Dr. Fredric Cogan, the official doctor for backtrack workers at Belmont racetrack, has become familiar with a variety of injuries and illnesses he had seldom encountered while working as a general practitioner with a practice in Nassau County, writes the New York Times.

The doctor has treated grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders and other barn staff members for issues ranging from hay fever, to horse and rat bites, to injuries from being bitten or kicked by horses. The clinic offers free health insurance and free services to backstretch workers as well as counseling for drug and alcohol addictions. The backstretch clinic is staffed by four full-time employees and is supported financially primarily by the New York Racing Association and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.

Cogan notes that the patients are frequently in a hurry to get back to work no matter what their injuries are. The New York Times writes that Cogan marveled at the stoic nature and the work ethic of back stretch workers.

“These are the wheels that make the car run,” Dr. Cogan said.