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The Village Horse Doctor: West of the Pecos
"Ben Green has won the approval of the sternest literary critics I know-ranch cowboys. In old Doc's books, they recognize a man who knew horses and cattle to the bone and could tell about them with honest prose and a sly cowboy sense of humor. I've read them all, as have most of the cowboys I know."-John R. Erickson, rancher and author of the Hank the Cowdog series. Ben K. Green takes us back to the deep Southwest and the never-a-dull-moment years he spent as a practicing horse doctor along the Pecos and the Rio Grande. With precious little formal schooling but a perfect corral-side manner and plenty of natural wit, Green became the first to hang up a shingle in the trans-Pecos territory. Hear him tell the tales of his struggles with mean stockmen, yellowweed fever, banditos, poison hay, and "drouth." His canny mix of science and horse sense when treating animals "that ain't house pets" is 100-proof old time pleasure. A veterinarian in the far Southwest for much of his life, Ben K. Green retired to ranch in Texas until his death in 1974.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 29, 2021
Nov 28, 530pm ~~ Review asap.
Nov 28, 830pm ~~ I read a couple of Ben K. Green books as part of my recent horse book fit. I know I have read this one years ago also, but I did not have a copy in my bookcases the way I thought I did. So of course I ordered it and after my recent Pat Conroy depression I thought a little trip round the Southwest with The Village Horse Doctor would be just the trick to lighten things up a little bit.
In January of 1944 Green was on his way to Mexico. He planned to practice veterinary medicine in the city of Chihuahua. But about the time he reached Fort Stockton Texas, a winter storm came up and he holed up for a few days. During that time the townspeople and ranchers convinced him to set up a practice right there instead of in Mexico. Green was a down-home cowboy and was right at home with the people of the area and certainly understood ranching and all the problems that could come up day to day on any Western range, so he decided to stick around.
There are eighteen chapters here, and most of them deal with the detective work he was doing in order to find out what was making so much of the range stock sick at various times of the year. He solved the mystery of yellowweed poisoning in sheep: took a few years of detective work, careful experimentation, and 47 formulas before he hit the right mixture to prevent this sickness. He figured out other sources of food poisoning in both sheep and cattle, and in between all of his driving (many times over a hundred miles a day) he managed such weird adventures as removing what turned out to be a marble from behind a horse's eye, pulled a prickly pear pad out of the mouth of a supposedly 'mad' cow, and plenty of other escapades.
This is not a James Herriot type of veterinary book. The closest they come to each other is that they both worked in a time when modern medicine was just beginning to appear, and anyone who has worked even in a small way with veterinary medicine in our day has to admire the ingenuity of the old-time vets working in conditions that might bring a modern day horse doctor to his knees.
This is from what you might call a prologue:
"My life has been rough but it has never been dull and the time covered by these chapters is probably the roughest and the furtherest from being dull as any years that I have so far spent on this earth."
Nov 28, 830pm ~~ I read a couple of Ben K. Green books as part of my recent horse book fit. I know I have read this one years ago also, but I did not have a copy in my bookcases the way I thought I did. So of course I ordered it and after my recent Pat Conroy depression I thought a little trip round the Southwest with The Village Horse Doctor would be just the trick to lighten things up a little bit.
In January of 1944 Green was on his way to Mexico. He planned to practice veterinary medicine in the city of Chihuahua. But about the time he reached Fort Stockton Texas, a winter storm came up and he holed up for a few days. During that time the townspeople and ranchers convinced him to set up a practice right there instead of in Mexico. Green was a down-home cowboy and was right at home with the people of the area and certainly understood ranching and all the problems that could come up day to day on any Western range, so he decided to stick around.
There are eighteen chapters here, and most of them deal with the detective work he was doing in order to find out what was making so much of the range stock sick at various times of the year. He solved the mystery of yellowweed poisoning in sheep: took a few years of detective work, careful experimentation, and 47 formulas before he hit the right mixture to prevent this sickness. He figured out other sources of food poisoning in both sheep and cattle, and in between all of his driving (many times over a hundred miles a day) he managed such weird adventures as removing what turned out to be a marble from behind a horse's eye, pulled a prickly pear pad out of the mouth of a supposedly 'mad' cow, and plenty of other escapades.
This is not a James Herriot type of veterinary book. The closest they come to each other is that they both worked in a time when modern medicine was just beginning to appear, and anyone who has worked even in a small way with veterinary medicine in our day has to admire the ingenuity of the old-time vets working in conditions that might bring a modern day horse doctor to his knees.
This is from what you might call a prologue:
"My life has been rough but it has never been dull and the time covered by these chapters is probably the roughest and the furtherest from being dull as any years that I have so far spent on this earth."
June 8, 2020
Dr Ben Green relates his experiences in the 1940s and later, working out of Fort Stockton, Texas (he was on his way to Chihuahua, Old Mexico at the time). He was persuaded to stay in Fort Stockton. The stories are fascinating. There were telephone operators at that time who would call and notify people that might see him that he had an emergency call somewhere. Also, the drugstores took his messages and passed them on to him since the only staff he had was himself. He also did a lot of studying on the special problems associated with raising livestock in the desert environment. Things done to crops where there was a lot of rain, had a different effect on the critters were there was very little rain. His efforts to deal with the special problems presented and the help he received from the community were amazing.
I realized reading this that I have (and have read) the book he wrote on coat color in horses. It's not genetics, DNA or stuff, but what makes a horse's coat look a certain color. I've read that one a couple of times and I will probably read this one again.
Since we raise cattle, there were some interesting insights that I gained from this book.
I realized reading this that I have (and have read) the book he wrote on coat color in horses. It's not genetics, DNA or stuff, but what makes a horse's coat look a certain color. I've read that one a couple of times and I will probably read this one again.
Since we raise cattle, there were some interesting insights that I gained from this book.
August 26, 2020
So knowledgeable!
I love to learn about animals and this man has learned about them from real experience rather than just theory. At the very end, he makes a case for Lamarckian inheritance- not theoretically but empirically. Great read for biology lovers!
I love to learn about animals and this man has learned about them from real experience rather than just theory. At the very end, he makes a case for Lamarckian inheritance- not theoretically but empirically. Great read for biology lovers!
October 29, 2021
As a former farmer, I found this interesting. The problems associated with raising livestock in the desert are quite a bit different than in the midwest of non-desert regions.
Dr. Wilson's dedication to his job was remarkable. I was impressed by his construction of a laboratory facility and his development of feed mixtures to treat the diseases of the animals of his region. He also developed hormonal treatments for sheep and cattle that allowed farmers and ranchers to synchronize breeding cycles in the sheep and cattle. Quite and accomplishment.
I was surprised at the vast distances of hundreds of miles that Dr. Wilson traveled for his practice. I have been used to vet territories of, maybe, up to 20 miles.
Dr. Wilson's dedication to his job was remarkable. I was impressed by his construction of a laboratory facility and his development of feed mixtures to treat the diseases of the animals of his region. He also developed hormonal treatments for sheep and cattle that allowed farmers and ranchers to synchronize breeding cycles in the sheep and cattle. Quite and accomplishment.
I was surprised at the vast distances of hundreds of miles that Dr. Wilson traveled for his practice. I have been used to vet territories of, maybe, up to 20 miles.
July 22, 2024
As a former farmer, I found this interesting. The problems associated with raising livestock in the desert are quite a bit different than in the midwest of non-desert regions.
Dr. Wilson's dedication to his job was remarkable. I was impressed by his construction of a laboratory facility and his development of feed mixtures to treat the diseases of the animals of his region. He also developed hormonal treatments for sheep and cattle that allowed farmers and ranchers to synchronize breeding cycles in the sheep and cattle. Quite and accomplishment.
I was surprised at the vast distances of hundreds of miles that Dr. Wilson traveled for his practice. I have been used to vet territories of, maybe, up to 20 miles.
Dr. Wilson's dedication to his job was remarkable. I was impressed by his construction of a laboratory facility and his development of feed mixtures to treat the diseases of the animals of his region. He also developed hormonal treatments for sheep and cattle that allowed farmers and ranchers to synchronize breeding cycles in the sheep and cattle. Quite and accomplishment.
I was surprised at the vast distances of hundreds of miles that Dr. Wilson traveled for his practice. I have been used to vet territories of, maybe, up to 20 miles.
October 3, 2021
Wow, has veterinary medicine come a long way. As a true geek, I love reading the history of my profession. The Village Horse Doctor shows that most treatment in that time involved a lot more chemistry than known medicine. Really interesting for me and other history lovers.
November 18, 2021
Required Reading
Entertaining and informative book about the Trans-Pecos region. My daughter, son-in-law and their boys ranch outside of Balmorhea. They love it, but respect the harsh environment.
Entertaining and informative book about the Trans-Pecos region. My daughter, son-in-law and their boys ranch outside of Balmorhea. They love it, but respect the harsh environment.
March 16, 2021
Agree with reviewers that Dr. Green knows horses, cows, sheep, and goats about as well as anyone. In this book he describes his veterinary practice in the Pecos region of Texas. The story is set in the 1940s. Green's writing style is conversational and details in these stories are entertaining as well as informative. What amazed me most, though, in this book was the knowledge author discovered about range grasses and plants through his impressive research. What he discovered about the weeds in this arid area of Texas had never been documented prior to his research findings.
Whew! I can't even imagine working the long hours he describes. His working day usually started before daylight and often ended at midnight. Since the stockmen did not bring their animals to vet clinic so he had to drive hundreds, and sometimes thousands of miles, to reach his clients. Then, after his long days of doctoring and driving, he would spend time in his lab. Because little to nothing was known about the toxicity of range weeds at this time, he was compelled to do the research so he could find a cure to the many conditions suffered by grazing animals. After many hours doctoring animals and driving from ranch to ranch, he would return home and head to his lab. He did many experiments on range plants to determine what parts were toxic, and at what stages in their development they were most nutritious or toxic to grazing animals.
Whew! I can't even imagine working the long hours he describes. His working day usually started before daylight and often ended at midnight. Since the stockmen did not bring their animals to vet clinic so he had to drive hundreds, and sometimes thousands of miles, to reach his clients. Then, after his long days of doctoring and driving, he would spend time in his lab. Because little to nothing was known about the toxicity of range weeds at this time, he was compelled to do the research so he could find a cure to the many conditions suffered by grazing animals. After many hours doctoring animals and driving from ranch to ranch, he would return home and head to his lab. He did many experiments on range plants to determine what parts were toxic, and at what stages in their development they were most nutritious or toxic to grazing animals.
April 18, 2011
Still a 5-star, but not quite as good as Horse Tradin'.
October 24, 2011
My grandpa gave me this to read. He LOVES horse books. I read it to please him, but I found it was very entertaining. Pretty funny.
May 4, 2016
Delightful stories of the trials and tribulations of a veterinary in a land where diseases and conditions were never known in school.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews