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j 1 RARE OPERATION SAVES MATRON FOR BREEDING BREEDINGAbnormal Abnormal Organ of Light Brocade Removed by Dr Hopper Through Incision in Flank Foals Filly UPPERVILLE Va June 28 The oldest horse show in America is the Upperville Horse and Colt Show Its fiftyfirst annual exhibition was neld this month Its incep ¬ tion was in 1853 when Colonel Dulany settled a dispute among Upperville breeders who accepted the wealthy landowners judg ¬ ment as to the outstanding thoroughbred yearling that year One of the most interesting of the 600 600I I entries of the last show was Mrs Isabel IsabelI I Dodge Sloanes Brookmeade Farms Light Brocade full sister to the defunct Toro produced a daughter on April 24 to carry on a truly classic line after one c the most unusual surgical operations in veterinary annals annalsToros Toros sister underwent this successful ex ¬ perimental operation in 1937 Only once before had it been attempted in France By The Porter Brocatelle Light Brocade was a fair twoyearold but had a bad disposi ¬ tion She was sour and horsing continuously necessitating her retirement from training Mrs Sloane wished to keep her as a brood mare She was bred in 1936 tut without result DR HAGGARD CALLED IN INThroughout Throughout the breeding season Light Brocades periods were irregular She was in season virtually all summer Hugh L Fontaine had Dr Charles E Haggard ex ¬ amine her and he found that the left ovary was greatly enlarged It was about the size of a water bucket and consequently could not be removed through the vagina Her right ovary was about the size of a peanut subnormal Dr Cassius Way as consulted Fontaine Fontainej advised him that Joseph E Widener had mentioned an operation which had been attempted in France the removal of a tum crous ovary through the fla k Dr Way was interested never having heard of it and asked to be allowed to experiment himself Light Brocade was taken to the Belmont Park hospital and Dr Earl B Hoppers services were engaged engagedQuoting Quoting Fontaine Brookmeades well known trainer Light Brocade was placed on the operating tabfe and anesthetized Dr Hopper made a flank incision about ten inches long and removed the left ovary which weighed about fourteen pounds I believe Dr Dimock has it now as it was sent to the University of Kentucky After the operation which lasted almost aft hour and a half the mare was walked about one half mile back to her stall She made an almost unbelievable recovery Her tempera ¬ ture was about 105 for approximately thirty six hours and thereafter she was normal She had a good appetite and the wound healed perfectly MARKED CHANGE IN DISPOSITION DISPOSITIONThis This operation was performed in July 1937 When she had completely recovered and was sent back to the farm her disposi ¬ tion had entirely changed She was quiet and normal lost all nervousness and tried to fight other mares She was bred in 1938 but was barren In 1939 she was bred and got in foal She was due in April 1940 but aborted in December The abortion was healthy and showed no signs of infection Men on the farm believed she aborted due to a fall when attempting to jump a ditch In any event we were encouraged to learn that she could get in foal and that there was no infection after the abortion She was bred again in 1940 to Cavalcade and last April 20 she foaled a large strong un ¬ usually good filly She had no difficulty foaling and she has done well since then thenThis This should be interesting and helpful to breeders who wish to save mares for breed ing by such an operation Few veterinary surgeons possess the technique of Dr Hop ¬ per
