I spent two and a half hours out at the barn with the vet. the procedure itself was over quickly but we had some electrical issues and it took time and a lot of back and forth before we finally used an outlet in the mp room to feed the cauterizing thing.
chevy is already awake and up on his feet and nosing his hay, his freezing is still in and he has had a big dose of long acting pain meds for when it wears off. I have to say it was not as bloody and barbaric as I expected, it was neat, tidy and quickly efficient, less trauma for him than I thought there would be and I think he did really well with it all.
we also lightly sedated ellie and gave her feet a really good trim. she is getting up there in age now, she has arthritis so her feet need to be in as good a shape as they can be. she too has been up, had some treats and is now wrapped up in warm wool blankets while the sedation fully wears off.
it is probably not a great idea because I have not eaten anything yet today..but I am having a big hot chocolate and baileys. we all survived a shitty thing and I guess we now just move onwards today.