The vet stopped by today...

...with good news and bad news.

Good news - his teeth are all grown out and are spick & span perfect, they didn't even need to be floated

Minor bad news - he's a leetle overweight right now, that's what good quality hay gets you ;)

Less minor bad news - he's been diagnosed with hypersensitive airways/allergies :( The past few weeks he's seemed more and more irritated in his airways, sometimes coughing. No mucus, no fever or other signs of infection, so I've given it a little time to see if it passed by itself. Didn't.

He's already on shavings, our hay is very good quality, we only sweep the aisle and drop down straw/hay from the hay loft when the horses are out, but it's not enough, he has to move to a stall with better air circulation, sooner rather than later.

At least the timing is pretty good, two boarders are moving out October 1st, so there's a little more leeway with stalls right now than there ordinarily would be (existing boarders can chose which stalls they want before new boarders come in). I've been able to secure a stall for him in the opposite end of the barn, far away from the indoor grooming area and the trap door to the hay loft (the two main dust-producers). It's a large, airy stall with a Dutch door, so he'll have more room and lots of fresh air. It's cooler in that end, but not draughty. The stall hasn't been used lately and needs a little fixing up before he can move in, which we're planning to do in the weekend and then move him. For now I've moved him to a temporarily empty stall with a window he can stick his head out of. It's in the same area his old new stall is in, so probably not good enough for him to stay in, but at least it's better with the window until he can move permanently.

There are 2 stalls facing each other in the end he'll be moving to. The other one needs more thorough renovation, but it's supposed to be ready for a new boarder by November 1st. Unfortunately, he'll be pretty isolated down there until then, as the feed room lies between that section and the rest of the stalls, but at least he can stick his head over the door and see the others, and of course he'll be turned out with them during the day. The vet made it very clear not to wait before moving him, so he'll just have to deal...