HORSE HOSPITAL
Dr. Darryl Bonder discusses the many challenges of treating patients who were born in a barn,
Welcome to horse hospital. With this year’s horse-racing season now underway, the Star spoke with Toronto Equine Hospital’s Dr. Darryl Bonder, an equine veterinarian — or what some may refer to as a “horse doctor” — to learn about what it’s like to treat and perform surgery on prized racehorses for a living. This interview has been condensed and edited.
I need to know: What happens if a horse wakes up during surgery? Is there a bunch of kicking? Does it get pretty hairy, pretty fast?
It is no different than if a human wakes up during surgery. Anesthesia is a highly developed science. We use very sophisticated monitors to track blood pressure, oxygen levels, and have an anesthetist watching the horse like a hawk throughout surgery. If a horse is getting light on the table, they’ll give off indicators like heart rate increase, tensing up a bit for example. If that happens, the anesthetist will adjust its drugs.
How many years did you spend in school to become an equestrian vet?
Seven years of university to start, followed by additional courses throughout the years.
And what motivated you to specialize in equestrian medicine?
I always felt I could identify with horses and understand them, know how they are feeling. You get vibes. If a horse doesn’t like you, they’ll let you know it. A lot of my body language and the way I approach a horse is low-key, not threatening, and friendly. It brings out the best of their personality.
How does your average day start?
I get up at 4:45 a.m. every morning and I’m at the race track by roughly 5:30 a.m. First, I make the rounds of the barns I normally look after, check in with trainers to find out which horses are having issues. Then I head back during training hours for examinations dealing with anything from musculoskeletal injuries to respiratory infections.
I imagine some of your patients are worth a pretty penny?
These horses are skilled athletes, highly valuable animals with the potential to earn money. It depends on breeding, genetics — all those things factor in to a tremendous price range, from $5,000 to $500,000 to $1 million. But this purchasing price is often the smallest part of the overall investment. You have to train it, feed it, provide vet care, groom, blacksmith a horse. It is an expensive but rewarding undertaking.
Does the “economic value” of a patient add to the pressure when treating them?
I think horse owners are all different and that someone’s backyard pony may be just as valuable to a family as a thoroughbred racehorse is to an owner of a racing stock. So the monetary value doesn’t really matter. These animals are a member of someone’s family and have an emotional bond, just like a dog or cat. That is just as much a pressure as the economic value of the animal.
Do you own any horses yourself?
(Laughs) No, I do not. I work with them 12 hours a day and the last thing I want to do when I go home is look at another horse.
What’s the risk to you when treating these animals?
This is an animal that is 1,200 pounds and roughly 10 times my size. You have to respect its power, strength and that they can kill you. We don’t do things that are stupid around them. Horses are prey animals, so their first instinct is to run away or defend themselves from anything that is unfamiliar. But with good horsemanship, we get by on a daily basis.
And what does this “good horsemanship” look like?
First and foremost, it means being kind to the animal. If you have a horse that turns its back to you when you go to open the stall door and is threatening to kick, my approach is slow, with lots of verbal exchange. I let him know where I am all the time, and advance slowly while reading his body language.
What sort of unexpected equestrian emergencies do you find yourself called to?
Just earlier this week I received a call at 10:30 p.m. by security at Woodbine. They had found a horse that had reared up and hit his head on the sprinklers. He punctured his face and the laceration just missed his eye. So I went in and put him back together. We always make sure there is someone on call who can handle emergencies.
Earlier this year, 43, racehorses died in a massive barn fire at Classy Lane Stables in southern Ontario. From a veterinarian perspective, what are the medical implications of these types of tragedies?
Fires are nasty, scary and very dangerous. It’s a horrible situation, a worst nightmare. Burn injuries are difficult to deal with. I experienced a fire at Woodbine many years ago where groomers risked their lives to get horses out of their stalls. But horses rely on habits and associate their stalls with safety, so much so that some ran back into their pens after they had been rescued.