Sounds Like an Easy Job

When I graduated from Veterinary School, I had been prepared to treat sick and injured animals.  Veterinary students were not really trained to know how to run a business or deal with many other tasks which we would eventually be asked to perform.

Early in my veterinary career I was asked to be the official show veterinarian for the local Hunt Club’s big Spring Horse Show.  I thought it sounded like an easy job.  I had been out of school for three or four years and felt quite comfortable caring for the 100 or so horses being stabled in tents at the hunt club.  My predecessor for this position, Dr. B., had actually recommended me for the job, and I was gratified by his confidence in me.

In those days the show vet was occasionally called by the judge into the show ring.  The judge would want to verify if a particular horse was unsound during inspection while being jogged.  This examination took place after the class had been judged jumping over fences and winners had been placed.  The winners would be called into the ring and jogged for soundness before receiving their awards.

And so, in the first class on the first day of my first show as a ‘horse show vet’, I heard my name being called to report to the ring.  I quickly met the judge who told me he thought two of the six horses picked to win ribbons in this very big class looked unsound to him.  We had all six horses jog around the ring again and I told him the 2nd and 4th placed horses looked lame, and he said they were the ones he had thought were unsound.  This was a class of young riders and the two girls were very disappointed to be told they were excused.  The judge returned to his stand to continue judging and I had to exit the ring following the excused entries.

As I was passing the secretary’s stand the show secretary started yelling at me, “What the **** did you throw those two out for?”  Shocked to be screamed at by a show official, I next heard an equally loud voice yelling, “Mother, I’ll take care of this.”  Looking toward the voice I saw directly in my path a woman waiting for me, feet planted and hands on hips.  She was a local trainer and one of the best riders from our area.  It seems I had thrown out two of her students and their horses.  The challenging posture she had assumed as I approached her caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise up.  She put her face right up to mine and I’m sure it looked like scene from a major league baseball game with an argument between a manager and an umpire.  She said in a loud and forceful voice, “So you think those two horses are lame, huh?”  I knew my reply had to be just as forceful so I replied as confidently as I could, “Yes.  Yes, I do”.  To this the trainer said, “Well, then go fix them!”  We left the ring area and after examining the horses I found a foot abscess in one and the other was older and stiff with arthritis.  But I was quite surprised by this ‘easy job’ and what it could entail!

Over the years the procedure of calling the veterinarian into the ring was dropped and now judges may dismiss a horse without a vet inspection.  Most of the time being a horse show vet is a very quiet job of doing not much unless a horse gets injured.  My experience has taught me the necessity of knowing all the rules regarding drugs and their usage as well as the rules for measuring ponies (another area of many arguments).  The compensation for being a show vet is very minimal.  People seem to expect veterinarians to do these jobs for little or nothing.  Most of the shows benefit good charitable causes, though, and it is fun to be around your clients and the show horses you care for.

But it is also nice to be at home and with your family.  Balance is the secret to a happy and healthy life.  I think younger vets today are much smarter about this than I was.  And, today, like Dr. B. did, I often recommend my younger colleagues to be asked to be the show vet for events.  And the young veterinarian will enjoy seeing printed in the program, “Official Show Veterinarian: ………, DVM” and will take another step ahead in his or her career pathway.  And, it is a fun job.