06/08/2026
Because of the history and tradition of Texas A&M, there tended to be some unique personalities in our professors and clinicians. Some of that was due to the long history of being a military college and all male campus. Comparing todays environment on campuses
with the sixties would be like comparing apples and oranges. The policing of what was taught and said was non-existent at that time.
The first person that comes to mind was the head professor in equine medicine and surgery. Dr. Romain had to be in his late seventies and he was eccentric and colorful and I think liked to
do some things for the shock factor. He was an A&M graduate and I’m not sure he had ever been anywhere but A&M. He must have begun his career before sterile techniques were practiced extensively, because he was known to do some surgical procedures barehanded.
Today that would be considered malpractice. In any case he had been there a long time and had quite a reputation. He could be crotchety and never lacked for confidence. At his age he
probably had seen anything that could be seen in a horse.
I remember distinctly making rounds in one of his classes during my senior year. We were all still green and eager to learn. That day we were to see a standing horse castration and we assumed he would be performing the surgery as we watched. In those days many procedures were still done on horses with little or no anesthesia. Because of there size and power horses can be difficult to manage and there can be danger of the horse injuring itself and the veterinarian attempting to perform a treatment or surgery. Putting them down on the ground can be a major task and getting them up after a procedure can turn into catastrophe in a heartbeat. Thus, the idea of doing the castration while the horse is standing. That of course means the horse is still awake, which means he is mobile and able to inflict damage with those powerful legs.Dr. Romain explained to us that the horse would be sedated to some degree and of course a twitch would be applied to his nose. Twitches have been used in horses for eons and they can
be very effective in sort of immobilizing it for minor procedures. They actually work quite well and can be very helpful. But we greenhorns looked at those powerful rear legs and wondered
who would be fool enough to reach between them and castrate this horse.
Then came the surprise! Dr. Romain turned to us and said “Who wants to do this surgery?” I the naive one was standing there in front of everybody trying to pick up every morsel of knowledge I could was the first person he latched on to. The next thing I knew I was prepping for surgery and Dr. Romain was explaining to me how I was going to proceed. The horse looked fairly calm and I wanted to trust this man who was taking my life in his hands, but I
remember being very fearful while trying to exude as much confidence as I could muster. He handed me a syringe full of local anesthetic and told me to place my shoulder in the horses
flank and lean into him while I grabbed his sc***um with my left hand and put a bead of anesthetic under the skin over the testicle. Supposedly if the horse tried to move or kick he would shove me away in the process. That seemed like a dreamed up idea, but what did a green veterinary student know. Once I had placed the local anesthetic over each testicle, I was given another syringe with a fairly long needle and I was to inject the local anesthetic into the
testicle and spermatic cord above it. All of this would deaden the entire surgical area and the horse would feel nothing when I performed the castration. Well needless to say I got it done
since I’m here writing about it, but I must have sweat a gallon doing it.
Whenever I think of that procedure, I always marvel that it can be accomplished with so little anesthesia. It’s some how artistic in its performance. I’ve done many since that day but I’ve never forgotten that first experience and I’ve never had the guts to do them without a horse stock to give me some modicum of protection.
Later, Joe Soileau
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