VN May 2021

Vetnews | May 2021 35 My heart seemed to miss a beat and my breath stuck in my throat as I tried to digest what Joep Maree had just said to me. I looked out the side windowof his rather usedMercedes at themagnificent mountains soaring above us as we slid over the Banhoek pass down towards Pniel and then on to Franschhoek. Joep had been a senior when I arrived at OP and had been in practice in Stellenbosch since soon after he qualified in 1956. His practice was the only one at that stage and he had recently appointed an assistant. He had taken over the practise from Veldman, well-known in those years for the most popular book which was a lay guide to veterinary science for the farmer, commonly known by the names of the two authors; “Mönnig and Veldman”. Initially Joep’s practise was the only rural practise outside of the Cape Town metropolitan area and he ranged all over the Boland, guided by a very efficient radio operator who kept organising his day for him, making appointments and directing him around the district. Joep had invited me to accompany him on an unusual call, claiming to have difficulty with a Percheron mare that was lame, on a farm in Franschhoek that he wanted a second opinion on. I realised later this was only a cover for the conversation he wanted to have with me. I had been only too keen to get out for the afternoon so accepted gladly. “Are you happy at the lab”? He had asked me at first. As I watched the vineyards slip past with their new spring shoots I didn’t spend too much time considering my answer. I had decided, when I had taken the job at the lab that I would not allow myself to be dissatisfied and waste time longing for something else. “Ja” I said, “it’s OK, I’m quite happy there”. Then he dropped the bombshell: “well, if you maybe change your mind, my assistant wants to travel overseas so I’m looking for someone to join me in his place”. It was as if a huge load had been lifted from my shoulders. As I struggled to get my breath back I looked up at the highest peak of the Banhoek mountain, to our right and the sparkling light that reflected from the towering waterfall cascading down the vertical face of solid rock, seemed to suddenly promise a new sense of freedom and purpose which I had lost a year or two before. I swallowed a few times before I answered him. This was what I had studied at OP for, not the studious grind of the lab. I longed to get out onto the farms again, to feel the adrenalin rush, to fight for the outcome and to feel the appreciation and fellowship of the farmers. This simple farm boy was never meant to be a laboratory consultant; however glamorous it had sounded at the start. After giving me a few minutes to gather myself, he tentatively said “Well?”Wow, what an opportunity, to join him in what was one of the most sought-after places to practise our profession. A large town with a good rural community. A practise equally distributed between large and small animal patients. And he was inviting me into a full partnership. I had to prevent myself from sounding too enthusiastic. While I felt like shouting at the top of my voice “Yes, yes, ten times yes!” I calmly started to discuss the practical implementation of this future merger. Over the next twenty years I was to get to know this uniquely gifted man better and better. He is probably one of the most intelligent, kind, gentle and generous people I know. People would often bring pets to him simply as an excuse to ask him for advice about some personal problem they may have had. I used to Recollections 45: AWay Out Ian du Toit Story >>> 36