Today the equine dentist arrived.  I had everyone all ready.

And gave them a pep talk mentioning good behaviour, and that I would be there, etc.  This was the first time the ponies had met our equine dentist, Stuart Lindsay, or had anyone look in their mouths.

First up was Waffle – I thought I would break the dentist in gently.  Waffle, though not thrilled, was a good boy.

The others were around and watching, which we felt was important, so they could see and hear the drills and dental gag.

Then it was Tiddles’ turn, who completely let the side down.  He reared and looked like a little chess piece, managing to make a fuss about everything.  Stuart worked with what he had and didn’t give up. We then discussed sedation for the next visit (oh, the shame).

Albie next – and, again, not great.  Maybe it is a skewbald pony thing.  He’s another candidate for sedation.

Silver objected right at the start and I thought “here we go”.

And then he settled down.  Although jumpy, he wasn’t as bad as the previous two.

I did lots of hanging on, scratching backs and saying encouraging/calming things to try and distract.  It seemed to work.

And lastly there was Newt who actually again wasn’t bad – not quite as good as Waffle, but definitely better than Silver.

I won’t lie, I expected better but it could’ve been a lot worse.  No one had any horrors in their mouths, just a few sharp bits and no one is a worry, which makes a change.  A huge thank you to Stuart Lindsay, Equine Dentist.