La vitalité
HOLDI NG
Your
HORSES By Anthea Gerrie
J
oint replacements undreamed of years ago, surrogates for mothers too precious to take time out to give birth to their own babies, and tinted-glass windows to confound the paparazzi ... All items of choice for high maintenance celebrities today—and all the more so if they happen to be prize racehorses. Cutting-edge orthopedic surgery and state-of-the-art reproductive technology are just two specialties at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, one of the most acclaimed veterinarian practices in Kentucky’s thoroughbred country. But, when it comes to providing their most valuable patients with stalls fitted with smoked-glass windows to obscure their identities, it’s more than just pampering—it’s also what the sheiks, royals, and tycoons who own many of these top-performing racehorses expect. “We’ve had photographers peering over the fence with long lenses,” confides Whitney Fields, marketing
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coordinator for the practice, emphasizing that discretion is paramount as we walk past those stalls which, like their less-obfuscated neighbors, are not labeled with the horses’ names. It’s widely known that top horses are regularly booked into Rood & Riddle—after all, partner Larry Bramlage has been described as the USA’s most sought-after equine surgeon—but the practice couldn’t possibly confirm who they are. Unless, that is, the former patient is named the Comeback Award winner of the year, like the 2016 World Grand Champion Fine Harness mare, Tempt Me, whose owner permitted her astonishing recovery to be documented last year. Rood & Riddle gives this award to client horses who have overcome medical issues and gone on to perform at the highest level, and after colic surgery in 2015, Tempt Me ran undefeated in two categories the following year. When pressed, the practice owns up to having seen thirty of the past thirty-three Kentucky Derby winners.
