you cut away at the lingual part of the epiglottis so it doesn't lay so flat down against the soft palate. Then you find the vocal cords and stick this mace looking thing in a pocket behind them and twirl to expose the ventricle, which you then cut out. Then you cut off the vocal cord to complete it. And that's it! You don't need to close the wound, you just leave it as is. The surgeon even did it without gloves! So it was all pretty cool to see and it takes less time then it takes for me to explain it. The surgeon was really nice and very informative, though I'm sure I explained something wrong, but I need to investigate this more. Apparently only a handful of people actually do this surgery so I'm glad that I got to see it! I hope tomorrow I see something else interesting!

Dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle

Today was my first day of equine EMS! So I'm back in Lanark where I was at the beginning of the summer with the cows. So I got up at 6, headed to the train station, and did my normal routine to get there. For a second I forgot exactly which bus to get, but figured it out and a nice woman on the bus told the driver to stop in front of the vet again, so I didn't have to walk! So nice! So I got there and pretty much didn't nothing until like 230. So I sat and read through some anatomy in prep for the surgeries tomorrow and the next day. Then finally we got a call and we went to see about A foal that was lame. We think its an abscess in the foot, so the vet put a poultice on it and someone's going to check to see if any things improved. Then I thought I was going to get off early since there didn't seem to be much else for me to do, but I got grabbed for another case and we headed out. The problem was this Clydesdale had had a castration a while ago and then it got a seroma and it went away but now it's infected again, so there's been a series of visits and this horse isn't getting better. So we saw it and it was pussy and infected. So we have him more antibiotics and flushed or out with a hose. So it turned out to be a good day, got my animal fix for the day and now some cool surgeries to look forward to! Now to go home and review horse respiratory surgeries! Yay!

Adios burritos!

DessertToday was our last day with the donkeys! Yesterday we didn't do too much, mostly packed and then had dinner out in a restaurant in Fuente de piedra. During the day we learned how to make meds, they put them in little sandwiches! And how to do extra feeds. 

Today was mostly helped clean the larger paddocks. Then we made meds and extra feeds and headed to the camper to finish up packing and clean. Lucky for us one of the grooms here was heading into Malaga to pick up his in laws from the airport, so we got A free ride in! I thought they were going to just drop me at the airport and I could take a train in then get to the hotel, but they were really nice And dropped me at the train station. So I said bye to my friend and headed to the train station to figure out how to get to the hotel. I have A fair amount of stuff, so I thought about taking a cab but there were a ton of them but none of them were moving, so I said stuff it ill just walk. It was only 12 min but it felt so long with all my stuff. When I got to the hotel it turns out that we drove more or less right by it! On well, a little exercise I suppose! The rooms so nice and having a hot shower was amazing! Now I'm just chillin for a bit, don't have anything to do till later tonight, so just enjoying a soft bed and some tv, even though its all in Spanish! Ill probably explore a wee bit when the temp goes down :)

Dessert from last night, they were like

Mini maxibon pops!

Sevilla!

The Since we have 2 days off this week we decided to make the most of our location and to seville for a night! We planned it, loosely, and set off early early Friday morning. We got up at 6, had breakfast, and headed out to the bus stop to catch the bus to Antequera. We wanted to he early to ensure that we didn't miss the bus, and also we weren't 100% site when the bus was coming (there were no posted times) and if it would come at all (the buses are not that reliable here) so we waited at the bus stop anxiously, and it came! We were very excited, and so we were off to Antequera! Then we walked

To the train station where we caught a train to seville. It was a little hard getting the ticket, only because my Spanish is so poor, but we got it and all was well! After a quick train rise we were there! Then we walked to the hostel that I had found online that was cheap and had good reviews, and got a room for the night. After checking in we caught a cab to the real reason we came to seville, la Isla magica theme park! It was so much fun! And we had a discount card from the hostel so it was even less expensive! It was great, and there was hardly anyone there so we were able to do the park a few times over in just a few hours. There was a really fun roller coaster that I got my friend to ride, and now she loves it! Also there were a bunch of water rides, one where I got absolutely soaked. But in the hot seville sun I dried off quickly enough and it was nice to cool down a bit. We attempted to watch a pirate show, but as it was in Spanish and my pirate Spanish vocabulary is lacking, it didn't make much sense so we didn't  finish it. Around 6 we hopped in a taxi back to the hostel to shower and change to go out. Once I figured out how to use the hostel shower it was so nice to have a hot shower after 2 weeks of cold ones. When we were done we took a quick siesta and headed out for the evening. The guy at the desk suggested a few places for us to have tapas, so we went there. After going the wrong way numerous times, neither of us have a good sense of direction, we found it! We got a jug of sangria and a bunch of tapas to split. They were amazing, definitely the right choice. Then we headed back to the square near the hostel and had some gelato, which was amazing, and we enjoyed it with a glass of wine from a nearby restaurant. Since it was starting to get a bit chilly we moved to another bar where we sat outside and watched bullfighting on tv. It looked like some sort of championship or something so there was a lot of bullfighting. Not the best thing to watch, but it was interesting so see how it worked, not much of a fan of it though. Then most people were staring to leave the bar and we were pretty sleepy so we went back to the hostel and slept. The beds are amazing!

Today (sat) we had a nice lie in, well we slept until 8am. But since we've been getting up at 6 everyday to donkey alarm clocks it felt nice to have lots of time. We had a nice little breakfast, checked out. And headed out. But first we stopped and had some churros and chocolate, which was amazing. The guy at the window was really nice, giving us free samples and a different kind of churro on top. They were so rich though that we couldn't even finish them. Afterwards we wandered around and shopped. Everything's on sale here so it was pretty cheap, plus it was fun to just try on a bunch of stuff. Then we had a quick lunch of paella, which was really good, and headed back towards to hostel since we were mostly wandering aimlessly. In a big plaza there was a big church that was open, so we decided that since we had some time to kill we'd head in there. It was spectacular! We had no idea what we were in for. The walls were covered with intricate religious carvings that reached to the ceilings, it was amazing. A lot of Jesus looking sad, lots of crucifixes since it was very catholic, but it was a very impressive church, certainly worth the 3€ to get in. Plus then we feel like we did something moderately cultural while we were here! After that we headed back to the hostel, sat for a min and used the last of the free wifi we had, and took our stuff and got a cab to the train station. 

We arrived at the bus station, after walking up a giant hill in the hot hot sun, and waited for another anxious hour for the bus to arrive. Fortunately the bus came and we made it home in one piece! It's was a great little break from work. Then 2 more days with Los burritos and then 1 week of holiday on Spain!

The 'pool' at the hostel

Hot hot hot!

Today was a lot of the same. Poop, the ferrier came today but we were cleaning so we left him to his business. We finished a wee but early so we had a longer coffee than normal, but it was nice since it was so hot. Then we groomed a bunch of shaggy donkeys and mules. I'm getting better at getting them to trust me so that's good, but some

Just like to be shits. Then we went to the pool as usual and planned out days off. We're aiming to go to seville for the night, but who knows if the bus will come, so well see how this all plays out tomorrow! Also my phone broke for a hot sec, it overheated so I could only call out and I ran out of data so I was a little concerned, mostly for not having data for the trip in case we get lost or something. But putting it in the fridge helped and it works now! Like I said it was hot! Now to bed, we gotta get up early tomorrow!

Found out!

Today was a pretty normal day. Woke up, scooped poop, raked hay, did some general chores and had breakfast. The we went on a grooming mission, and I made a few friends along the way ie: donkeys that wanted me to keep brushing them. Then we got changed and headed into town to look into the tourism office so we could figure out how to get to Malaga and what to do for our day off coming up. Alas it was closed, so we headed to the train station to find out,

Only to find out that apparently no trains stop here? So that made no sense but whatever, we're trapped in this town of cats for the time being. So we went to the pool as usual. So the thing about he pool is that you're supposed to pay of you're not staying at the camp site, but the first day we were guests of someone who was so we said we were camping and didn't get charged by the lifeguard. But he hasn't asked for money since then, but he seems to be getting more and more suspicious that we aren't campers, also it probably didn't help thy we saw him at the 10th anniversary celebration. So he's probably thinking these damn tourists are gouging me out of my money! When really he just needs to ask, which he finally did today. So hopefully at water under he bridge now, we gladly paid to use the pool, plus we know the Internet Password so we get free Internet which is always a plus. Then we walked home, first stopping at the produce store where the guy knows us now, he's very friendly. And then we got a ride back into the sanctuary! So thy was pretty sweet timing. Then we showered, and I washed my clothes in the shower. Then made burritos and watched passport to Paris! Now we're just relaxing, probably go feed some donkeys in a bit and leave some food for tallulah!

Vet day

Today was super busy! We did the normal cleans in the morning, picking up poop and feeding. Then we cleaned up a bunch of hay and straw that had come off the truck that delivered the new bales, so that took and bit of time. Then we went around and did the treatments on some of the animals, we split it up so it would go quicker. Then we had a quick break or breakfast and the vet arrives. First we had to PTS a mule that had really gone downhill since we got here, and even since last night she looked worse. Poor girl but she looked terrible and there want much else we could do for her at that point so PTS was really the best thing. I've never seen a horse PTS so it was interesting to see the differences in how you go about everything with large animal. Then we did checks on some animals we

We're doing treatments on to see how they were coming along. All seemed to be doing really well, so that's good. Ten we took radiographs on a miles legs and I got to hold the cassette! It's amazing that the be basically has a x-ray machine in his car and they were all digital. It took a while to get all the views right since the horse kept moving and I wasn't sure of the angle he wanted when she would, but

Eventually we got them all. After that we saw the tail end of weighing, the weighed all the donkeys today, so that was interesting to see. Also nice that they keep such good track of how everyone is progressing. Then we went to the pool and now to chill a bit before dinner and sleep.

First week down!

It's the beginning of our second week here, crazy how fast time has gone! We had a lovely day off yesterday but today it was time to get back to work. We scooped poop in differs paddocks this time, also with the help of another employee so we were done very quickly this morning. Then we raked some more, getting really good at that, and helped clean the isolation paddocks. Then it was breakfast and we headed out again and elbows print and fold pamphlets. Then we brushed out some scraggly looking donkeys and were done for the day! So we headed to the pool, read a bit there, then went I the store to get groceries and came back, showered and had dinner. I have forgotten to mention that the showers here have no hot water so they're been really cold, but since we're usually so hot they feel nice. Other than that its pretty chill here. The donkey hat the vet saw last night seems to he doing really well, so hopefully she pulls through alight. But there was another donkey who didn't look so hot today, so well see how that goes in the next couple of days.

The vets half wolf dog

Day off

Today was our day off, and it could not have been better timed, but more on that later. We slept in. And by slept in I mean we were woken up by the donkeys at 645 but didn't get out of bed till 9. It was glorious! Then we had a quick wee breakfast and headed into town. On the way we saw some people we had met last night and had a chat with them and their 2 super cute Rottweilers and they told us we could come over any time. People here are so nice! Then we saw one of the workers here driving into town so we had a chat with him as well. Then we got to our first destination: the churro stand. We were told about this place by a volunteer from last week who had just found out abut it but had never gone so we decided we had to go! They were super delicious and only .35€ each! Unfortunately there was no hot chocolate

Dipping sauce since its so hot here, bit they were good just the same. Then we headed towards the lagoon that made this place popular, but first we stopped at the train station to see if we could get a train to Malaga in case someone couldn't give us a lift back in. Then we headed to the lagoon that this town is named after. It's a nature preserve here flamingos come to nest apparently so we hiked around to see them. Unfortunately the path to a viewing area was basically covered by nettles and weeds so we were blocked unless we wanted to get scraped up, which we didn't, but we saw some kind of close to the path and its ampretty area to see. Then we went to the visitor centre where there's another viewing deck and can see from above. The flamingos are still far away but it was a nice view of the whole lagoon. After our hike we were pretty sweaty so we went to the pool and chilled there for a while, with lots of sun screen. Then we came back so my friend could do some work and I just read a bit, really just relaxed in the caravan. Then we made dinner and went up to feed some donkeys scraps and check on one who was feeling ill. It was a good thing we did because the eat was there treating her! At first we

Thought she only spoken Spanish so I was trying to figure out what she was doing to this donkey, not easy. But then we found out that she speaks perfect English, so much so that my friend thought she was from England! So we chatted a bit about what she did, it's probably a colic case, so they have her vits and fluids and she kept peeing, so that was a good sign and started eating a bit when we left so maybe she'll pull through, we'll have to wait and see how she does. And now it's bed time so not much else we're doing at the moment.

So why it was good that we took today off. First we ran into the main woman here and she showed us a bruise on her boob where a donkey bit her! Then she told us that in the morning she walked into the caravan where we all meet up in the morning and this creeper guy was apparently asleep and naked on the couch, so that happened. All in all it was a nice day off, but back to work tomorrow!

10th anniversary

Before grooming 

After grooming

Today was the 10th anniversary of the RDB! We did our usual routine in the morning, then got to help with treatments in the afternoon and then brushed out some donkeys that sorely needed a good grooming. Then we went to the pool and layed out a bit. I made sure I had on LOTS of sunscreen since I got a bit burned yesterday, for which I got 2 scoldings today, so I know! Then we got back, showered, made some signs for the party and then headed to it! Super convenient since its where we're staying! There was flamenco dancing, a wee play, food, drinks, the works! It was pretty fun, plus we got to see some people from the community that we've seen or met so far so that was cool! Hopefully well see them

More now! We worked a little, sold some raffle tickets, and hopefully helped out. Then they let us just chill and have some wine and food. It was a great time! Now for bed since tomorrow is out day off and we're heading to the lake!

Preparing for the big day!

So we woke up this morning and got out of the caravan extra early because we were going to help with the dentist since he had a bunch more donkeys and mules to see to today. When we got there though the manager, who is no longer the manager, told us that we were to go about our regular routine then help with the teeth since that's what this new manager wants us to do. She was complaining about it, but as long as we're helping its no bother, plus teeth raspings get a big boring after a while. So we zipped through our chores and went to go do more teeth, which took a good part of the day. Though we saw some supernumery teeth so that was really co! It's unusual and the vet even ran out to get his camera, so that was fun! Then we helped set up for the big day tomorrow! Hanging signs and helping to move stuff. We finished up at 2 so we headed to the pool to chill and tan, though I'm fairly sure I got burned, but hopefully it won't hurt too much tomorrow! Then we went shopping for groceries and on the way back this couple stopped and we asking is about the REN because they were volunteering tomorrow, I think. It was all in Spanish and I think I understood most of it but it mostly worked, though my Spanish is very rusty. Now we're showering and having fajitas for dinner! 

Burritos and siestas!

Today was our first day at el refugio del burrito! We started work at 8, met up with everyone and went to work shoveling poop! So much donkey poop, but it's pretty much what I expected we' be doing so no biggie, work those muscles! Then we breaker for breakfast at 11, and back to work at 1130. We wnt to the supermarket to get some food for the day and then came back and worked till 1 when we took a cake break because it was the last day of a girl volunteering here and an employees bday is tomorrow so we were celebrating. Then we brushed a bunch of donkeys till 2, at which point we were done for the day! We couldn't believe it! So we went to the pool with the girl who was volunteering and sunbathed until siesta was over. Then we went and got some produce and now we're showering and gonna have dinner in a wee bit. Though we got some pizza and just realised that we have no oven so that should be interesting! The vet comes tomorrow so

Maybe a bit longer day, and we just found out that we get 2 days off, possibly per week, so we might try to plan a wee tip somewhere!

Don't look a gift donkey in the mouth

Today was a full day! No more relaxation! At least for today, though everyone kept asking us why we weren't at the pool! We got up to the usual sounds of donkeys making crazy noise at precisely 6:45 like clockwork, and headed to the main caravan to find out our work schedule. Same as before, lots of poop shoveling and getting hay and straw for everyone. There was a bunch of extra cleaning so it took us till 11 to finish it all. We stopped briefly for breakfast, then went back out again to do some chores. We weeded a bit because they want to get the place looking nice sine sat is the 10th anniversary of the RDB so they're having a big party which sounds like lots of fun! So we're trying to make everything look nice. When we were going to take up a bunch of hay and straw, super fun, we found out that the dentist was here so we got to go see him work! It was really fun, we saw a donkey with really bad shear mouth so that was cool, and mostly saw some routine raspings. The donkeys were really good for their treatments, surprisingly so, and he's coming back tomorrow to finish the rest of them since we only had a few hours today. After all of that we finished at 5, and are quite tired! It's hot again today bit with a substantial wind so not as bad as yesterday and we figured out how to work the stove so we'll make some pasta tonight and probably head to town tomorrow. It's nice having a long day but we are tired! Now to chill and probably go to bed a bit early since we're gonna see the dentist at 7:30 tomorrow morning!

Muy caliente!

Today was hot! It started out well enough but soon picked up with a vengeance! We did the same thing as yesterday, went around with our wheelbarrow and shovelled poop! But this time we also got to feed them and had more pens assigned to us, so it filled up the morning well! We had some time after before our morning break so we helped pull weeds, he glamorous life of vet students. Then we broke for breakfast at 11, where we promptly put on more sun cream and snaked and then helped with some more weeding. Then the ferrier came! So we watched him fix a bunch of hooves. Some were really bad but some were good and we helped a bit with one particularly difficult one but mostly watched. Then the vet came and he was supposed to do a castration but it's too hot and they ate beforehand so we couldn't since he likes to do them fully sedated and not just standing. But we went around and did some standing sedation for some donkeys and miles that needed the ferrier, and the vet checked a few animals that had problems. One mule has a foreign body in his eye! So it was cool when he yanked it out. Once the vet was done one of the workers told us it was 1:30 and there wasn't much to do, so we could fanny about doing something or just be finished for the day. We picked the latter as its so hot and there really isn't much to do. So we came home and had a wee lunch and a much needed shower! Then I had a nice siesta and we hung out a bit more in our caravan before heading into town to have dinner. When we

Got there though we found out thatthe restaraunt   that we wanted to go to wasn't open till 730 so we sat at a bar and had some soda to beat the heat while we waited, and they gave us some free chips so that was good too! Then we went to dinner and it was really good! A lot of food and some amazing sangria and had a lovely time chilling outside and trying to use out limited Spanish, but I feel like we got by pretty well! We'll have to practice more with the people here who maybe won't judge us so much! Anywho it's almost

10 so well probably rinse off and head to bed!

Made it to Malaga!

We made it! After an Uneventful flight and an hourish long car drive we are at el refugio del burrito! The caravan is super cute and i think this will be a very pleasant experience! The donkeys even welcomed is with a couple hee-haws when we got here!

Spain bound!

I'm currently sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Spain!! I'm pretty early but as it was a train ride to get here I'm glad that I have time to kill rather than being rushed, so that's good. Plus when I got her my boarding pass fell down behind the counter and they had to basically disassemble the conveyer belt to get to it, and I got pulled out of security for a bunch of checks, so it's good to have more time! Now I'm just chilling waiting for the flight! Can't wait to leave the rains of Glasgow for the sun of Spain! Plus till he nice to have to work to do, too much free time makes me bored! I'll try to post if I can but I have limited 3G and I'm pretty sure there's no wifi so we shall see!