46zilzal
09-27-2007, 12:50 PM
Being at the gate each week, I have had the pleasure of starting a good friendship with a very experienced member of the American Association of Equine Practitioner's. Dr. O has been very generous in his tutelage of equine anatomy and locomotion as I believe he has found a kindred spirit in my being ALMOST as interested as he is.
Every time there is a late scratch or breakdown, he comes over to chat with me about it. I have been particularly impressed with his simple, thorough and concise explanations of the late scratches. I have the luxury of watching the tapes the next day to observe the findings he keyed me to. It makes post parade observation take on a new variation. One a Saturday morning recently, he even invited me to view necropsy photos of animals requiring euthanasia and we shared theories on joint pathology and having a very informative interchange of ideas as I related my experiences with human joint pathology. It has opened a completely new aspect of enjoyment to my understanding of the entire game.
The one thing that is clear, whenever you see any animal away from the field in warm-ups, walking back and forth, always look for the track vet. The actual area used for observation must vary at each track, but he usually gets a suspicion about a horse in the paddock and then sees if he 'warms out of the soreness' on post parade. Many times too, the rider picks it up before he can (last week a good sprinter named Celt was definitely off in his right rear and the rider clued him into it prompting a late scratch). It is very informative to see the signs right as they evolve with complete explanations on the spot.
One's education in this game is NEVER over......
Every time there is a late scratch or breakdown, he comes over to chat with me about it. I have been particularly impressed with his simple, thorough and concise explanations of the late scratches. I have the luxury of watching the tapes the next day to observe the findings he keyed me to. It makes post parade observation take on a new variation. One a Saturday morning recently, he even invited me to view necropsy photos of animals requiring euthanasia and we shared theories on joint pathology and having a very informative interchange of ideas as I related my experiences with human joint pathology. It has opened a completely new aspect of enjoyment to my understanding of the entire game.
The one thing that is clear, whenever you see any animal away from the field in warm-ups, walking back and forth, always look for the track vet. The actual area used for observation must vary at each track, but he usually gets a suspicion about a horse in the paddock and then sees if he 'warms out of the soreness' on post parade. Many times too, the rider picks it up before he can (last week a good sprinter named Celt was definitely off in his right rear and the rider clued him into it prompting a late scratch). It is very informative to see the signs right as they evolve with complete explanations on the spot.
One's education in this game is NEVER over......