Page 105 - Speedhorse November 2019

Q: What is the strangest personality quirk you have ever seen in a horse? A: I had a stallion here one time they brought to the hospital. Everybody warned us, [saying] “This horse’ll hurt you, he’s hard to catch, you have to leave a halter on him.” Nobody could catch the horse. They told me and I went down to the stall. Somehow they had taken the halter off the horse. I stopped there for a minute, and he’s in the corner, kicking
at you, trying to fire with those back legs. I just walked into the stall, turned around and wouldn’t look at him. After about five minutes he couldn’t stand it and he came over. He couldn’t stand that you wouldn’t pay attention to him or try to catch him.”
Q: If you were not a veterinarian, what job would you like to have?
A: That one’s easy, I’d be a professional hunter.
Q: What is your favorite thing about living where you live?
A: There’s two things. One, I like kinda being in the center of the Quarter Horse racing world. Everything’s within a few hours of us. All the people here, Quarter Horse people, they’re good people. I also have a nice ranch. It’s close to the hospital. I work like crazy here and when I get away from here, I want to go home to a nice quiet place. We have big pastures and horses and a lot of big tanks where horses can swim and eat
and just be natural animals. I hate having horses in stalls for a long time. We’ve got two geldings that have made $1 million together. They’re both turned out and run around with the cows. They just have a really good retirement life, which is what I wanted them to have.
Q: If you could vacation anywhere on the planet, where would it be and what would you do there?
A: I’d like to go to China one day and just kind of see that country. I’d try to get out to the rural areas. Supposedly, they have a developing horse business and they are kind of horse people. I’m planning to go that way in the next two years.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote and, if so, what is it?
A: My favorite is, “Above all, do no harm” and I teach that to all my veterinarians and I think that’s the way you have to live. I live by that: above all, do no harm.
Q: If you could sit down and visit with anyone, past or present, who would it be?
A: The only person I want to sit down with
is my grandfather. He passed away a little too early. About the time he passed away, I was deep into vet school. He was a really great man and was very influential on me. You know how it is. You just wish you had more time with them.
Q: Who’s your favorite athlete of all time, and why?
A: I really like Tiger Woods. To me, he’s just a tremendous athlete and to come back from the injuries he’s come back from and played so well, he’s obviously just a very tough and determined person. I’ve always been a very big competitor, too. I like someone who’s tough and comes through adversity and keeps going.
Q: What’s one thing you don’t like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: We’re in a tough time right now. I’ve never seen an industry try to destroy itself like the Quarter Horse industry has the last few years over drugs and cheating and stuff like that, but the biggest problem is that everybody thinks now that if you’re winning, you’re cheating. Unfortunately, now everybody just thinks if one’s winning they’ve got to be on something and that’s just not true.
Q: What’s one thing you like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: I just love the people. I’ve got so many great folks that love their horses and take care of them. They’ll do anything for those horses. I think we have really good folks in the business who do care about the horses. That’s what I like about it. In general, Quarter Horse people are people so involved with the actual horse: its life and well-being. They buy them, they’re involved with the training, every step of the way.
Natalie Montgomery DVM, Shirley McTire, Megan Wenzel and Leigh Perry with Tommy Hays accepting the Champion Aged Stallion Award for Open Me A Corona
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THE LIGHTER SIDE