09/21/07 Doc or no doc

You better have a doctor look at that! I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to talk about doctor visits. Accidents do happen in ranch work and it always plays out the same way. Somebody will take a thumping from a horse, cow or post and one of the crew will say  "you better let a doctor look at that" while the victim states he's not going to a doctor ever if he has to think real hard to form that statement and mumble it through mashed lips and squinting out of his one unswollen eye. Luckily except for the most remote ranches, most places now have some communication with medical help or transportation of some kind for the more serious mishaps. In the "good old days" communication was minimal at best and if you were bucked off your horse you had just lost your transportation option. Granddad was riding one of the renegades he actually enjoyed when the horse bucked into a wash, fell on him and gave him a good ironing out. Granddad got back to his bachelor headquarters on sheer determination, laid in bed three or four days and let himself heal. Those guys were a tough breed. The question these days is doctor, or no doctor. A few years ago the young horse I was riding wanted to divorce me and even that rocky hillside couldn't make me a good enough rider to stay a horseback. That evening I was told, "You better let a doctor look at that." Well, my sissy side won out and I did get some medical treatment. You know, I wasn't even stiff or sore the next day. That doctor deal is not too bad. I'm Jeff Keane.