Spoiler alert: sorta bad review of the new PBS series “All Creatures.” Especially the equine abscess segment.
Episode one. Horse with abscess. In a paddock with ankle deep very wet mud a hoof is lifted and a hoof knife is deployed (sort of, barely) and amazingly perfect exudate spills out with a color apparently approved by production design, not mother nature (especially in that insanely filthy environment)! despite the hoof not even being fully cleaned; then the hoof (of course) was set down again into ankle deep disgusting footing. OH YES THEY DID HAVE IODINE IN THOSE DAYS. Also “sugardine.” Oh and the part about the “horse shaking hands” - any British (esp. Yorkshire!!) groom worth his stipend and 3 squares would never on pain of being turned off without a reference (service jobs being even in those days fully dependent upon a good reference) have allowed someone to approach a horse known for striking – from the front, no less and bend down in front of the offending forelegs!
Then: After Emmy-award level widened eyes from newbie vet (displayed so consistently and frequently one wonders whether his education had actually rendered him capable of effectiveness in any farm environment whatsoever) it was also amazing that he achieved miraculously clean clothing immediately following said striking incident.
I won’t bother repeating the amazing miracle after the calving incident.
You would think with the long history of stellar equine horse (and general livestock and farm) management in that country that the producers could at least have retained an advisor to the show to help make things just a tad more realistic. The widened eyeballs just didn’t cut it.