Kim:
You are absolutely correct to research the subject of sedating your old
friend (as you should with anything that is to be done to him).

I recently had my old guy worked on by the dentist (who is a licensed vet
doing exclusively dental work). It took a fairly hefty dose to sedate him
followed by two more doses during the procedure (he is a Swedish Warmblood
and has a "determined" streak<g>). He had a lot of work to be done and it
took a long time.

The scary part for me was after the third dose he broke out in little welts
over his entire body. You could watch it coming up. It looked like a waffle
weave fabric! Needless to say my heart was racing. As I watched all this the
vet kept assuring me that she wasn't worried and it would be okay. Turned
out, she was right. Turned out, I now have a few more gray hairs<vbg>and my
horse now has the distinction of having the most expensive set of pearlies
in the barn.....I think only equine dentures might have cost more!!

I haven't had any trouble when sedating him for anything else either but one
can never be too careful!!! If you make a mistake there aren't too many
second chances!!

Good luck and let us all know what you decide (and the outcome).
Carla