♪ ♪
(baa)
(oink)
GAVYN: We are at the Isabella County Fair.
HADYN: And I'm showing my dairy feeder.
HUNTOR: I show dairy feeders and rabbits.
AVERY: My cow's name is Burrito.
KOLTON: Dawn is my rabbit.
ASPEN: Nemo.
KOLMAN: Marshmallow.
BRANTLY: Phoenix.
GAVYN: And I am showing my rabbit, Snowball.
I think it'll be pretty fun.
♪ ♪
DR. POL: The fair is a fun week for everyone.
(cow moos)
(horse neighs)
Whatever the kid wants to do, whatever project they have...
(baa)
they can go to the fair, get judged,
and the better they do, the more fun they have.
GAVYN: It's not easy at first.
(baa)
BRANTLY: It takes months and months
to get ready for the fair.
CARSON: You have to work with them a lot, for them to be good.
(moo)
AVERY: Going out there every day, walking them,
try and make them not as antsy and scared and stuff,
so they're good for the fair.
DR. POL: Hi there!
CHARLES: My dad takes it upon himself
to be a pro-bono fair vet.
DR. POL: These are good.
Those are fine.
Too much grain!
MAN: Hey, Dr. Pol. How you doing?
NARRATOR: Jan Pol has been a fixture at the fair
for 40 years.
WOMAN: Hello, Dr. Pol!
DR. POL: Hello.
MAN: Doc Pol, how ya doing?
DR. POL: I'm fine!
(baa) Come on in!
She takes one, I'll take the other.
Hi, you.
(moo)
ASHLYN: Yeah, he's pretty good with animals.
(laughs)
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Ready or not, it's "go time."
ANNOUNCER: Young lady with the pink bow wins, very easy.
(applause and cheering)
KYLEA: I'm feeling really confident, actually,
usually I'm very nervous.
KOLMAN: Also a little nervous and confident at the same time.
NARRATOR: Inevitably...
KARLIE: I'm worried about Twister.
Twister hasn't been eating too much or drinking.
(moo)
DR. POL: Okay, Misenhelder!
What's up?
MAN: Ever since we brought him up here, he's been bellyaching.
DR. POL: Yeah, yeah.
MAN: Thought maybe he was stressed out or something.
DR. POL: Maybe.
MAN: He's not drinking and eating.
DR. POL: Yeah, he doesn't like the water.
Biggest problem many times
is the water at the fairgrounds
is city water and it's chlorinated.
The horses and the cows don't like the water.
For some reason or other, they can tell the difference easily.
This one is not drinking enough, they fed it too much grain,
not enough hay, so now it has acidosis.
(moo)
Take the grain away.
MAN: Take the grain away?
DR. POL: Yeah. Because he's acid.
And I would give him about quarter pound of baking soda
in a beer bottle.
Baking soda will sweeten his stomach.
NARRATOR: Big bucks are riding on Twister's speedy recovery.
KARLIE: I don't want to not be able to show,
'cause if you don't show 'em at market you can't sell.
NARRATOR: The auction is in three days.
(moo)
A healthy sale could fortify Karlie's college fund.
KARLIE: Hopefully he'll start eating and drinking
more than he has.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Nine miles west of the fair...
(moo)
the clinic is just as busy.
MAN: I got 'em. I got all of 'em.
(woman laughs)
(meow)
(barking)
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Aspen, a 4-year-old Doberman with 9-day-old pups,
is scaring her owner.
ANGELA: Well, I've been crying for days. (laughs)
This is Aspen's fourth litter.
Everything was fine,
and then on day two she started having diarrhea.
We tried the bland diet, still diarrhea, um,
and then she started vomiting.
So, it sort of concerns me
that maybe something is left in there
or, you know, blockage.
I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with her.
DR. LISA: There's somebody way back here.
Hi!
They're very cute.
ANGELA: Got some in a milk coma.
DR. LISA: They all look very comatose.
ANGELA: Yes.
DR. LISA: How often has she been vomiting?
ANGELA: First she started with diarrhea.
I got anti-diarrhea meds, and she stopped having diarrhea.
Well, then yesterday she vomited, um,
every single time she ate anything.
And then she wouldn't eat this morning.
DR. LISA: Alright.
I think I'm gonna start with taking an x-ray,
just to make sure everything looks okay in there.
ANGELA: Okay.
DR. LISA: Giving birth to puppies
is a pretty stressful experience.
She did not want to leave them.
And I think Aspen's immune system
was just a little bit suppressed by the experience
and created these problems of the vomiting and diarrhea.
Temperature is normal.
WOMAN: Yay!
DR. LISA: Her temperature is kind of
on the high end of normal,
but she doesn't have a fever, which is excellent news.
Very relaxed abdomen.
Her abdomen feels nice and soft,
and she doesn't seem too uncomfortable,
which are all really good signs.
Alright.
We'll see if we see anything.
ANGELA: Every litter that Aspen has had,
she's always thrown every color.
The colors of Dobermans are black, blue, red and your fawn.
DR. LISA: Brave girl!
You can take her back out so she can be with her babies.
ANGELA: Aspen is an excellent mom,
she is very protective of them,
and I would hate for anything to happen to her.
♪ ♪
(phone ringing)
(puppies whimpering)
DR. LISA: So, I took a picture.
There is quite a bit of gas in her intestines.
You can see kind of all the stool...
ANGELA: Yeah! DR. LISA: backed up.
ANGELA: She was having diarrhea for days!
DR. LISA: Yeah, so, we got rid of the diarrhea,
but I think we kind of like went too far the other way.
NARRATOR: Home treatment over-corrected the diarrhea
into constipation.
DR. LISA: As far as medications,
I am gonna start her on an antibiotic.
I'm also gonna give her some medication for nausea.
I think with the medications that we're starting today
she'll hopefully recover quickly.
ANGELA: This was scary. I feel way better.
I'm really glad that there's nothing really wrong with Aspen,
that it was just from the stress of laboring.
♪ ♪
(puppies whimpering)
♪ ♪
DR. POL: How are you? BOY: Good.
DR. POL: What you got here? BOY: Beef steer.
DR. POL: Beef steer? Big one?
Oh, boy!
NARRATOR: Doc tours the fair barns.
(baa)
DR. POL: That's a vitamin A deficiency.
Look at this, how they can reach. See that?
DR. NICOLE: Uh-huh.
DR. POL: That's goats.
(quacking)
What? Hot?
Yeah, a little bit, huh?
(quacking)
MAN: Hello, Doctor!
DR. POL: Hello! What's up?
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: At the clinic, it's another puppy for Dr. Lisa.
WOMAN: So, this is...
JESSICA: Lila. WOMAN: Lila. Okay.
NARRATOR: This one old enough to find trouble.
DR. LISA: Alright, let's go to the back.
JESSICA: Lila is our new 14-week-old puppy,
a Rhodesian ridgeback.
On her face, on her front legs, on her back legs.
I got home from work and went to let the dogs out,
and they both went running through the backyard.
DR. LISA: There we go, girly.
JESSICA: Then the puppy fell on her side,
and kind of started batting at herself.
I could see the bees just all over her front,
and on her legs and on her ears, she was just squealin'!
DR. LISA: Yeah, it looks like she's got some hives over here.
JESSICA: It's pretty scary.
DR. LISA: I bet it hurt.
JESSICA: My first thought is anaphylaxis,
and she's not gonna be breathing too much longer.
DR. LISA: Give her a big dose of Benadryl.
The biggest thing here is going to be,
uh, kind of heading off any allergic reaction,
so we're gonna give her an injection of antihistamines
to control any allergic reaction she might have to the stinging.
This goes in the muscle, so it's gonna hurt.
Sorry, babe.
JESSICA: I'm sorry!
(dog yelping)
JESSICA: It's okay!
DR. LISA: I know.
I'm so sorry!
Looks like there may be one stuck in your face.
JESSICA: I know!
DR. LISA: I'll try and get it out of you, baby.
JESSICA: You're a good girl!
It's okay, baby.
(dog whining)
DR. LISA: Got it.
JESSICA: Yeah.
DR. LISA: Since Jessica acted so quickly,
Lila's gonna be just fine
with all the treatments that we've started here.
JESSICA: I'm feeling a lot better.
We're gonna get her home, get her some treats,
and if we find more stingers, just pull 'em out with tweezers.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: If the fair exposes any weakness in Doc...
(radio beep) DR. POL: Mobile one to base.
NARRATOR: it's that he still cannot be
in two places at once.
DR. POL: Hello.
♪ ♪
SHEILA: You okay, Sweet Pea?
NARRATOR: When it comes to having kittens,
there can be too much of a good thing.
SHEILA: My cat Sweet Pea started having kittens Monday night.
She had five kittens.
And she's pretty huge.
Mama cat!
DR. POL: Yes. She had four?
SHEILA: She had five, she stalled out.
She's still fat.
DR. POL: Bring her in, let's have a look.
SHEILA: Her last batch of kittens, she had nine,
so I was concerned she still had more kittens in there.
DR. POL: Go right in there first.
SHEILA: I'm just worried about her, because...
DR. POL: Yes, I know, that's why you're here!
Pick her up.
It's a Siamese.
SHEILA: Yeah, she's a snowshoe Siamese.
DR. POL: Oh, my gosh.
And they're pretty.
SHEILA: But look at how big she is yet.
DR. POL: These were born yesterday?
SHEILA: Not yesterday, but the night before.
(kittens mewing)
DR. POL: There could be more in there.
And we're gonna take an x-ray.
If there is a kitten that stays behind
36 hours since the last one was born,
you expect that kittens would be dead inside.
But you never know.
Okay.
WOMAN: Tell me when. DR. POL: Yup.
COMPUTER VOICE: Ready.
(beep)
DR. POL: What? Oh, my gosh!
DR. NICOLE: They're adorable.
(kitten mewing)
DR. POL: There's more. SHEILA: Oh, my God.
DIANE: Really? DR. POL: Yes.
Everything looks good.
Of course, you can't tell on x-ray
whether they're alive or not.
But you said you don't want any more kittens with her.
SHEILA: Yeah, you can take 'em out and spay her?
Yeah, let's do that.
DR. POL: Okay.
I'll take her in the back, and we're gonna do it right now.
SHEILA: Alright. I hope they're alive.
DR. POL: We'll find out shortly.
These kittens are not coming out.
I've seen so many times where people come too late,
and yes, then they can die.
DR. LISA: It looks like two kittens to me.
Those are their two heads.
SHEILA: This is Sweet Pea's fourth litter and her last.
I'm just hoping that the kittens didn't perish.
(sighs)
I just hope they survive.
♪ ♪
DR. POL: Okay, Kristin, let's clean her up!
It was close to 36 hours after the last one was born.
(mewing)
These kittens still come out alive.
WOMAN: We got two babies!
DR. POL: The uterus was just inert
and the muscle was completely gone.
It wasn't contracting at all,
and that's why these kittens were not being born,
because the uterus didn't push 'em out.
(mewing)
SHEILA: I hear one!
DR. POL: To be honest with you,
it was amazing that the uterus had not ruptured.
SHEILA: (gasps) Hi, babies!
Just two? WOMAN: Yep!
SHEILA: No dead ones? WOMAN: Nope!
SHEILA: Oh, my goodness!
Good!
There you go!
(mewing)
WOMAN: Alright, she's just starting to wake up.
SHEILA: Hi, Sweet Pea!
Awww.
DR. POL: They would never have come out.
The cervix was closed!
There were no contractions to get 'em out.
There's a good outlook for all these kittens,
and I hope she finds home for all of 'em.
SHEILA: You got seven babies.
My cat Sweet Pea looks happy.
The kittens are already nursing on her,
so I think they'll all do okay.
(mewing)
♪ ♪
KOLTON: They didn't have a fair last year.
Now I'm happy I'm here.
♪ ♪
They have super fun rides.
(people screaming)
I'm gonna go on all of the rides.
♪ ♪
CHARLES: I brought a special guest:
my daughter, Abigail.
Abigail is a precocious 21 months old,
so it's the perfect age to start that fair experience.
I have great memories of the fair as a kid.
It was the highlight of every summer.
And I can't wait to share that experience with Abigail.
Here we go!
You ready to have fun?
I see the joy in Abigail's face,
and it really just fills you with happiness and love.
NARRATOR: Abigail has a lot of "firsts" ahead...
♪ ♪
while this is Kylea's last hurrah.
KYLEA: 19's the fair cut-off age.
This is for my for-sure last year I can do it.
ANNOUNCER: In the small animal barn
we're showing rabbits today.
KYLEA: Buggs is a Netherland dwarf.
He means a lot to me
because two years ago I got Grand Champion with him.
I'm really hoping that I can do that again.
NARRATOR: Prizes have value.
But it's not the only reward.
HUNTOR: My rabbit's name is JJ, and he is a mini rex rabbit.
He's kind of been my friend during Covid.
GAVYN: Snowball is my rabbit.
He's my little buddy.
KOLTON: Dawn is my rabbit,
and me and Dawn are friends and we snuggle sometimes.
ANNOUNCER: Next up on our senior table...
KYLEA: I'm being judged
by like how I present him and everything.
♪ ♪
He's being judged on like how he cooperates,
how well he sits on the table,
his fur is a good quality,
all of his nails are there and everything like that.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: First place is Kylea Hoover.
(cheering and applause)
KYLEA: I am so impressed with Buggs.
My rabbit did excellent,
so I'm super happy, super proud of myself.
(applause)
I am so grateful for this experience.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Dr. Brenda is called out for an emergency.
A double take in the paddock
sidelined a horse owner's trip to the fair.
RACHEL: I came home to water the horses
before I headed up to the fair,
and Jane Doe turned to walk away from the water tank,
and I noticed this horrible gash.
I know it's bad.
♪ ♪
DR. BRENDA: Easy, babe. Let me look.
Oh, you did a nice job, didn't you?
RACHEL: It's pretty deep, I would say
at least 2 to 3 inches deep and 6 inches, 7 inches long.
DR. BRENDA: Easy, mare, you're alright.
Ho.
It could be worse.
This is obviously a flesh wound,
it's a long way from anything super important.
So, there is some swelling here,
probably happened a few hours ago.
We're just trying to make sure it heals
and is not butt-ugly.
We're gonna try to do this with the horse standing.
RACHEL: Okay.
DR. BRENDA: What I'm gonna do is tranquilize her,
so that she's not asleep, she'll be standing but tranquil.
Easy, babe.
And then we'll give her lidocaine in the wound,
so hopefully this is all numb.
We're gonna sew the muscle layer together first,
and then we'll put a layer in the skin.
RACHEL: Okay.
DR. BRENDA: Alright, here, mare.
♪ ♪
Easy, babe. Ho, mare.
We have the muscle layer closed. We're halfway there.
We're not sure exactly what happened,
just, she's caught her hind end on something and cut it.
It's hard to tell.
Like, I didn't find any foreign material in here,
like there wasn't, you know,
bark or a piece of stick or anything.
Hold still, babe, you're fine.
RACHEL: If you have horses,
they will find a way to injure themselves.
You can put them in a padded room,
and they will find a way to injure themselves.
DR. BRENDA: All right, about four or five more stitches
and we'll be done.
♪ ♪
Okay, we are done with her.
So, the outlook for Jane Doe is pretty good.
Sutures will come out in about 10 days to two weeks,
and hopefully everything will be hunky dory.
RACHEL: Dr. Brenda's bedside manner is excellent.
And she made this horrible situation
a little more tolerable.
I feel confident that Jane Doe is going to recover.
DR. BRENDA: Something about having a big gaping hole
in your hind end closed up that just makes life better.
♪ ♪
(moo)
NARRATOR: Certain fair activities
inspire a zeal not found any other time of the year.
There's washing.
Brushing.
Grooming.
DR. POL: Are those the fries here?
NARRATOR: And snacking!
♪ ♪
MAN: Dr. Pol! What's going on, mister?
DR. POL: I'm hungry!
DR. LISA: I'm gonna go eat a whole bunch of fried food
and then be in a food coma for the rest of the night probably.
KOLTON: I'll probably get a stomachache.
♪ ♪
CHARLES: Ooooh, look at this, Abigail!
Got a kraut dog and french fry.
You can't go to the fair and not enjoy fair food.
Heck, yeah! French fries and brats!
I don't know why fair food tastes so good, it just does.
Until the next day when you pay for it.
♪ ♪
DR. LISA: Let's go! Let's go!
WOMAN: Come on, mama.
♪ ♪
ASHLEY: Good girl.
Khaleesi is a dopey 6-year-old Irish wolfhound.
Come on, right in here.
Come!
We originally got her as a service dog.
Khaleesi!
But she completely failed.
Fine. I'll go first. Come on!
WOMAN: Alright, someone will be with you shortly.
ASHLEY: Okay, thank you! WOMAN: You're welcome.
ASHLEY: I absolutely adore her. She's my baby.
(panting)
DR. NICOLE: Oh, hi, girly! Hi!
You're a good girly, aren't you?
(kisses) Yes.
So what's going on with her?
ASHLEY: So, she's been off her food since 4th of July.
DR. NICOLE: Oh, goodness!
ASHLEY: She, it's just been not eating.
DR. NICOLE: Yeah.
ASHLEY: We can get her to eat if we put pumpkin on top.
DR. NICOLE: So, pumpkin is extra fiber,
and that can make it harder for her to go
if she's getting too much.
ASHLEY: Okay.
DR. NICOLE: So maybe we just ran into some constipation issues
because she likes her pumpkin so much?
ASHLEY: Okay.
DR. NICOLE: Any vomiting?
Good.
(kisses) Hi.
On physical exam, I want to see if she has a fever.
Okay, 101.
Perfect!
If she has an upset belly.
She does have some poop in her colon.
And just check all the normals.
There you go, this came out of your butt!
It looks pretty normal.
Looks like it's pumpkin-colored, but that's about it!
Khaleesi's physical exam was all pretty normal,
and even her stool looked normal.
Um, if you want, we can do some bloodwork
to see if there's anything internally going on
that I can't pick up on physical.
ASHLEY: Let's try the bloodwork.
DR. NICOLE: Okay.
Bloodwork is a good way to kind of get an idea
of what's going on internally.
Especially for things that we can't pick up on physical exam.
WOMAN: Good girl!
ASHLEY: Yeah.
DR. NICOLE: Just clean her up.
I will get this running,
and I'll be back as soon as we get results, okay?
ASHLEY: Okay. Thank you.
Wolfhounds, on average, only live to 8.
She's already 6.
(laughing)
So, we're hoping that nothing is seriously wrong.
DR. NICOLE: Okay, so bloodwork came back.
Her kidneys aren't filtering quite as they should be.
♪ ♪
DR. NICOLE: So, it could be something acute,
it could be something that we're just starting to see show up.
Khaleesi's bloodwork shows that her creatinine was elevated.
So that tells us that her kidneys
aren't filtering the toxins in her body,
and we need to help her do that.
(dog panting)
What we do is we want to increase her water intake.
ASHLEY: Okay.
DR. NICOLE: So, this is fluids
that will just go underneath her skin,
and as she needs 'em, her body will absorb 'em.
When the body isn't filtering the toxins
like it's supposed to be
because the kidneys are shutting down,
the more water the body takes in, the better.
ASHLEY: It's okay, sweety.
Good girl!
DR. NICOLE: You're just gonna get some hugs, okay?
That's gonna help filter the kidneys
and get all those toxins out into her urine.
So she's just gonna get the rest of this bag,
and then we'll be done.
Almost done, pretty girl.
Good girly!
ASHLEY: Good job!
Yay!
DR. NICOLE: There is a kidney diet we can put her on.
Usually they're lower in protein,
so the kidneys don't have to work so hard.
ASHLEY: We want you around a very long time.
DR. NICOLE: We'll have you come back in a few weeks,
and we can recheck her bloodwork,
see how her kidney values are then
compared to what they are now and see if we improved at all.
ASHLEY: In two weeks I'm hoping that the kidneys are fine
and the numbers aren't as elevated as they are.
Up you get.
Good girl!
We're hoping she'll get back on her food again
and that she's okay.
♪ ♪
(duck quacking)
KAREN: I have brought in a Welsh harlequin duckling,
beautiful duck.
Just a gorgeous little thing.
I'm worried that I may have to put the duck down!
It was falling over on its back, and it was shaking,
it was very unsteady on its legs
and falling all the time.
It just made me very worried.
DR. POL: Hello.
What's going on? Another duck?
KAREN: Yeah, I have a...
DR. POL: Oh, a little one!
KAREN: A little one.
It seems to roll over on its back all the time
and can't get up.
It walks real funny.
DR. POL: How old is it?
KAREN: Right around six weeks old.
DR. POL: Mm-hmm.
This one has that infection.
KAREN: Okay.
DR. POL: It's, it's like a Pasteurella infection.
I'll mix up something for you, and hopefully it works.
Pasteurella is a bad bacteria that is all over the place.
It causes pneumonia, it causes brain infection,
a whole bunch of stuff possible.
Because ducks are always digging in the mud,
and that's where the Pasteurella lives,
this happens quite frequently.
KAREN: Poor little thing!
Dr. Pol just does wonders!
I've had a duck in once before
and had no clue why it was limping,
and he knew exactly what it was right away.
DR. POL: That's a mixture of cortisone and, uh, antibiotics.
If you catch 'em early,
you have a good chance that it get better.
Karen didn't wait that long,
this duck still looks in good shape,
so I hope that we can save it.
Okay!
KAREN: Thank you, Dr. Pol.
DR. POL: Let me know!
KAREN: I'm feeling 100% better.
I was very, very worried.
I'm just happy. I'm very, very happy.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: At the fair, showmanship is on display.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: By golly, we've got a group
of young boys and girls who have worked their heart out.
NARRATOR: It's a test of how well do kids handle critters
that can outweigh 'em...
(moo)
Outmuscle 'em...
(baa)
♪ ♪
and outmaneuver 'em.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Entering the ring now, we have our 17-year-olds.
(moo)
HADYN: I'm showing my dairy feeder, Tommy.
For showmanship, Tommy is being judged on how he looks,
but it's also a lot of how I act.
If he gets to act up, I have to keep a positive attitude.
It's really how I show him.
(moo)
He can get kind of spunky if he's under pressure.
(moo)
CHARLES: It's a great lesson for the kids.
It kind of helps train that next generation of farmer.
ANNOUNCER: Fourth place, Hadyn Armstrong.
HADYN: I was hoping to do a little better, but he did good.
♪ ♪
(moo)
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: After-hours, an emergency.
DR. NICOLE: You look a little bloody, honey!
Okay. What's her name?
KAREN: Hunny Bun.
DR. NICOLE: Hi, Hunny Bun, oh!
So, she got in a fight?
KAREN: I put her in a pen with my Maltese male,
and then I heard her screaming.
Hunny Bun is my shih-tzu. She's two years old.
I was out giving my dogs all a treat,
and Hunny Bun is in a pen with my Maltese male,
she got a little too close, he attacked her
and pulled her eye out of socket.
DR. NICOLE: Aww! KAREN: I know, honey.
DR. NICOLE: That's got to be painful!
KAREN: Do you think she can still see out of it?
DR. NICOLE: No. KAREN: No.
DR. NICOLE: Nope.
Her eye is just hanging there;
it's barely connected with some soft tissue and muscles.
Yeah, that's gonna have to come out, sweetheart.
And it's apparent that her eye needs to come out.
KAREN: I'm so sorry.
DR. NICOLE: Okay, girly? You ready? Okay.
KAREN: I feel bad for what happened,
but at least she's alive.
DR. NICOLE: It's okay.
It's a very good girly.
Unfortunately shih-tzus are prone to this.
Their eyes are a little bit more bulgy than other dogs.
Good girly.
I'll take care of you, okay?
So, it doesn't take too much pressure or injury
to have 'em pop out.
♪ ♪
Here she is, she's still waking up,
but I wanted you to see her.
KAREN: Okay.
DR. NICOLE: Um, so you can see,
she's got some stitches in there,
she is waking up a little bit already.
KAREN: Okay.
DR. NICOLE: She'll get along just fine with one eye.
KAREN: I know of other dogs had their eyes taken out,
and they grew up to be perfect dogs.
DR. NICOLE: Here ya go.
Dogs, thankfully, do not miss it when they have one eye.
They have a good peripheral vision, and they don't care;
they're happy-go-lucky,
and as long as they get the love and attention and food,
they're good!
Good girl.
KAREN: One eye is better than none.
DR. NICOLE: Okay, be a good girly!
Good night.
Have a good day and drive safe, okay?
♪ ♪
(birds chirping)
♪ ♪
(rooster crows)
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The ultimate sweepstakes prize
for any racehorse
is where they land after their racing days are over.
ADRIENNE: Ry is 14. He's an ex-racehorse.
He broke his back during a training accident,
and we adopted him.
Love him, he's very low key, just real docile, mellow.
(horse snorts)
Then we have Matty, who's very fiery.
He came off the track, too.
He's related to Bold Ruler, and quite the pedigree.
They're just pets, you just want to give them the best life,
and we love 'em to death.
DR. BRENDA: Today we're with Eric and Adrienne.
We're doing some routine maintenance stuff.
Hello, boys, how are you?
We're just gonna clean their sheaths,
and then they'd like them to have
a mineral supplement injection today while I'm here.
ADRIENNE: He'll be 20 this winter!
Looks pretty good for 20.
DR. BRENDA: Yeah, he does!
I wouldn't have guessed near that high!
ADRIENNE: That's 'cause he gets well-cared for.
DR. BRENDA: That's exactly right!
We're gonna sedate each one of 'em,
and then we'll go from there.
ADRIENNE: Okay!
DR. BRENDA: So, we're gonna use just a little bit of sedation
when we do the sheath cleaning.
It's not particularly comfortable.
It just makes the whole experience more pleasant
on every side of the equation.
I'm gonna go ahead and give him his selenium.
ADRIENNE: Sounds good.
DR. BRENDA: Good boy.
Selenium is needed for muscle development and use.
Good boy.
You're doing awesome.
And, uh, make their muscles a little bit stronger.
There you go. That's the last of that.
Alright, now we're going back to Ry.
There's nothing wrong with him; he's just like a pig pen.
You know, he just collects a bunch of grossness in here.
There's urine, there's skin cells,
there's dirt, anything he's been exposed to
when he hangs his penis out to urinate,
it's all that build-up of stuff.
♪ ♪
Easy, babe, you're alright.
We're done with him.
ERIC: Okay.
DR. BRENDA: Yeah, you're kind of crusty in here, too, baby!
Alright, we've got him all cleaned up,
so we are done.
So, we've gotten the sheaths cleaned,
they've had their selenium shot.
For all intents and purposes
the horses are good for another year now.
ADRIENNE: Thank you for everything.
DR. BRENDA: You're welcome!
You guys have a good day.
ADRIENNE: We'll keep 'em in their stalls
for about an hour or so and let 'em out
and then, uh, hopefully everything's gonna be good!
♪ ♪
(oink)
ANNOUNCER: Nice job by this division.
This young man over here in the blue plaid shirt
is gonna win your class and did a really, really nice job.
(applause)
JUDGE: The young man coming in second,
he's been working his tail off out here.
KOLMAN: I just got second place,
and I'm really excited about that.
It was my first year, and I was really nervous.
NARRATOR: The beauty of the fair is
there are winners, to be sure.
ANNOUNCER: And our Grand Champion Senior Showman
is Kylea Hoover.
(applause)
NARRATOR: But runners-up are definitely not losers.
GAVYN: I think I did pretty good.
I got fourth place, and it was definitely fun.
DR. POL: The kids compete against each other,
but there's no animosity.
ANNOUNCER: Fourth place is number 3, Huntor McDonald.
(applause)
HUNTOR: JJ and I got fourth place in showmanship.
AVERY: I finished third in my class today.
Really, yeah! (laughs)
KOLTON: I've been working with Dawn about a week or so.
♪ ♪
I didn't do the best today.
ANNOUNCER: Third place is number 2, Kolton McDonald.
(applause)
DR. POL: 4-H teaches the kid responsibility, organization,
and there is a success at the end,
which makes it really good for 'em.
JUDGE: Well, when I named this lady First in Class,
she did the best job of getting that steer presented
the way he needed to be.
(applause)
MADIGAN: We placed first overall
in the 13-year-old group.
Really exciting!
ANNOUNCER: Your Grand Champion Junior Showman is Carter House.
(cheering)
CARTER: I just won Junior Showmanship Champion.
It's a great day.
KOLMAN: My brother Carter, he got Grand Champion today,
and then got first in Showmanship.
I'm proud of him 'cause he did really good
and I really like him.
ANNOUNCER: Congratulations to all the showmen in this class.
(applause and cheering)
♪ ♪
(baa)
(mooing)
♪ ♪
ASHLEY: Hi!
NARRATOR: Khaleesi is back.
ASHLEY: Good girl.
NARRATOR: Two weeks ago, the Irish wolfhound
started a low-protein diet
designed to improve kidney function.
DR. NICOLE: That helps out the kidneys
a lot more than just eating regular dog food.
ASHLEY: Okay.
NARRATOR: Bloodwork today will show whether it's helping.
DR. NICOLE: Hi, Khaleesi.
How's Khaleesi doing?
ASHLEY: Doing a lot better.
We're mixing kibble with the kidney wet food,
she's mowing that down.
DR. NICOLE: Good!
We'll see how her kidney values are today.
Try and get some blood.
♪ ♪
ASHLEY: Good girl!
DR. NICOLE: Okay, I will get this running,
and then will come back and see what the values are this time
compared to last time, okay?
ASHLEY: Okay. Thank you.
The last week's been a little stressful,
trying to make sure Khaleesi eats the right food.
We're now hoping that she'll be back to herself!
DR. NICOLE: Okay, so good news.
Her kidney value looks better, so.
ASHLEY: Yay!
DR. NICOLE: Last time it was 2.2, so up there.
This time it's just barely elevated. It's 1.9.
ASHLEY: Yay!
DR. NICOLE: So, we're doing much better,
which is why she's feeling better.
ASHLEY: Yay!
We're so happy!
DR. NICOLE: Khaleesi has improved so much
since her first visit,
and she looks more like a normal dog now.
She's eating, drinking,
and I think she's gonna improve and be fine.
Okay? Well, you guys are all set.
ASHLEY: Thank you. DR. NICOLE: You're welcome.
Good girl, Khaleesi.
ASHLEY: I'm feeling relieved, that my dog is okay
and everything's on the mend.
It looks like she's out of the woods
and she's gonna be okay.
Good girl! Good girl!
♪ ♪
(moo)
(baa)
♪ ♪
(horse neighs)
NARRATOR: Matty the thoroughbred is in trouble.
ADRIENNE: I am very worried.
NARRATOR: Four hours ago,
Matty had a tranquilizer for his sheath cleaning
and a shot of a mineral supplement.
ADRIENNE: Right now Matty is thrashing, he won't eat,
he's having trouble getting up and down.
My husband Eric is walking him around the property,
so he won't completely go down.
(neigh)
Oh, no!
♪ ♪
(horse neighs)
♪ ♪
ADRIENNE: The vet's here now, Eric.
NARRATOR: Matty's sheath cleaning and mineral supplement
were routine.
ADRIENNE: We're gonna fix you right up, okay, buddy?
NARRATOR: The gelding's reaction now is anything but.
DR. LISA: Hello!
How's our friend doing?
ADRIENNE: He has hives.
DR. LISA: He sure does, my goodness.
I can see quite a few hives all over his neck.
I'm gonna pull up a steroid shot to give him right now.
ADRIENNE: Okay. DR. LISA: And then I'll do more.
ADRIENNE: Thank you.
DR. LISA: It seems like Matty might be having
a bit of an allergic reaction
to one of the injections he received earlier today,
and I want to get the steroid inside him
as quickly as possible,
so that we can make him a lot more comfortable.
Hey, bud.
Poor guy!
An allergic reaction
is basically your immune system going "wham." Explosion.
So, the steroids tell everything to calm down.
The steroids just kind of tell the immune system
to take a break, tone it down,
and rid of all that itchy uncomfortableness.
ADRIENNE: What do you think it was, the selenium shot or?
Did he have a selenium shot before that I can think of?
ERIC: Yeah, and he had hives that same time.
DR. LISA: So, he had hives
the last time he got selenium as well?
ADRIENNE: Yeah.
It's looking like it's a pattern
of when he gets a selenium shot, he gets an allergic reaction.
NARRATOR: Now that an allergy is established,
the solution moving forward
is to put Matty on a custom protocol.
DR. LISA: I think probably in the future, then,
it would be a good idea
to kind of like pre-dose him with a steroid?
ADRIENNE: Okay.
DR. LISA: At a low dose, a steroid
can stop an allergic reaction before it's gonna start.
ADRIENNE: Okay.
DR. LISA: If Matty has this sensitivity
and we know about it,
we could potentially pre-dose him
with some steroids or antihistamines
to control any sort of reaction, keep him comfortable.
ADRIENNE: Thank you, you just like eased
all my worry and my stress and...
DR. LISA: That's what I hope to do for everyone.
ADRIENNE: It looks like it's a success story
and hopefully he'll enjoy his day,
and this will all be behind us.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: 2021 Isabella County Fair.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!
(cheering and applause)
♪ ♪
CHARLES: It's auction day!
(auctioneer chanting rapidly)
It's one of my favorite days of the year.
AUCTIONEER: Going once. Sold for 3.75.
DR. POL: Looks like feeder steers are first.
DR. POL: It's a big deal.
(moo)
BRANTLY: I'm like excited
to see who's gonna buy my dairy feeder.
KOLTON: I'm hoping to get between 300 and 400 dollars.
♪ ♪
(auctioneer chanting)
DR. POL: Hey, you! (laughing)
CHARLES: Abigail is soaking up this experience.
DR. POL: (laughing) You're crazy, kid!
It's nice that Charles has taken Abigail to the fair,
but at the same time, I cannot play with her now
because I'm here on business.
ANNOUNCER: Alright, in the ring now
we have your intermediate reserve showman,
Madigan Anderson, her feeder weighs 677 pounds.
(auctioneer chanting)
DR. POL: Okay, here we go!
(auctioneer chanting)
2.75!
I don't have a system for bidding at all.
But I try to make sure every kid gets at least a minimum bid.
AUCTIONEER: Sold for three dollars a pound!
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Pol, thank you for that purchase.
AUCTIONEER: Thank you.
DR. POL: Come here, get closer.
DR. LISA: I'm here, I'm here.
MADIGAN: My cow sold for, I think, 3 dollars a pound.
DR. POL: And how much does he weigh?
MADIGAN: 677.
(cha-ching!)
DR. POL: Bidding and winning is not good
because that means you have to pay for it.
ANNOUNCER: In the ring next we have Karlie Misenhelder.
Her steer weighs 678 pounds.
NARRATOR: Twister is up for auction...
(auctioneer chanting)
a Cinderella moment after a shaky start.
KARLIE: Dr. Pol came out, looked at Twister
'cause he wasn't eating or drinking anything up here.
(moo)
DR. POL: Take the grain away. MAN: Take the grain away?
DR. POL: Yeah, because he's acid.
Baking soda will sweeten his stomach.
(auctioneer chanting)
KARLIE: I'm very thankful we called Dr. Pol.
He's back to eating grain like he should be.
(auctioneer chanting)
AUCTIONEER: We got him sold for 3.75.
KARLIE: I just sold Twister for 3.75 a pound.
(cha-ching!)
It's the highest I've ever gotten
with any of my dairy feeders,
and I'm very pleased with it.
DR. POL: I'm glad that Karlie got such a good price.
That's why I work with the kids at the fair,
because when you can keep an animal healthy
so the kids can take care of it and sell 'em like this,
that's my job, and I really enjoy
helping kids out at the fair like that.
(auctioneer chanting)
ANNOUNCER: The boys and girls have worked their hearts out
to make these animals the best they can tonight.
(baa)
(cheering and applause)
AVERY: It was just a really great fair year.
♪ ♪
Captioned by Side Door Media Services