RYEDALE has a little-known second hospital.

It employs highly-qualified specialists to deal with a range of complex medical procedures - from bone therapy to artificial insemination.

The Rainbow Equine Clinic, hidden away off the beaten track in Old Malton, is one of only two specialist horse hospitals in the north of England, and has a national and international reputation for professional veterinary excellence.

Ideally situated in Malton, 'the Newmarket of the north', the surgery supports a key industry for the area.

The equine clinic treats most of the major players in the scene.

Among its regulars are horse owners and trainers such as John Quinn, James Hetherton, John Wainwright, Nigel Tinkler, Mark Campion, Richard Fahey, Brian Rothwell and Kevin Ryan.

While accolades may be garnered on the racetracks and show jumping fields, it is this team of vets which provides a vital behind-the-scenes service to the owners.

Founding partner Bob Ordidge opened the clinic in January 1986.

He has gathered a diverse team around him as the surgery has grown in the past 17 years.

Bob himself specialises in arthroscopy, or respiratory surgery.

Alastair Nelson, a partner, is a specialist in nuclear scientigraphy, or bone scanning.

Ieuan Pritchard, also a partner, has an expertise with show-jumping horses and lameness, and is often asked to travel abroad to give expert advice on horses.

Jonathon Anderson, an assistant vet, has just passed his veterinary exams with flying colours in Canada, coming top of the class with 98pc.

The team is friendly, but busy.

"Tell me about your James Herriot-style way of life," I asked them when I visited the clinic one busy Friday afternoon.

They tried to explain that they are a bit more like ER in this place.

"We really are a round-the-clock 24-hour hospital," said Ieuan. "When you are on night shift, you are having to check the horses constantly.

"We have someone on call on Christmas Day, it just never stops."

So far this year, 546 operations have been performed at the clinic, including 101 bone scans.

Duncan Ballard, an assistant vet, took me round to meet some of the patients.

Their ailments, as in any hospital, ranged from the routine to the bizarre.

In the first 'bed', a beautiful, chocolate-coloured foal was suffering from colic.

Tucked up in a nice, warm stable, there was nothing much to suggest from his appearance that he wasn't well, other than the carefully-placed drip dangling above his head.

Patient number two seemed perfectly healthy, until Duncan explained to me that he was suffering from narcolepsy.

The condition, as with people, means he suddenly falls down asleep with no prior warning.

It is quite incredible to look around the operating theatre.

It is a rigorously sterilised and carefully-managed space.

The horses are given a general anaesthetic in a padded room, and then winched onto the operating table once they are under.

It takes at least two vets to cover any one procedure - one anaesthetist and at least one surgeon.

The most recent patient to undergo surgery was a Fallabela miniature show horse called Sugar, whose face and throat had been savaged by dogs.

Sugar received life-saving surgery to his throat and went home fully recovered.

On further inspection, I was shown X-ray rooms, radiography machines and arthroscopy implements (for internal camera inspection).

I left fully enlightened as to the advanced nature of the work that goes on in the clinic.

As they waved me off, a group of regular clients were arriving. They were ushered in and offered tea, leaving me with the distinct impression that there's still a touch of the Herriots about them!

Do you have a nomination for Ryedale Pride? Contact Claire Metcalfe on (01653) 695600, e-mail maltongazette@ycp.co.uk or write to Ryedale Pride, Gazette & Herald, PO Box 29, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.

Updated: 11:11 Wednesday, December 03, 2003