I am in such a good mood this week. I held a meet-and-greet last Thursday for Lori Hickman. She’s an attorney from Boise and the former board chair of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. She’ll be running on the Democratic ticket against Raul Labrador, but she said if elected, her office will be run nonpartisan. That brought an enthusiastic round of applause from everyone there. Keep an eye out for her visits to Blackfoot and take the time to meet her. You’ll be delighted with how she will run the attorney general’s office. Rule of law only.

The other reason I’m in a good mood is a new medical facility that’s coming to Blackfoot.

It’s an equine hospital. Sports medicine for our horses. Dr. Jason Moulton runs the Animal Health Clinic on Rich Lane. His place is always packed, and he treats 25 to 50 horses a day. He said his place is just too small. So he bought the 5 acres next door and is building a hospital. The building he’s in now will continue treating small animals.

He’ll be adding another veterinarian, so there will be six total. He’ll also hire more vet techs and hire night techs so there’s always someone available for that one horse that always gets hung up on barbed wire. You know the one.

Dr. Moulton is going to expand his breeding program. And he’ll turn this hospital into a veterinarian campus, eventually adding rehab with salt-water treadmills. Good for horses with ACL problems. Dogs, too, for that matter.

Look for groundbreaking this week. Five intensive care unit rooms, surgery rooms, recovery stalls, farrier station, three exam rooms.

Some veterinarians in Idaho have sold their practices to corporate businesses. Dr. Moulton did not want to do that, because then the only thing that matters is profit. So he’s expanding his family corporation with this endeavor. And he said he has no plans to increase his prices. “I have to make profit, of course,” said Moulton, “ but I don’t have to hit numbers that make investors happy.”

There is no facility like this in Eastern Idaho.

Did you know that in Idaho, based on the Idaho Horse Council census, there are more than 270,000 privately owned horses? 13,000 to 27,000 are actively competing, so this new vet campus will take care of them like a university sports complex takes care of its athletes.

Suffice to say, Idaho is known to have a large horse population. Soon, our town will have a hospital to take care of all those who need specialty care. No more driving long distances for diagnostic care or surgery. This is a great addition for Blackfoot. In my opinion, I vote “yes.”