My (Seriously Epic) Spring Break

Last April I took a long overdue trip to LA.  Overdue in a sense that I hadn't seen one of my good friends from vet school since his wedding-- separated in space because we lived on opposite coasts, and in time with the birth of our respective children.  And overdue for my friend Jane, who I tried to connect with my classmate years ago, and who fell tragically ill on the day of their meeting. With my board exam looming close in July, I took the advice of another mother who had passed, and planned a Spring "vetcation" to visit my friend Ryan at his practice at Santa Anita.

We started our day "late" around 6:30AM, (vets typically start around 4:30AM) with Ryan picking us up in his new truck at our nearby hotel.  From there we made the rounds around the barns, as he visited his regular patients as well as those recovering from various surgeries. I was excited to see my him in action; knowing this person just as a friend and a student, he had earned a reputation for being an expert in orthopedic surgery since our time together at Davis. Not knowing much about racetrack history, culture, and lore, I strolled around and shamelessly taking silly selfies and feeding horses carrots. Jane on the other hand, was awestricken by the barns, trainers, and horses we casually walked by.

After a few hours of seeing patients, Ryan reminded us that it was time for the track to open for exercise.  Horses and riders waited impatiently at the gait, while trainers aggregated at the rail near Clocker's Corner to assess their performance. There at the rail Ryan introduced me "Bob, this is Ellie, we went to vet school together.  She works with research mice up in San Francisco." Not knowing who he was (the legendary Bob Baffert), we chatted about animal research and I made the case for why mice are critical to understanding disease and unlocking the cures of the future. I saw Jane out of the corner of my right eye, open-mouthed and starstruck, not believing what was happening right in front of her.  Then the gates opened, and the horses were off!

It wasn't long before Ryan had to get back to his rounds, and as if things couldn't get better, he took a few minutes to walk us through Bob Baffert's barn.  There in stall #33 (as in, the same stall American Pharoah occupied) was a sweet guy named Justify, who had just won the Santa Anita Derby.  Full of promise and sweet as can be, the people around us told us they thought he was going to win the Kentucky Derby.  This handsome fella actually went on to win the Triple Crown. 

The afternoons are blocked for surgeries, and Jane and I were delighted to compare and contrast the differences between shelter and equine surgery suites. I couldn't help but laugh at the size of everything, and was amazed by the routineness of it all for Ryan.  We left Ryan afterwards to let him wrap up what was going to be a normal 12 hour day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting nearby Mission San Gabriel and the Norton Simon art museum, with some cocktails thrown in between. We ended our day with crunchy vegan dinner in downtown Pasadena.

Our last day was a relaxing day spent at the racetrack, in our box seats courtesy of Ryan.  With far more panache than our track in the Bay Area, Santa Anita is a throwback to a time when horse racing was one of the most popular sports in the country.  I love the pageantry and ritual, and witnessing the relationships between the horses and the people that care for them.  Aside from the racing, the views of the San Gabriel mountains make the track a place you want to spend the entire day lounging at. 

The time away from my family, responsibilities, and studying was well timed, indeed.   But the real joy for me was witnessing my dear friend's success, in his career and home life, after so many years of seriously hard work.  The trip was 6 months ago and I still smile at how serendipitous it all was.