Customer Reviews

The Village Horse Doctor

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read The Village Horse Doctor a couple of times since the early 1970's. It is among my favorite books. I loaned the book to an old timer who grew up in OK and Texas during the depression. He told me that The Village Horse Doctor is one of the best books he's ever about the west. I loaned V.H.D. to the veterinarians I worked for, they also loved it. (There's no James Harriett in Fort Stockton!)

I do not have the book handy to skim it to refresh my memory and evaluate how much Dr. Green may be pulling our leg. After reading the book the first time, it made perfect sense to me why Mr. Green would retire all the way across Texas after publishing The Village Horse Doctor.

Perhaps some of the stories are exagerated. But, the point of the loco weed story is NOT what he detected in the lab. It's his observations in the field. As far as the loco weed goes, the lab and the pills were a deception so that he'd recover for his time spent on the field work.

Like O Henry, the sense of humor often involves a bit of chicanery. (For example, O. Henry's The Gentle Grafter).

I would rate this book higher than Wild Horse Tails although it is also a fine book.

GREEN HAS A BIG COW COUNTRY FOLLOWING. IN OTHER BOOKS HE TELLS OF VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCES IN AUCTION HOUSES, BRUSHY PASTURES, AND SMALL TOWNS WITH FIRST MONDAY HORSE SALES. NOW WE FIND GREEN ALL GROWN UP AND WORKING IN WEST TEXAS AS A VET. WITH LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE DURING WORLD WAR II, HE ANALYSES NOXIOUS WEEDS, FINDS SPECIFICALLY TOXIC SUBSTANCES, AND COMPOUNDS CURES RIGHT THERE. THIS IS PROBABLY NOT POSSIBLE WITH TODAY'S RESOURCES, SO THE ACCOUNTS IN THIS BOOK DO NOT RING TRUE TO ME. I'VE WORKED CATTLE IN A BRUSHY COUNTRY AND I'VE DONE SOME ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND THE MORE I READ OF GREEN'S DOINGS, THE MORE SKEPTICAL I BECOME. I THINK GREEN MAY HAVE WORKED US TEXAS BOYS THE WAY CARLOS CASTENADA WORKED HIPPIES.

Excellent hands on account of veterinary medicine as rural America emerged from WW2. In addition to the examples of large animal care, DVM Green displays the pioneer spirit to tackle research type animal problems.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In, I didn't put it down when I finished it--I just started over! I loved spending time with this man! He was incredibly observant, picking up on many subtle clues in nature and in the animal to solve problems that had been plaguing the animal husbandry community in that region(West of the Pecos. He contributed so much to the body of knowledge required to improve veterinary care in the middle of the 20th century that it is astonishing. I'm sure it's all in the literature now, but back then the pragmatic ranchers lived with loss of stock even as they themselves tried to figure out how to save their animals. Dr. Green made a science of it!

In his descriptions of the various things that caught his attention in the fields, and helped him solve these problems, the reader can see how staying observant is so very important to succesfully caring for animals (and children!). His information on poisonous plants is so detailed that I recognize some as growing in Central Texas as I drive the country roads, even without a horticultural book to reference! Excellent book and lots of fun to read!!

This is a continuation of the entertaining, sometimes hilarious life of Ben K. Green, horse trader and horse doctor. His books have the authentic flavor of Texas during and beyond the Great Depression, and this book is no exception. Green possesses a keen understanding of people, cattle, and especially horses,which is not only entertaining, but also very informative. Since I have horses of my own, and I live or have lived in or near many of the places he encounters in his books, reading his books is often like coming home for me. This particular book pretty much details the difficulty of becoming accepted by the surrounding ranchers,the ingenuity of treating animals without always having traditional medicines close at hand, and the love of a man doing what he has chosen to do in spite of many set backs. Although this might not be a book for the general public, anyone who has a love for animals, the West, and the people who inhabit this sometimes challenging land will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Interesting and often funny, sometimes a little far fetched. Not as good reading as Wild Cow Tales or Hoss Trading.

Ben Green's veterinary tales from the war years of the 1940's are an entertaining and at the same time realistic glimpse into ranch life on the drought stricken Texas range.

Humorous, straightforward and most of all full of common sense approaches to doctoring and playing detective in solving the many medical dilemmas to the thousands and thousands of horses, cattle and sheep in this region.

The man was totally committed and worked tirelessly in his profession, a trait which is somewhat wanting nowadays in all walks of life.

I like the Ben K Green from Wild Cow Tales and 1000 Miles of Mustangin' (one of my favorite books) - funny, low key, and highly descriptive of people and experiences. This book just follows him from call to call, solving mysteries and lacking (for the most part) the sense of humor evidenced in his other books. The Village Horse Doctor reads like Ben is Quincy M.E. without the "charm."