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View Full Version : Vicarious veterinary education


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......