Travellin' Max

Friends of Max will not be surprised to hear that his trip to Newbury to see the vet went without a hitch today. My boy did me proud, again.

I arrived at the yard early to make a fuss, give him a brush, pick burrs out of his forelock, and attend to his undercarriage cleansing, maybe for the last time. Well, not the very last, because even if the surgery works like a dream, sheath cleaning is still one of the things you do with geldings - but ideally a couple of times a year, not a couple of times a day.

I had a quiet chat with Max, explained again what was about to happen, and that he shouldn't be scared, and I needed him to trust me, walk right up the ramp into the lorry, and I'd stay with him for the ride if he wanted me to.

When I had a little cry at his box door, he left his hay and came over and offered me his nose to kiss. It was only a little cry, after all - I wasn't wailing or anything silly like that.

Ent came along to see us off, and ended up loading Max himself while I stood in the horsebox offering a carrot. Max had just been standing having a stare at the box, but when I stepped forward so he could see me, he came up the ramp with no hesitation. It helped that the Ent was so calm, too; no worries about any anxiety travelling down the lead rope while the Ent is holding the other end of it.

Was Max happy? No, he definitely wasn't, but he remained calm. No fussing, no struggling and no calling out. He stayed quiet, he stayed still, and he took his pony nut treats when I clicked and offered. He didn't touch the haynet I had for him though.

As he looked a bit stressed and scared, I opted for staying in the back with him, and stood the whole way to Newbury, my hand on his withers, singing, talking, watchful. A few times Max raised his nose to the open window and had a good sniff. The only time he had a mini freak-out was when a gang of bikers roared past with loads of noise. I sang Kookaburra, Max's ears twitched back to me, and he settled down again. Never to fully "chilled out Max" settled, but definitely settled enough for me to not worry about him.

He arrived in a slight sweat on his neck. He paused at the top of the ramp to survey this new place, but when I asked him to walk on after his gaze, he did, and followed me round the corner to where the boxes were. There he stopped, head high, and bellowed out one long neigh. He was answered immediately by Another Horse.

"See Max? You've already got a friend."

Took him to his box (deep shavings, water and haynet awaiting) straight in, no drama.

Left him to it while I signed consent form and left his passport and an A4 sheet entitled "Max Quirks" which I'd written the night before (yes, they'll laugh at me, but I don't care) and I kissed my boy goodbye, said "God Bless, kitten" and walked away.

I have been discouraged from going to visit him tomorrow. I have not yet decided if I'm going to take that advice or not.

Photo is Max in his temporary accommodation. I think he's asking for someone to call his solicitor.

PS I mentioned to Max, as we were driving along, that if all the people who were thinking of us, sending positive thoughts and love especially to Max were physically standing in the horsebox with us instead of metaphorically, we wouldn't have room to budge. Thanks to you all - we both really appreciate it.