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New here! – Jessica & Beau
Hi all, my name is Jessica and I have a TB gelding named Beau. We are from Long Island, NY, and I am a full-time Equine Science student, graduating in a few months. I recently had Dr. Tucker float Beau’s teeth for the first time in early May. Beau has been with me since he was 4, and he’s 18 now. We have done a lot together, including showing USEF-rated H/J and night trail riding, and he has taught me so much about equine psychology & behavior, which has led me to discover my true passion of ethology. Beau was also very recently diagnosed with EOTRH. This is how I came into contact with Dr. Tucker, and this timing was really fortunate, as one equine dentist I had worked with prior was unwilling to work on a horse with EOTRH and my normal veterinarian just recently passed away.
I have long wanted to have Beau on a no- or minimal-grain diet, but I have encountered a lot of conflict with the idea from others as I have always been in a boarding situation. Dr. Tucker’s expertise gave me the push I needed to really advocate for my horse and see it through, and Beau has been grain-free with SBM (recently added) for a bit over a month now. He is super shiny, looking lovely, and feeling so peaceful! I couldn’t be happier honestly and I am looking forward to exploring more natural husbandry during my time here, as well as how to manage his EOTRH. It is also interesting to see what conflicts with the traditional-minded/biased knowledge that I am currently being taught. Glad to be here!
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4 Replies
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Hey there, Jessica! Welcome!
Get ready because I’m an iconoclast in this world of horses. If we don’t advocate for them, who will? Glad to have you along to learn that most horse behavior reflects the person standing before them. And few horse owners want to hear that. Doc T
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Hi again Dr. T! There is so much truth to that, and it can be tough to let the ego go to really reflect on ourselves and how we affect our horses.
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Hi Jessica and welcome. I’m so interested to see you are studying Equine Science. Has this included Equine Learning Theory originally explained by Dr Andrew McLean and Prof Paul McGreevy? Dr T has hugely influenced the way I feed my horses and Andrew McLean how I train them. I know it is taught in Universities here in the UK, where most of the research is done, but wondered whether it had made it to the US?
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Hi Jenny, nice to meet you! I have seen their work come up in my class content, yes, but it has only been in one or two instances. That said, I am personally a huge fan of Dr. McGreevy’s and Dr. McLean’s work and my senior capstone is on Equitation Science: learning theory + equine ethology and how it can be applied to improve domestic horse welfare!
Dr. T has similarly influenced how I feed Beau and Dr. McGreevy and Dr. McLean have also influenced how I train, so it seems you and I are totally on the same page here.
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