day 1: horses have four legs, one head, and one tail

Today was the first day of clinics, and I began my clinical rotations on Equine Ambulatory. I must begin reflecting on today by giving a special thanks to Erin & Megan for helping to prepare me for clinics. We started at 9am this morning. When I arrived at school, my first priority was to find Megan. She showed me where I would need to go - "The Clubhouse". I was glad she did, as my 4 classmates on the rotation with me walked in together after wandering around the hospital. I wish I had known sooner that they didn't know where to go, I would have shown them the room that Megan showed me! Needless to say, we all made it there before Dr. Schmall and that was really all that mattered.

Dr. Schmall, an older equine practitioner with the intensity of a lion stalking its prey, introduced us to the rotation. We were to sign up to ride with various vets as well as emergency shifts. The sheet was passed from one person to the next, and hesitantly the slots were filled by new senior vet students not knowing what to expect.

Two of my classmates picked their fate and rode with Dr. Schmall on day one. I was relieved; I wouldn't be with him on the very first day. Looking at the vets available I chose to ride with Dr. Gallatin. I had her a few weeks ago in my 5 day LAOP equine crash course, and I felt that she would be a good fit for my first day of clinics.

We soon learned that Dr. Burns is only around on Fridays, which left Melissa with no one to ride with. She decided to also ride with Dr. Gallatin. We then learned that Drs. Freeley and Gallatin would be going out to appointments together, which meant that Lynn, Melissa, and I would be riding together. I asked them if it was alright that I sit in the middle of the back seat of the truck - the last thing I needed on my first day of clinics was to get carsick!

Dr. Freeley provided us with bottles of vaccine, and we quickly drew them up. She mentioned that she would go get us some Sharpies so we could label the syringes, but thanks to Megan and Erin I had multiple Sharpies with me. Starting the day with a clinician telling me that she was impressed that I was so prepared certainly made me feel good!

By 10:30 I was ordering from the pharmacy, and realizing that it was quite painless. I was catching on, and I was excited! As soon as we had everything we needed for the day, we were off! As rumored, our first stop was Dr. Gallatin's addiction - Tim Horton's. Our first appointment was an 18 day pregnancy check on a mare. She was pregnant, as detected with the ultrasound, and we packed up to head to the next appointment. Our next appointment was to administer spring shots and check a lump a couple of horses. We walked through a lot of mud to get to his horses, and I was glad I chose to go with my boots and not my Danskos when selecting my shoes for the day. We arrived at the barn, and Lynn, Melissa, and I were responsible for giving the vaccines! Dr. Gallatin says that her goal is to not have to touch the horses, meaning we get to do most of the work!

After vaccinating the horses (and learning the 5 standard horse vaccines), we were on our way to recheck an eye ulcer. The best part about this next stop was the adorable puppy running around the barn. He did, however, eat an entire dead mouse while we were there so we stopped accepting his puppy kisses. The owner of the horse declined going in for surgery due to cost and Drs. Gallatin and Freeley decided to change the treatment in hopes that the eye might begin to heal. When we got back in the truck, they let us know that the eye will most likely need to be removed.

From there, we headed out to vaccinate 22 horses allowing us the opportunity to become completely proficient in administering horse vaccines. The "R" vaccines go on the right, and the others go on the left. "R" vaccines include rabies (sometimes in combination with Potomac Horse Fever) and Rhino/Flu vaccine. The additional vaccine was a 4-way vaccine containing WEE, EEE, WNV, and tetanus.

Next stop included drawing blood for a Coggins test (to check for Equine Infectious Anemia) as well as placement of a Foalert. This is a device containing a magnet that is sutured onto the vulva to detect foaling on farms that don't have someone watching the mares. The placement made me (and Lynn) cringe. The transmitter activates a receiver which sends a radio signal and an alert to the owners once the device is separated (presumably by the foal's feet as they emerge at birth).

Our last stop of the day was a horse needing spring shots as well as one needing health papers. We headed back to the clinic, and arrived shortly before 5. Upon arrival, we restocked the truck and headed home.

I'm on call tonight, but haven't yet been called in. This morning I felt like I knew very little about horses. While that might still be true, I feel more comfortable after only one day! Tomorrow we start at 8am with an hour lecture - luckily, I have already reviewed Meggy's notes from last year and feel pretty good about what we'll cover!