Texas Equine Veterinary Association

The Remuda | Fall 2023 Edition 38 horses, palpate 15 cows, and castrate a dog. I can just imagine the fast speaking Spanish that must have been going on as these two dickered over what sort of payment would be necessary to get such things done. After multiple offers and counter-offers, the old farmer was set firm with a cord of wood. Dr. V was about to agree but insisted that to old farmer had to help him load it in the truck. The old farmer was determined that he wasn't going to trade the wood and also load it. Dr. V was receptive, and a cord of fairly sorry wood was probably enough, but the fun of the art of barter is getting the most you can, even if you don't need it. "Okay, I will take the cord of wood and load it myself...but you have to throw in that white rooster!" A white rooster? Really? What does Dr. V need with a white rooster? But he was insistent. He had lost the battle of help loading, and didn't want to be the loser in the game of bartering. The old gentleman considered this for a good long while. Dr. V giggled to himself as he went through the age old bartering ritual with this fella. Finally the deal was set and Dr. V finished working on the animals, loaded the wood, and put the white rooster in the back seat of his vet truck. He was feeling pretty proud of himself for not being bested on a twenty minute barter. But the question is, who really won? Dr. V was staying in a run down motel with his wife for two more nights. Where in the world was he going to keep a white rooster for two days? He arrived back at the motel and discovered the rooster had pooped all over the back seat on the trip back to town. He couldn't leave that thing in the pick up all night because it would ruin everything in the entire cab. So he took it in the rundown motel and put it in the closet. The floor of the closet was concrete and he figured that would be easier to clean than the seats of his truck. You can just imagine what his wife said when he came carrying a chicken into the motel room and put it in the closet. He informed her that the rooster was an important part of his payment for the day, and he wanted it to be comfortable through the night and safe in the closet. After all, chickens roost at night and the closet was a perfect, comfortable place for a rooster to sleep. You can imagine what his wife said when the rooster started crowing at 5:00am in the morning. Not only her, but what about the folks in adjacent rooms? Dr. V was back in the pickup at 5:15 am heading toward the old gentleman's house with a large white rooster crowing in the backseat of his truck. His last words to me as we finished our phone conversation was this, "Bo, I thought I had finally out-bartered an old border farmer, but they always seem to get the best of me." • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Dr. Brock is a past TEVA President and Texas Equine Foundation President. These stories are from his book "Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere." We are hosting TEVA Chats at veterinary schools to provide opportunities for students and practitioners to spend time together and discuss all things veterinary medicine. We believe that the networking between veterinarians and students is step one in encouraging a healthy support network for new graduates and that will help encourage long lasting, fulfilling careers in veterinary medicine. ALL DVM'S ARE WELCOME TO JOIN THESE CHATS! To join us at a TEVA Chat: outreach@texasequineva.com or text 281.614.9589 Chats TEVA 38

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