Table of Contents
Table of Contents Chapter One: Vet School
Instructors
Prison and the Belligerent Cow
Smokeless Tobacco
The First Day
The Last Great Snowball Fight in College Station, Texas
Toxic Fire Alarm
Vet School
Chapter Two: Horse Feet The most common orthopedic problems in horses start with feet. This chapter is the beginning of the real meat of my book, outlining a typical day in vet practice, the symptoms of disease, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of our efforts. Most of the stories end with interesting twists that are the nature of equine specialty practice, the crazy people involved with horses and the reason I wrote this down. You can’t make this stuff up!
A Good Vet Could Fix This
Blocking
Delbert, the Cow Shoes and the King Ranch
Dove
First Call
If It Ain’t Broke
Nails, Some Hot, and Some “Not”
Sultan and the Abscess
Wooden Leg
Chapter Three: Foals One of the most endearing aspects of working with horses is babies (AKA foals) This chapter is part medicine, part physiology/pathology and some just plain fun stories about neonates.
Madison
Mares and Pregnancy: Timing, Hormones, and a Little Luck
Sarah
Sick Foal: Is he ill, or just napping?
When Do Foals Open Their Eyes
Chapter Four: Colic An acute abdominal crisis, (AKA colic) is the most common cause of death in horses and is the source of much wailing and gnashing of teeth among horse people. There is a large body of misinformation about this painful, potentially fatal malady. In this chapter I try to dispel some of the myths about equine colic, and relate some interesting anecdotes that prove to be more common than you’d think.
A Belly Ache and a Trailer Ride
Colic, Calcium, and Client Loyalty
Jade
Moe
She's gone! Colic and an Unusual Trailer Ride
Tiny
Chapter Five: The Nervous System Makes Me Nervous Neurology, the study of the nervous system is as fascinating as it is complicated. Most diseases of the equine nervous system share common symptoms, so it is not usually possible to make a quick diagnosis simply on presentation. This chapter gives an overview of common equine neurologic diseases, their diagnosis, treatment and prevention, and what happens when things go wrong. One of these diseases is transmissible from the horse to man!
Adventures in Field Anesthesia
Butch and Mr. Skunk
Elvis
Equine Herpes
Equine Pain Management
Head Trauma: Buddy and the Picnic Table
How to Breed a Mare with a Paralyzed Stallion
Lonesome
Rabies
Sleeping Sickness?
Teaching a Lesson
The Waltzing Horse?
Chapter Six: Boys and Girls Will Get Together The sex life of horses: more complicated than you think, and not without some “PG rated” tales.
Cut Willie
Mares and Pregnancy: A Miracle of Timing
Old Buck’s “Thing”
Stallion Hygiene
The Travelling Pregnant Mare
Train Wreck
Chapter Seven: Neoplasia, There’s no Nice Word for Cancer
Ed “Mom” and Intestinal Cancer
Gender Confusion and Ovarian Cancer
Sarcoids
Chapter Eight: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction This is a group of stories that didn’t fit anywhere else, but I find so intriguing that they should be included. The first three are about “Buddy” one of my personal horses, and how he “walked (not run) away from me” a few miles from camp. He gave me a lesson in riding a bucking horse on the beach and stopped just before he got to a wide-eyed camper under a blue tarp. “Milk maids; etc” is how Louis Pasteur accidentally discovered vaccines.
Buddy and the “Beach Camper”
Buddy
Dancer and Her “Fly Allergy”
It's Just a....Scratch
Milk Maids, Spoiled Wine and Dead Chickens
Never Trust a Sneaky Pony
She's Really Not My Horse
Strangles, Stress and Pigeon Fever Panic
Trailers: Happy Horse Van Lines
Training Tips
Training, Tendonitis, and a Tree-Climbing Toyota
