Wha?

Apparently, I am a freaking genius.

No, really. It's either that or the people in my repro class are complete frigging idiots. I'm trying to be charitable.

Our whole class today was review for the final, which Marilyn being Marilyn, she forced us to do ourselves. Everyone had to have ten questions to ask people in the class, about materials we covered. If the person you first asked couldn't answer it, then you asked someone else. And then someone else, etc etc.

Except that somehow it became less a "who knows the answer?" thing and more a "ask Farmgirl" thing.

There were some good questions, yes. I had to double check my answer on how long a fertilized ovum remains mobile in the uterus before attaching itself in one of the uterine horns. I wasn't entirely positive on what specific infection caused by retained placenta one of the students was looking for (well, she didn't say "other than......." along with the long list of uterine, urinary tract, and systemic infections that can be caused by a piece of placenta being retained and decomposing in the uterus, so I'm not really beating myself up over that one.)

But, seriously. My questions were easy. Anatomy. Things that we covered last week. Gimme a freaking break.

If you can't tell me that the seminal vesicles are the pathway for the sperm to travel between the testicles and the accessory sex glands, what are you going to do when your stud gets an infection that attacks the lymph nodes near the accessory sex glands and swelling shuts off said vesicles?? Look at the vet with your head cocked to the side and drooling?

And even if you don't want a stud, every horse owner will inevitably breed a mare at some point. It's nearly impossible to resist, especially if you have women or children around. Foals are cute!

What are you going to do if you've got a baby that's not absorbing the antibodies from the colostrum, or a mare that doesn't produce adequate antibodies, if you don't know that a plasma transfusion from the mare (actually a much simpler process than it sounds, trust me) will boost the foal's immunity? Let it die of rhinopneumonitis the first time it gets sneezed on?? Spend thousands of dollars in vet bills to keep it alive when it gets one of the many viruses that go after horses and the virus kicks it's little immuno-insufficient butt?

Gimme a freaking break, people.

I answered about twenty five percent of the questions, while reading an entirely different book, on decongestants that had me looking at the person next to me asking if the wall was blue or if I was seeing things. (The wall was blue, by the way. The projector was on.)

Honestly, am I all that smart or is everyone else just that big of an idiot?? I know that I have a talent for retaining and retrieving information, especially if I read it, and not everyone else does. I don't fault people because they don't remember facts and figures that I can. I just feel lucky that I can discard the things that aren't useful to me, for the most part, or store them in some part of the filing system in my brain that doesn't get opened unless it's needed.

I do fault people when they can't remember that a major benefit of artificial insemination is the reduction in the spread of equine venereal diseases. When it was mentioned constantly. Or that one genetic test can prevent reinforcing a bad recessive that causes a horse to be born with so little bonding tissue between skin and muscle that a light pet on the neck can peel hide, and I mean all of the hide down to muscle and bone, loose.

Or, you know, basic anatomy that you should know at least the bare bones of. Especially when it's the same stuff that's in you.

Gimme a break!