First off, I was told some of you have not been able to view the videos, for which this blog sincerely apologies. In the future, we will post links to take you to YouTube directly and stick to text and photos here. Since a proportion of the blog readers could not view last weeks's video, I'm including one photo from it below, as well as a new one underneath it. 

In the first photo, Dr. Milosz Grabski, a Rood & Riddle intern, pulls a foal out during a C-section. In the second, one of the clinic's surgeon's, Dr. Rolf Embertson, sews up the same mare moments later (assisted by Dr. Katie Garrett). Both mother and foal recovered well. The mare had the C-section because of problematic deliveries in years past. 

Once, in a conversation about the temperament of people whose work it is to slice open horses and attempt to save their lives, Embertson, who became Rood & Riddle’s first surgeon over 20 years ago, told me how Top Gun is one of his and his two sons’ favorite movies. They particularly like an exchange between Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise), a pilot attending the Navy’s elite school for fighter pilots, and Commander and Chief Instructor Mike "Viper" Metcalf (played by Tom Skerritt). 

Viper: In case some of you are wondering who the best is they are up here on this plaque.
(turns to Maverick).
Viper: Do you think your name will be on that plaque?
Maverick: Yes sir.
Viper: That's pretty arrogant, considering the company you're in.
Maverick: Yes sir.
Viper: I like that in a pilot.

Said Embertson at the time, “That’s kind of how I feel about surgeons.” The clinic's surgeons don't strike me as being as cocky as the flyboys in the movie, but they are definitely confident, knowing what to do and how to do it in the O.R. Last year, the hospital performed close to 6,500 surgeries.