Crown Prince (22 page)

After they had driven a few miles, Jack asked, “I think Rita lives somewhere around here, doesn't she?”

“We just went by the driveway that leads to their place,” Kayla said. “Her father bought the Mansfield estate and named it Pyramid Farm. It's on a hill, so there's a great view of the ocean, and you should see the barn! It's got a chandelier in the entryway.”

“Rita invited some of us from the barn to a pool party she had last summer,” Sarah said, “so we got to see the place. The house is a mansion. It has pillars in front like a Southern plantation. I couldn't believe all the turnout paddocks they have for Rita's horses. I'm surprised they don't have an indoor.”

“That will be next.” Kayla said. “Rita told me there's one in the works. There are trails that lead down the hill to the far end of the beach, but she's not allowed to go down there. She said the trails are rough and rocky in places, and her father is afraid she'll get hurt.”

“He might be worrying about that valuable horse as well,” Jack said.

“There's no shortage of horses for Rita to ride,” Sarah said. “She still has Ajax, her Appaloosa. He was her first horse. There's also a horse her father bought for himself, but Rita says only she rides him—I think his name is Bittersweet. And she still has Sunday Best, the pony she showed as a kid, and who knows how many other horses. She will never have to worry about a horse to ride. And there is plenty of space for all of them in that humungous barn.”

“Does she go to your high school?” Jack asked.

“No,” Kayla replied. “She goes to the private school in Winchester. She told me her father bought her that Mustang for her ‘commute.'”

“I think 'twould be best if you girls remember that lots of horses and a convertible don't always equal happiness,” Jack said firmly. Sarah and Kayla looked at each other.

The countryside became slightly rolling as they continued to the vet clinic, passing a number of fields with horses turned out. Sarah noticed that Prince was looking out his side window. Jack slowed for a sharp curve before putting on his blinker for the turn into the clinic. He followed the sign to the parking area for horse trailers in the back. When the truck rolled to a stop, Sarah and Kayla immediately hopped out and went to the trailer. From the hay strewn on the trailer floor, Sarah knew Prince had been relaxed enough on the ride to eat some from the net, an improvement over his trip to Brookmeade from the racetrack.

Jack disappeared into the office to announce their arrival. He returned a few minutes later. “‘Tis lucky we're their first appointment of the day. We won't have long to wait, and you can take him right in.”

Once Prince was off the trailer, Kayla held him so Sarah could remove his shipping boots. She tossed them into the back of the trailer. He seemed a little nervous, taking in this new place. He arched his neck and tugged against the shank as Sarah led him toward the entrance to the long building, with Jack and Kayla following. When an overhead door clattered open, he snorted and pulled back. Sarah was able to halt him as a woman with short blonde hair stepped outside to greet them.

“Hi, I'm Dr. Jenson, the new veterinarian here, and I'll be assisting Dr. Reynolds this morning.” She smiled at Sarah and pointed to another doorway. “You can bring him right into the examining room. Dr. Reynolds should be right along.”

Prince hesitated before stepping onto the rubber mats in the large room, surveying the veterinary stocks in the center of the space. A pungent medicinal smell pervaded the area that was made bright and warm by overhead lighting. No wonder Prince was tense! Sarah clucked to him, and this time he followed her inside.

Dr. Jenson came closer to look at the plate on his halter. “Oh my, he's by Emperor's Gold! That horse is a legend in his time, both as a racehorse and a stallion. I remember when he won the Triple Crown.”

Sarah felt a surge of pride in her horse. “Crown Prince never raced,” she said.

“Lucky horse,” the veterinarian said. “Avoiding the racetrack is a great advantage for a Thoroughbred pointed to another career. Training and racing at the track is stressful on young Thoroughbreds, and those lucky enough to never race have far fewer soundness problems later on.”

Jack introduced himself and extended his hand to Dr. Jenson. “We suspect the action of the bit on his large wolf tooth was painful, because he was unruly under tack, to be sure. But as we've seen since Sarah got the horse a few days ago, so far he's been well-behaved at the farm.”

“You could be right on the money about the wolf tooth,” the veterinarian said. “A bit hitting that tooth would be extremely painful.”

Prince tossed his head and pawed the floor. He seemed too nervous to stand quietly, so Sarah circled him in one end of the large room. When she stroked his neck, he felt warm and damp.

“I'm going to give him a sedative to help him relax,” Dr. Jenson said, as she approached carrying a syringe. “We need him to stand quietly for the radiograph. Please hold his head steady and cup his left eye, so he can't see what I'm doing back here.”

Sarah reached up to put her hand behind Prince's eye. “Like this?” she asked, and Dr. Jenson nodded. The vet swabbed an area with alcohol. She quickly inserted the needle and depressed the syringe with an action so smooth Prince seemed not to notice.

Next she went to a side cabinet and came back with a lead-plated apron that she handed to Sarah. “You'll probably be close to your horse when the X-ray films are taken, so we want you to wear this.”

Moments later Dr. Reynolds entered pushing a mobile X-ray machine. “Hi, Jack, Sarah,” he said. The veterinarian had been to the Romano barn many times to take care of their horses and administer routine shots, and he immediately recognized Kayla. “How's my favorite Quarter Horse doing these days?” he asked.

“Fanny's great,” Kayla said, grinning. “We're going to a show this weekend.”

“Good for you,” Dr. Reynolds said, as he walked over to look closely at Crown Prince. The sedative had already begun to take effect, and the horse stood quietly with his head lowered slightly. Dr. Reynolds turned and pointed to the stocks with metal railings just wide enough for a horse to walk between. “Let's put our guest of honor in there so we can take a few pictures of that wolf tooth to check out the roots. It will be a close fit for a horse his size, but he should manage okay. Actually, we had a Clydesdale in there last week. Just lead him in from the back, and once he's inside, we'll close the bars, front and back.”

Prince awkwardly followed Sarah between the rails, his steps slow and shuffling. With the bars in place, he wouldn't be able to move in any direction while they worked on him. Sarah stood in front of her horse, holding the shank and stroking him as she talked in a low soothing voice. Dr. Reynolds slowly pushed the X-ray machine close to the horse's head.

“We really need him to be immobile for this, Sarah. Hold his head steady and don't let him move.” The sedative had relaxed Prince so that now his eyes were partly closed and his lower lip drooped. Dr. Reynolds maneuvered the machine to take plates from various angles. Finally he wheeled the X-ray machine to the back wall where there was a special screen for viewing the pictures once they were developed.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Part One” was over. While the others gathered to watch Dr. Reynolds develop the films, she stayed with her horse. He was motionless, with his head resting on her shoulder. Sarah stroked the white star on his forehead and ran her fingers through his forelock while she watched Dr. Reynolds from a distance. One by one the vet removed the moist plates from the machine and clipped them to the illuminated screen. There before their eyes were the images of the horse's jaw, showing his teeth and their roots below the gum line.

Kayla gasped when she saw the immense weirdly shaped tooth that grew at a different angle from the other teeth on the screen. Of course this was the wolf tooth. She quickly went to Sarah. “I'll hold Prince. Go and see the X-ray films!”

“It looks like we're in luck,” Dr. Reynolds said. “For such a large tooth, it appears the roots are of normal size. They can vary a lot from horse to horse. Sometimes wolf teeth have small crowns with long roots. In this case the crown is extremely large, but the roots are average.” He pointed to one of the radiographs. “From this angle, we can see the root clearly. I don't anticipate any problem pulling that tooth out of there.” Sarah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was good news indeed. She looked back at Kayla and gave her a thumbs-up.

Dr. Reynolds showed another picture. “And we can see here, there is no sign of a wolf tooth on the other side of his mouth. Sometimes they're ‘blind,' lying under the gum, but the X-ray film shows that in this case there's nothing there. Good news. So let's get on with it.”

Both veterinarians used the side sink to scrub their hands and put on surgical gloves. When Dr. Jenson was ready, she went to Prince's head and put an equine speculum in place to hold his mouth open. In his sleepy state, Prince did not object, and he gave no resistance when she injected a numbing agent into his jaw in several places around the tooth.

“He won't feel a thing,” Dr. Jenson reassured them. “We'll wait a few minutes to make sure the lidocaine anesthetic has taken effect.” She reached inside his mouth and ran two fingers between his cheek and gum line. “Once the area of the wolf tooth has healed, you should have his teeth floated with a rasp so he'll be able to chew his food properly. He has some sharp edges on his molars.”

All Sarah knew about horse tooth-care was the little she could remember from an article she'd read a long time ago. “How often will he need his teeth floated?” Sarah asked.

“Once a year, if he chews normally,” Dr. Jenson said. “It's a good idea to have your vet or horse dentist check his mouth every six months or so.”

Sarah stood stroking her horse. Prince seemed like a gentle giant, so vulnerable and helpless, with his head hung low and his eyes nearly closed.

Dr. Reynolds approached with a tool he used to dig around the tooth's gums to loosen the tooth and separate it from the gum line. Jack came closer to watch the procedure carefully. Then Dr. Reynolds picked up a second tool that reminded Sarah of her father's pliers, but bigger. As Dr. Jenson held Crown Prince's head firmly, Dr. Reynolds carefully placed the tool around the tooth, and when he had a good purchase, pulled hard. The tooth didn't budge from the horse's jawbone.

Sarah wanted to close her eyes and not have to deal with what was happening, but she knew Prince needed her. He continued to stand quietly, not reacting to the procedure taking place.

“This is going to take a bit of muscle power,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Hold him tight—here we go again.” This time he pulled with all his strength, and the large grotesque tooth finally slid out of the horse's jaw. Dr. Jenson was ready with sterilized gauze pads that she pressed into the gaping hole inside Prince's mouth for a few minutes to minimize the initial bleeding.

“Incredible!” Dr. Reynolds exclaimed. “Unless this tooth has some sentimental value to you, Sarah, I'd like to keep it. I've never seen a wolf tooth anywhere near this size, and I'd like to show it to some of my colleagues. I know they'll find it pretty remarkable.”

“Sure,” Sarah said. “I'm just glad it's out. I really never need to see it again.”

Dr. Reynolds placed the tooth on a nearby cabinet. “Let's get him out of the stocks and into a stall,” he said. “The sedative should wear off before long, and you'll be able to trailer him home.” He removed the front bar so Sarah could lead Prince out of the stocks. “Dr. Jenson will show you a stall.”

Sarah smiled at the veterinarian. “Thanks so much,” she said.

“I'm happy we could do something to turn this fellow around. He's too nice a horse to fall by the wayside. You'll have to go easy with his feed for awhile, though. I expect his gum line will fill in quickly, since the roots on that tooth weren't excessively deep, but he's to have no hay for a few days. Dr. Jenson will talk to you more about this, and how to rinse his mouth. I'm coming to Brookmeade on Saturday and will take a look at him then.”

Sarah clucked to her sleepy horse and tugged gently with the lead shank. Jack tapped his hindquarters, and Prince walked slowly out of the stocks. They followed Dr. Jenson from the examining room to an area of box stalls in the back of the hospital. She opened the door of the first one, an airy stall lightly bedded with clean shavings, and Sarah led her horse inside. Prince showed no interest in his new surroundings, but stood quietly with his feet wide apart and his head hanging low.

“Let's leave him alone for a bit,” Dr. Jenson said. “It will give us a chance to talk about aftercare.”

Sarah removed Prince's lead shank and reluctantly joined the others near the stall. When she looked back, Prince hadn't moved.

“Because the root area wasn't deep or wide, this should heal pretty quickly,” Dr. Jenson said. “Usually horses can keep right on eating hay and wear a bridle after wolf teeth are pulled, but because that tooth was so enormous, we want to be careful. What you can do to speed up the healing process is squirt a saline solution into that area a few times a day. I'll give you a syringe to use, and we'll practice it once before you go. To make it, just mix two tablespoons of salt with a quart of water.”

“What should we feed him?” Sarah asked.

“Like Dr. Reynolds said, don't feed him hay for a day or so. It's stemmy and might cause some bleeding in the area. He'll miss his hay, but roughage will only irritate the opening. Instead of his regular grain, you need to soak complete feed pellets in water, along with some beet pulp, to make a mash that won't require much chewing. Without hay, he can have a few quarts of that mash several times a day. He's a big horse, and needs his groceries. If there are any problems, call Dr. Reynolds or me.”