4 days ago (Tuesday)

Tuesday morning, I dropped dad off at the airport and then headed to the clinic for the day. We looked at a dog with possible laryngeal trauma and then headed to the dairy for their weekly herd check. Seth, one of the owner's sons, gave me a hard time about my Select Sires hat as their dairy uses ABS for their semen. Dr. Fillerup and I pregnancy checked about 20 cows before doing a breeding soundness exam on two of their two year old bulls--Thing One and Thing Two. Thing One failed his exam and as the vet and I headed out to pregnancy check their heifers, the owners discussed the bull's fate--a second chance or McDonalds. Dr. Fillerup and I drove out to pregnancy check their heifers and I really started to feel like I was getting back into the groove of pregnancy checking. I only missed a few and was overall very happy with how I had done. We then headed out to Uncle Val's place to write health certificates for his horses. After we looked at the herd, we went up to the house and Uncle Val offered us both lunch. I had already eaten, but Dr. Fillerup took him up on the offer. I almost regretted saying no as I saw the tasty enchiladas that were placed before him. They sat around chit chatting about random things and memories and I took the time to marvel at Uncle Val's house. Pictures of every size, event, and location covered the walls. Horses, wildlife, hunting, scenic views--all of these were hung throughout the house. One wall of their kitchen held hundreds of rusty bits on display from simple snaffles to wicked curb bits to fancy spades. Uncle Val was officially one of the coolest people I've ever met. He was straight out of Lonesome Dove. Dr. Mel and I finally took our leave after Uncle Val had offered to let me park at his ranch to go hiking over the weekend. Cedar Mountain was located right behind his house and, as I was told, provided an unobstructed view of the basin. Our next call was a checkup on a 30 year old horse with a sinus infection. The large black and white paint draft Arizona pranced around the large pasture, snorting and kicking up his heels as we tried in vain to catch him. After about 20 minutes, we were able to chase him into the corral and corner him. He received his treatment IV and soon we were ready to leave. Dr. Mel climbed into the passenger's seat and said "You're driving home." And before we were even out of the driveway, he was fast asleep, hat down over his eyes. While I had been paying more attention to the scenery than the road, I knew we had only taken a couple turns to get here so with some luck and gut instinct, I was able to find my way back to the clinic. And so ended another successful day in Cody, Wyoming.