Attracting Good Horse Veterinarians - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #148

In South Dakota, the legislature is working on a bill making it legal for non-veterinarians to float horses' teeth by hand or with power and possibly using sedation. The same is happening in Oregon, with the addition of non-vets pregnancy-checking livestock. In Colorado, a mid-level veterinary practitioner has been established, helping fill the void where veterinarians are not filling the need.

Eleven new veterinary colleges are being developed in the US, yet there is a shortage of horse vets. This podcast looks at the situation from two very different points of view: the veterinarian's and the horse owner's.

• There is a decrease in the number of horse vets available for rural horse owners.
• The competency of the new vets is in question because the schools are becoming factories.
• There is a lack of mentors for these new vets.
• Most vets today lack the foundation of horsemanship and rely on sedation to account for the lack of these skills.
• Horse owners are unsure whether the task has been completed to an acceptable level.
• Horse owners are uncertain whether the care offered by the vet is required or not.
• Many rural vets are overworked or no longer make farm calls to reduce road time.

My conclusion is based on hearing these points and on my experience. Horse owners need to do things that attract vets to their areas. In other words, horse owners’ frustration with the current situation in veterinary care is driving any remaining vets away. A paradigm shift is needed from the horse owners to attract new veterinarians to rural areas. Here are some considerations:

• Prepare your horses for any visit through the training of the horses.
• Respect the veterinarian’s time by having the horses ready in the stall (halters on and presented to the vet with a lead). A clean and dry working environment is always good.
• Remember, the vet has driven through traffic with insane drivers and often over long distances, and usually has other visits scheduled.
• Veterinarians are people with families and a life away from the practice. They need time off, and this requires practices to hire several vets.
• Training a veterinarian is expensive – between $250,00 and $350,000 in America. Multiply this by the number of vets in a practice. Add the costs of transportation, equipment, maintenance, insurance, supplies, and support staff, and the price per person becomes very high. The cost of veterinary care is high, and if you cannot pay the vet, they will leave to find another opportunity, such as a small animal practice. Many never follow their ambitions of veterinary medicine but find more profitable work elsewhere.

To summarize, horse owners need to create a better opportunity and environment for people making a living working with horses to attract and keep more qualified people. Unfortunately, the veterinary colleges have focused on stamping out small animal veterinarians, offering little mentorship in the foundation of horsemanship. The lack of quality mentorship outside the universities in the horsemanship world worsens things. The publications, products, and advertising are included, driving horse owners to offer inflammatory foods that create ill, lame, and misbehaving horses. Without a significant shift in horse care, the future of people owning horses, at least in countries where they are recreational, is dire.

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HorsemanshipDentistry.com is a website that discusses how and why I perform equine dentistry without immobilization or the automatic use of drugs. I only accept new clients in Florida. TheEquinePractice.com/appointment

HorsemanshipDentistrySchool.com is a website for those interested in learning how to perform equine dentistry without drugs on 97% of horses. There are eight spots a year for interested students PLUS, there is a separate online course for those wanting to learn how to do this but can never get to South Florida for hands-on training.

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