Jennifer tells me that we got some good news in the mail today. I had to take a Coggins test last week when the vet was here. A Coggins test isn't a written exam, though! It isn't even an oral exam! Nope, for a Coggins test the vet sticks a needle into you (ouch!) and pulls out some blood. He then sends it to a lab and they run this test. I don't know how they run the test - something to do with vials and machines and tubes and stuff. I'm sure it is interesting. But they won't let me in there to see it! I don't know why and I don't think that's fair.
Anyway, the Coggins test tests for a disease called Equine Infectious Anemia or EIA for short. This is a Bad Disease. If you get this Bad Disease your owners will probably put you down. See, there's this government thing called the USDA. They make all these rules about animals. And one rule is that if a horse has the Bad Disease, he has to live his life in isolation (over 200 yards away from all other horses), he goes to slaughter (!), or he gets put down. And horses normally get tested once per year. Although I don't remember when I was last tested.
Luckily this Bad Disease is pretty rare. So I wasn't worried. And Jennifer wasn't super worried... except since I'm not gaining weight, she keeps worrying something bad is wrong. So she was glad to get her little piece of paper that said I was negative for EIA.
Like I said, though, she keeps worrying that something is wrong because I'm not gaining weight. I keep telling her I'm fine. I just want more food! I am pretty sure I would gain weight if she just dumped a bag of feed into my stall a couple of times a day. I could eat non-stop!
She tells me that I can't eat nonstop as it would make me sick. She says that I'm getting 20 lbs of feed per day and that's a lot of feed and I should be gaining weight.
She has a soft spot for old guys like me. That means I can take advantage of her, give her sad looks, and she'll give me treats. It is really kind of funny to push her around that way. Do you think I should feel bad about that?
Oh, look! Here she's coming! I've got to hang my head and look sad or run around in circles so she'll give me a treat!
Begging for a treat,
Tex from Bluebonnet
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