"Vga X■M 'es'W g:MM- VORM 'SMAz. . c .t . WORE, V .M ag n'A - 20747 4:840MOVAUXICOMMOM :ra2 MO NZAM M IM MROS OM W NNze This Doc Dr. Biederman stitches up a horse's leg. Doesn't Horse Around Mark Biederman's four-legged patients comprise his mane practice. RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER 61 ou'll see no tattered copies of Highlights magazines. No col- orful hard-bound Bibles for kids. No runny-nosed tod- dlers, consoling moms, pacifiers and medical records. Come to this doctor's office and you'll get an eyeful of manes, tails and hoofs. You will witness snorting patients, chewing hay in their stalls. And you'll meet their soft-spoken physician, Dr. Mark Bieder- man, owner of the Equine Clin- ic in Oldcastle, Ontario. Dr. Biederman is a horse sur- geon. The 34-year-old veteri- narian attended Michigan State University and went on to pur- sue a calling. "Since I was young, I always had a fascination with ani- mals," he says. Dr. Biederman's other fas- cination is sports. He's a die- hard MSU fan and continues to don the green-and-white color scheme of his alma mater. His scrubs are green and white. His operating room is green and white. Combine pets and athletics and what do you get? A guy who works medical wonders at the race track. As one of his first jobs, Dr. Biederman assisted a veterinarian at the track in Hazel Park. In 1988, he gradu- ated with honors from MSU's vet school and returned to Hazel Park as a doctor in his own right. "When I applied to veteri- narian school, it was strictly with the intention of working on horses," he says. "Vet school, to me, was probably four of the easiest years of my life. It was lir everything I wanted to know Dr. Biederman has been forced to destroy only six horses with and do." Histology, physiology, anato- racing injuries. Horses are more often euth- my, parasitology ... you name the class, he breezed through it. anized for irreversible colon con- Clinical rotations were tough ditions, he says. Dr. Biederman performs 14-hour days, seven days a week, but that's comparable to three types of major surgeries. the rigorous schedule he keeps Castration reduces a stallion's now. The time commitment is natural aggressiveness. Arthro- scopic surgery is common, too. worth it, he says. "What's most interesting, is It involves the removal of that I can practice medicine and chipped bone from the animal's read about it in the newspaper's joint. Internal fixation corrects sports section the next day," he fractured bones. "For simple fractures, prob- says. Dr. Biederman spent four ably 70 percent of the horses years at the Hazel Park race come back and race," he says. Dr. Biederman also performs track. Then, in 1991, he opened a private practice along Route intestinal operations, though One, just outside of Windsor they're not as frequent. near the Ontario race track. Windsor Raceway, which is open all year, supplies him with a steady flow of patients. Dr. Biederman treats between 100 and 150 horses per week at the track, in his clinic and through house calls So far dur- — Dr. Mark Biederman ing his career, he has worked on more than 6,000 different horses. To prepare a horse for Respiratory problems com- prise the most common type of surgery, Dr. Biederman and his horse malady. Owners fre- assistants guide the 1,000- to quently lodge their animals in 1,400-pound animal into a room cramped and crowded quarters. with padded walls and a two- Poor ventilation and mold ex- ton hoist. They secure clamps around the horse's four ankles acerbate illness. Racing also takes a toll. Hors- and administer a sedative es' joints were not made for the which induces anesthesia. As the horse drops slowly to tight turns of the track, Dr. Bie- the floor, an assistant holds its derman says. About 30 percent of his patients suffer from lame- neck to prevent injury. The elec- ness, which is generally treat- tronic hoist elevates the body enough to allow the doctor to able. Contrary to Hollywood's roll a padded operating table shoot-them-when-they're-down underneath. The horse is lowered until it depiction of an equine fate, true horse-doctoring offers more lies comfortably on the table. hope. In his years of practice, Anesthesia is maintained with "I can read about it in the newspaper the next day." halothane gas administered through a large endotracheal tube. Other machines mon- itor the heartbeat and blood pressure. With custom-manufac- tured enuipment, Dr. Bie- derman begins surgery under bright lights. He takes pride in his sterile workplace. Horses are highly vulnerable to infection, so he goes to great lengths to keep things clean. After operations, Dr. Bie- derman adheres to a follow- up routine. He checks his patients' appetites and moods. He takes their tern- perature and examines their excrement for telltale signs of problems. 2 "Lots of manure in the '2, stall," he observes, patting c" Horse #1. "That's good." (The horses preferred not to use their real names, lest their owners get upset.) Horse #2 paws anxiously at the ground. "She's hungry," Dr. Biederman notes. He enters the third stall and sees Horse #3 eating hay. Her ears point upwards. The doctor reaches down and touches her leg where the operation was performed. No redness. No swelling. `That's a content horse. She's feeling good," he says. Through the years, Dr. Bie- derman has come to under- stand horses. Each has a different personality, he says, though their language is often quite similar. To avoid getting kicked or bitten, "you just have to know how to read them. "Most of the time, when they pin their ears and swish their tail, you're in trouble. Observa- tion skills are key to working on horses," he says. Perhaps the biggest chal- lenge is getting paid. The horse- racing world is inhabited by transients, guys who sometimes gamble away their animals' medical bills. There are other horse own- ers who pay in full — and then some. One man was so grateful for Dr. Biederman's services, he unloaded boxes of kielbasa and pepperoni at his clinic. Dr. Biederman, in his little spare time, plays on a Jewish hockey team. He lives in Wind- sor, near the casino. His main focus, however, is the clinic. Helping sick horses feel better makes Dr. Biederman feel won- derful. "To see them racing again after a surgery," he says, "is the greatest feeling in the world." ❑