There was a brief time when I worked for another practice and honestly, the boss and I didn’t get along. One of the favorite things he would do was to send employees he didn’t like out to do things that were not in our scope of being an equine practitioner.

It was a hot summer day in upstate New York and in the lazy afternoon heat of the practice vehicle I had fallen asleep. That was OK because I was 30 minutes early for the appointment I had been assigned. The snickers from my fellow employees had not distracted me from what had looked like an easy afternoon.

I was in such a deep sleep that I could have been in another world. I had parked across the street from a two story red brick colonial house in an upscale community. There was no evidence of any farming. Not even a vegetable patch let alone a fence for animals. I had been asked to trim the toes of a pot bellied pig and I had checked the address several times to be sure I was in the right place.

I was surprised by the owner just returning from work in the city. She woke me from my depths of sleep with a smart wave and brilliant smile. She was dressed in a bright red patterned skirt, a white fluffy blouse, stockinged legs, and smooth black high heels. Sparkling jewelry accented her arms and neck and her hair and make up had not weathered from her day at the office. She did not look like the usual “barn girl” I see every day.

Continue reading The Equine Practice Rounds – My Turn to Trim the Toes, by Geoff Tucker, DVM →