Vets' clinic offers horses cutting-edge care

PLYMPTON -- Anyone passing 151 Palmer Road two years ago would have considered the debris-strewn lot with its abandoned metal building a blight on an otherwise scenic stretch of rural Route 58 . But when veterinarians Mark Reilly and Linda Cimetti passed the 30-acre property during their ambulatory rounds in December 2004 , what they saw were possibilities.

Last January , Reilly and Cimetti, who plan to marry when they can find some down time, opened the South Shore Equine Clinic and Diagnostic Center on the site. And few facilities in New England can rival the technology this veterinary team has put together there.

The metal building with 5,000 square feet of space has been converted into an animal hospital containing a reception area, a surgical suite with a pulley system for hoisting a 1,000-pound horse onto the operating table, two padded preoperative and postoperative rooms, a 9-foot-wide lameness assessment area, a laboratory, and a main work room with two stalls that are monitored by camera. The video system allows the veterinarians and their staff to keep tabs on a horse's condition from other areas of the hospital or from home.

The hospital boasts cutting -edge equipment for diagnosing ailments, including endoscopes to check for ulcers in the stomach lining or problems in the respiratory tract and equipment to administer shock-wave therapy to dramatically cut the healing time for bone, ligament, and tendon injuries.

But the center's most unique feature, and the one Reilly and Cimetti are most proud of, is its magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, system that allows the veterinarians to view the condition of soft tissue as well as bone in fine detail. The so-called ``open field" system allows the horse to stand while the imaging is done, so the doctors can get a weight-bearing view of an injury. ``This technology is brand-new," Reilly said. ``There are only 15 MRIs like this in the country."

According to Reilly, the closest comparably equipped horse hospital would be Tufts Hospital for Large Animals in North Grafton . And even Tufts doesn't have the same kind of MRI, Reilly said. ``They sent one of their cases to us."

Next to the hospital, Reilly and Cimetti built a six-stall barn, also equipped with a camera system. And there are three outdoor test surfaces, from asphalt to deep sand, to get a better look at leg and hoof injuries. An existing house on the property is now used for overnight stays by staff members, whenever a horse is staying at the hospital.

Reilly, 41, originally from Abington , earned his degree from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1991 . He has spent most of his career treating horses in the field. Initially, he worked the horse -racing circuit in New York and New Jersey, and southern Florida in the winter. In 1995, he moved to Cape Cod and had a traveling practice there, treating large animals. Two years later, he combined that with a small-animal practice.

He traveled throughout Massachusetts, including Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, treating animals on farms. Being on the road might mean ``finding a grassy knoll" in a pasture to perform a surgical procedure, even in scorching heat or in the rain, he said. In the winter, he would take his practice to Florida, treating young race horses. In a few cases, those horses went on to achieve some measure of fame.

``One horse I treated won the Kentucky Derby," Reilly said of Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 winner that he treated the year before. ``Two others won Breeders' Cup races."

Cimetti, 30, a native of Scituate , earned her degree from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2001 and worked for the next four years at the Massachusetts Equine Clinic in Uxbridge . She has stayed connected with her alma mater, teaching a course in large-animal gross anatomy to first-year veterinary students at Tufts.

Reilly and Cimetti met four years ago as volunteers in the Dominican Republic , teaching animal husbandry skills. Cimetti decided to leave the Massachusetts Equine Clinic and join Reilly in his ambulatory practice last year. ``I stole her away and asked her to marry me," said Reilly.

The South Shore Equine Clinic and Diagnostic Center is ``a dream come true" for Cimetti. ``It's nice to be able to practice medicine in a high-quality facility," she said. ``You can maintain a higher standard of care."

Reilly said he had practiced medicine on the road long enough to know what he needed in a hospital, when it came time to build. ``I had been designing my equine hospital for about 10 years, getting bits and pieces of advice on what to do and what not to do," he said. ``As a doctor, you can do so much more if you have a facility, and your lifestyle is better when you're not on the road all the time."

The two have found they make a good team, both in and out of the hospital. ``We work pretty well together as a couple and as doctors," Reilly said. ``We have our differences and disagreements, but we both love what we do."

That is fortunate for them, as the hours are long. About half the week is spent at the clinic and diagnostic center in Plympton and the other half on the road, visiting barns in area towns.

The center is getting busier by the day as horse owners in the area discover its capabilities. ``On Saturdays, the trailers are just lined up out here," Reilly said. He and Cimetti also continue their efforts to connect with area veterinarians.

``We want them to know we're not here to steal their business," Reilly said. ``We're here to help them with their patients. Most are receptive, but we're still getting a little `testing the waters' from some."

The pair have big plans for the property on Palmer Road. They intend to add more paddocks and, eventually, build a home there.

Christine Wallgren can be reached at clwallgren@aol.com.