My vet technician, Angela, deserves a vacation because she puts up with me! An equine veterinarian and sole practitioner with a mobile practice and in-house reproduction clinic. We have a demanding practice with stallions sometimes arriving as early as 7:30 am for a collection.  

By that time, Angela, with a 45-minutes drive behind her, has already helped turn out horses, stocked the vet truck with inventory, ultrasounds, digital x-rays and everything else we need for a day on the road. After the collection, she climbs in the vet truck…and I mean climb – she is 5’4”, and drives while I call or do paperwork in our mobile office.  It’s a difficult day…she’s restrained horses, wrestled foals, held heads for dentals, tackled a goat, monitored anesthesia for a castration, and collected manure samples for parasite testing. After a smile for the clients- compassion for the horses- empathy for me while I agonize over a difficult diagnosis – we roll into the clinic after a long day and she efficiently reorganizes the truck, empties sharps containers, spins blood, prepares the manure samples for testing, assists with mares to inseminate and is finally ready to leave. It can be a physically dangerous and emotionally demanding job. Some days she might witness abused, unwanted or hopelessly injured horses or suffered through a euthanasia. It can be stressful, but also rewarding. It’s all in the day of a vet tech. As she gets in her car and waves goodnight… with yet another smile on her face, her phone rings and her three children (did I mention she has twins?) are wondering where she is? Dinner to get ready, her own horses to feed, homework to go over, and all before a 4-H meeting at 7:30- and she is the leader!

Wedgewood Pharmacy Contest Entry – October 2011