All in a day’s work Olympia vet Paul Farrington

Paul Farrington on wearing black tie for work, coping with camels and a runaway Father Christmas

I have been involved with Olympia for more than 20

years. The show’s central London location makes it difficult to get an equine vet there quickly in the event of an emergency, so we need a good team on site. There are eight of us, including an orthopaedic specialist and a specialist in internal medicine, and we stay next door in the hotel.

I’m best described as “mature”, in that I’m nearing the end of my

career. I started my veterinary life with Peter Scott Dunn, equine vet to The Queen, and developed an interest in sport horses, later setting up my own practice in Newbury.

I was the British eventing team vet before accepting a role with the FEI, which took me all over the world and to four Olympic Games. I also had the honour of being president of the veterinary commission for London 2012.

I’ve no idea why I was drawn

to horses. My father worked in industry, but one of his great friends was a vet — very much a James Herriot-type character.

As soon as I became involved with horses I knew that I loved them as a species. They are very satisfying to work with from a veterinary point of view and each has his own individual character.

Olympia is the only show where

I wear black tie and is the busiest, based on the number of hours on duty: morning exercise starts at 6am and we’re still working after the evening performance as the grooms put the horses to bed.

The Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, is ready in case we need to hospitalise a horse or send him for further tests. Aside from the usual orthopaedic injuries, Olympia brings unique challenges. Horses are stabled on site and others come in and out daily, so we’re very aware of the potential for infection in such an enclosed space. Every horse is given a full clinical exam upon arrival.

Horses travelling from overseas for the FEI dressage, showjumping and driving may be tired after a long journey and are at risk of developing pneumonia. One of my major tasks is to hold an official FEI inspection with the ground jury to declare horses fit to compete. We use a collecting ring for the trot-up. One year, Father Christmas crashed into the control box. The finale is always special, as he leaves the arena at a gallop on his sleigh, but on that particular performance the horses took fright in the exit tunnel for some reason and one shied away to the left. There were a few injuries, unfortunately.

A very knowledgeable watchman patrols the stables

at night. We regulate the temperature and humidity and turn down the lighting to a health and safety minimum so the horses get a proper night’s sleep. It’s incredible how well they settle down in these surroundings. My veterinary knowledge of camels is virtually non-existent, so thank goodness there were no particular problems the year they performed.

So many wonderful horses come to Olympia and we want them to be in the best of health at all times. I’ve enjoyed working with the Household Cavalry, the King’s Troop, the Cossacks and the Metropolitan Police, as well as meeting some of the greats including Valegro and Milton.

I love working with the Shires, while the Shetland racing ponies are full of personality and very trusting — the only difficulty is getting down to their level to do anything with them.

Olympia never loses its magic — when you’re involved, you

become addicted. Exhaustion only sets in when I leave — I collapse in a heap back at home and my wife describes me as a waste of space for the next 36 hours. I usually recover in time for a very traditional English Christmas.

‘Olympia never loses

its magic — when you’re involved, you

become addicted’