Jack vs The Health Care System

We have found out some more about Jack - notably that he is closer to 40 years of age rather than thirty. He assures me he doesn't feel a day over twenty. He is becoming more and more spry and shows off his paces in the paddock when he is feeling particularly skittish. Exhausts me just watching him. All that running can't be good for anyone.

Yesterday the vet came to check out his skin condition and he rushed to the gate to greet her - he's very much a people person. When she got up next to him he got a whiff of vet smell and high-tailed it into the trees. He was lured out with Stud Muffins and she had a close look at his patchy, scaly skin. He has a cream the woman is to put on every day and may have pills to take if that doesn't work. Getting pills into him may prove interesting. The vet suggested he be wormed again and cleverly gave him a whole stud muffin before trying to sneak the syringe into his mouth. He grabbed the treat but then galloped off, the woman waterskiing behind him until she had to let go because he had achieved such high speed. A forty year old donkey knows something about people shedding tactics. He was captured with the bribe of another treat and this time the wormer actually made it into his mouth. Now he had both treat and dreaded wormer in there at once. What to do, what to do. He stood, thinking hard, lips pursed. while he weighed the options. Unable to eject such a tasty morsel (it contravenes his food policies), he manfully swallowed the lot. Then he galloped off, kicking up his heels.

"My boy", he said, "always check what's in their hands. If it's sharp or tubular, it's time to get out of Dodge. Vets is nothin but a passel of trouble. One whiff of em and you gotta hit the dusty trail. Jest remember to grab the food first." He makes a lot of sense.