Day 38 - 27 May. 8hr drive Mechanicsburg PA to Lexington, KY.
Seft and I did it relatively easily - switching every 2hours as driver or navigator - finally getting better at handling the beast. We rolled through endless miles of Appalachian Mountains made easy by the Interstate road system and reducing traffic volume. We eventually got to Lexington - self-proclaimed capital of the Thoroughbred horse racing world and called up my old mate Pete Morresey. Pete is now a part owner of, and medicine specialist at, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital - arguably the best equine hospital in the world - 5 operating theatres, untold stalls, isolation, orthopaedic, medicine, paediatric, nuclear medicine, podiatry, imaging (including CT, MRI, PET as well as regular digital X Ray). The staff includes over 350 people. If you were a horse that happened to get crook then Lexington truly is the best place to be. Pete gave us a whistle stop tour of the various facilities and I think Seft was gob-smacked. This place had better equipped than Christchurch Public Hospital - and there is only one boss and no government interference. Just goes to show you what can be done when money is not a problem. Of course there was the inevitable discussion about the morality of spending this much on horses when there are homeless people on the streets. Which of course is a valid argument until you come to terms with the idea that humans are just another species of animal.
Pete then took us all out to dinner at the Old Court House (see pic - of happy people afterwards)- great food, un-American in that the portion size didn’t leave you feeling bloated and great beer. Thoroughly recommended.
There was lots of reminiscing about the good old times at Matamata Vets - and Pete was very complimentary about the team spirit at MVS back in the late 80s - early 90s. He now rates MVS as the ideal size vet practice with 7-8 vets, and a good culture developed around open communication and clearly understood rules of operation.
Currently Pete lectures about foal medicine at many conferences in the US, Australasia and Europe. He truly has become the superstar among all those young vets I mentored back in the day. And - I’m pleased about that (and not really surprised).