Veterinarians

     We have a mare by the name of Future Bold who is a granddaughter of Seattle Slew. She dropped a filly on April 15 who is absolutely gorgeously. Unfortunately, she was born with a hole in her palate and some of the milk she was drinking would come out her nose. We talked to a vet at Rhinebeck Equine who said an operation was $4000 up front. We countered with half up front and half after the operation. He then countered with you don't want to pay so as far as I am concerned you can just put the baby down. 

     We then called Cornell who said put $2000 up front and pay the remainder when she was released. What a difference in attitude. We sent her to Cornell where the vet, Dr Jeff Cheathem could not have been nicer. He called us several times to let us know what was going on. The filly had a minor setback and ended up staying a couple of extra days with a screw replacement in her jaw. 

     The operation was partially successful. There is still a trickle of milk in her nose but nowhere nearly as much as before. In fact, another local vet believes that she can live a healthly and productive life as a broodmare but will never race unless the hole is fully plugged.  She is by Smooth Jazz out of Future Bold.  So she has the possibility of being a good broodmare. Thank God we got a second opinion and did not listen to the first bozo vet at Rhinebeck. 

     To top it off, Cornell told us that they had heard similiar stories regarding this first vet and knew his name without us telling them who it was. So, caveat emptor in regards to vets but a good one is worth his or her weight in gold.