Today begins a Q&A with Dr. Larry Bramlage, one of the world’s most famous equine orthopedic surgeons. We”ll continue it tomorrow with a bonus post. And coming Monday: The people on the farm say Selena ran into a fence. Her owner, devastated at Selena’s injuries, doesn’t think so. What happened to the polo pony? A new excerpt from Equine ER. 

Q. I’ve heard you worked plenty of different jobs on your way toward vet school. What were some of them, and how did they contribute to your work ethic?
A. My family had little money, so I started working when I was eight years old, sweeping the driveway at a gas station every night after school for 35 cents an hour.  I gradually worked more difficult jobs at the gas station, then began working at a grocery store stocking shelves as well through high school. In college I worked construction every summer, and during the school year I worked in a kitchen scrubbing pots and pans in the evening.  I worked one semester as a waiter and hated it, so the pots and pans were a better fit for me.  I had to go to class, then to work, then fit my studying in as well.  I learned to juggle several balls at once, much as you must do as a veterinarian.
 
Q. Did you have any inspirations for becoming an equine vet?
A. One of my father’s friends was a veterinarian, and my father worked for a cattle company pre-conditioning cattle for the feedlot; they were the two biggest influences. I did not grow up knowing I would work on horses.

Bramlage on Tuesday conducting lameness exams.
 
Q. Fetlock arthrodesis, the procedure you developed to save horses’ damaged ankles, has now evolved to the point where it is being used to treat equine degenerative arthritis in horses’ joints, as well as more complicated injuries such as Chelokee’s. Do you foresee any future ways the procedure might be used?
A. We have already expanded it to any unsolvable painful problem of the equine fetlock.  If a horse has a disease of the fetlock that we can’t solve, we just eliminate the joint for the horse.
 
Q. Have to ask: Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta? Who would you place your money on if a match race took place and why? 
A. Sentimentally, Rachel.  I would have to weigh the situation.  Zenyatta is awesome, and is a year older and more mature and has won a Breeders’ Cup, which is in her favor.  But she has stayed in California and chosen her spots carefully.  Rachel is younger and not yet as fully mature as Zenyatta, but she goes everywhere and destroys the competition, colts and fillies.  If she raced, weight for age, equaling the disparity in maturity, I would bet on Rachel, but head-to-head it would be a tough call