In January of 1994, I had a wonderful opportunity to have a temporary (foaling season only) position in a very prestigious equine clinic in Lexington, KY. Hagyard-Davidson-McGee is located right across from the Kentucky Horse Park and is well known for providing top of the line 24 hours a day equine care. I was a KY licensed veterinary technologist at the time but wanted the experience more than I needed to make money...I worked for $6.00 an hour. I had no money when I got there and, four months later, I left with no money but had the time of my life!
This is how you give an enema to a foal at 2am when you have no one to help you.
Sick foal.
This is what happens to your butt when you have really terrible diarrhea!
We had a separate barn for isolation...respiratory cases, diarrhea cases, strangles and salmonella cases had separate sections within isolation...behind closed doors. The stalls were mucked three times a day...every shift. They had a motorized muck system used on dairy farms. The muck was transported underground and out to a dumptruck outside the building. There were three muck systems...isolation, neonatal ICU, and the general barn. I never got a picture of the dump truck but someone had to climb up there as it was running and spread everything around. They only used straw in stalls...no sawdust...so you could bounce pretty high when stomping on the stuff. It was fun!
You can see the square opening on the lower right where you mucked the contents out and into the hole in the shedrow. You also had to suit up, glove up, and wear plastic booties to enter any of the stalls. Each had their own outfit, thermometer, stethoscope, etc.
Custom made Miniature Horse trailer.
The majority of horses we saw were in the racing industry...they had to be to be able to afford to the bill! We did see quite a few Miniature Horses though. I liked them because you could carry the foals around easily and it doesn't hurt as much when the kick you.
Me getting a kiss from a foal valued at $1,000,000!
Angular limb deformity (windswept).
My friend, Anne, holding a foal for a blood transfusion.
Foal on a ventilator because of botulism.
Equine protozoal myelitis case.
Me tube feeding a dummy foal.
I rented a spare bedroom from one of HDM's laboratory technicians so was able to live close to the clinic. The first night I moved in...it snowed. When I woke up, the snow was so deep that I couldn't get my car out. My roommate had been out of town so I was there alone with her cat. I hadn't gone to the grocery yet so there were slim pickings for food. I was stuck that way for a couple of days. I finally dug out my car and got someone to tow me to the street. From there, I very slowly drove to work. No one could get there either so, when I got there, I worked as much as possible for the next two days. Alternating with another technician, I would sleep on a couch they had in a spare room. The weather was bad that year...soon after came the ice storm and the whole thing happened again!
I enjoyed being a minority while working in the horse industry. The majority of people working as assistants and barn help come from other countries. My best friend, Anne, was from New Zealand and I also made friends with people from Ireland, England, Australia, and France. We had a great time going to the races at Keeneland, parties at Ashford Stud, and a variety of places around Lexington. Unfortunately, I lost touch with all of those people but I remember that time as being one of my favorites.
It was after this job that I decided to go back to school to get the requirements needed to apply for veterinary school. I enjoyed being a technician but learned that I wouldn't be satisfied unless I had more responsibilities. I went back to Murray State in the fall of 1994.
