#Soundbites - How much do you rely on veterinarians’ input for day-to-day decisions?
/By Bill Heller
Mark Hennig
I wouldn’t say I rely on them on a day-to-day basis. We evaluate horses after a workout. But day to day, there seems to be a horse we want to look at. If a rider has any kind of negative comment, we make a point of going over those horses at the end of the morning. And we also go over the previous day's workers. We do have vets if there is a soundness issue or a horse needs scoping.
Tim Hills
I’m married to a vet, Laine, so I very much respect their opinions. I’m not old-school. They only get a vet when the horse is near death.
Ron Moquett
Very little after what I’ve seen over the years. When I first started, the vets and blacksmiths weren’t allowed on the track until after the break. I use them for preventive stuff, taking care of the joints, because we’re asking these horses to do strenuous things. Other than that, I don’t rely on them at all.
Bret Calhoun
We use them when things get beyond our control—things like X-rays, ultrasound, scoping, things like that. Obviously we depend on them quite a bit for that. As far as day to day, we know our horses better than them. We see them every day. When there’s a change in them, obviously I bring them [vets] in for consultation. We use them for routine stuff like Lasix medications. Other than that, we don’t use them that much.
Mike Maker
Basically, we use a veterinarian as far as illness and lameness, and that’s about it.
Cliff Sise Jr.
I go over the horses myself pretty good. But sometimes a veterinarian’s suggestions are good, too. We have to rely on them in California. They check them for workouts; they check them for races. So we rely on a good vet.
Mark Glatt
How much do I rely on them? Because of the rules now, the veterinarians are heavily involved. Most of these horses are checked twice a week.
Eoin Harty
It all depends. You might go through a period where you only have a vet come to scope or vaccinate a horse. Then you go through a rash of bad luck, and you might have a veterinarian come for seven, eight days in a row. But the more experience you have, the less you rely on veterinarians. You see so much over the years. You can’t buy that education.