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    Tag: TWDT

    The Equine Practice Inc, The Horse's Advocate

    Why Horse Owners Need To Understand The Parachute Study – Podcast #009

    This was a parody published in a top medical journal to bring attention to the fact that there are few research papers published that we can believe. …
    Doc-t May 12, 2021
    0 Comments

    I Am Very Grateful

    I reflect here on how the threat of COVID-19 is affecting all of us as I travel from a deserted Newark airport. I offer advice that seems to work for …
    Doc-t April 12, 2020
    17 Comments

    Ghost Town

    Flying from San Francisco in an almost empty 787 I discuss why I am still out here working on horses amidst COVID-19. I look at the silver linings of…
    Doc-t March 22, 2020
    15 Comments

    Thank You

    This is just a "Thank You" to all who invite us to your farm to help with your horses. We feel so blessed. No national holiday needed. While "booty" i…
    Doc-t February 22, 2019
    19 Comments

    My Christmas Wish 2018

    Root causes of horse diseases. How food triggers genetic disease expression. We need to start advocating for horses and not how marketing is telling u…
    Doc-t December 25, 2018
    4 Comments

    The Story of David

    This is a true story that has nothing to do with horses. It's about the connections in this universe. All horse owners have these experiences. They ar…
    Doc-t July 28, 2018
    34 Comments

    Jimi Hendrix

    This is a true story that looks at the cosmic connections we have all had at some point in our lives. The ending is thought provoking as we mystically…
    Doc-t July 21, 2018
    18 Comments

    Nothing

    Nothing about dentistry, nutrition or horses. I take a break. We all should once in a while to rejuvenate my senses. Photography is how I do this. Jus…
    Doc-t December 14, 2017
    21 Comments

    An African Breeze

    Hurricanes, floods, fires and ice bring anxiety along with preparation work. Similar natural disasters occur everywhere. Here are links for help in th…
    Doc-t September 16, 2017
    4 Comments

    Comfortable

    People are comfortable where they are - unwilling to make the effort to connect with each other or their horses. People pass opportunities when they s…
    Doc-t August 9, 2017
    6 Comments

    A Vet, A Truck And A Dog

    There is something about a dog(s) that goes with people, horses, a truck and dirty fingernails. We all will relate to this story of me and my dog on m…
    Doc-t July 8, 2017
    11 Comments

    Islands

    Horses are not found on islands unless they can swim there. I've worked on Gardner's, Island, Shelter Island and the islands of Puget Sound. Here is …
    Doc-t June 11, 2017
    16 Comments

    Traveling On Back Country Roads

    Traveling miles and miles can cause mental fatigue which can lead to accidents, death and destruction. So it almost was with a large turtle versus my …
    Doc-t November 12, 2016
    6 Comments

    Life Is Sooooooo Good

    Some days the sun shines, the music is good, horses behave and clients are appreciative. This was one of those days I needed to write about. It balanc…
    Doc-t October 19, 2015
    0 Comments

    Barracuda!

    I struggled against the Atlantic Ocean current to hold my depth as I watched a barracuda effortlessly stare at me in the distance. To become as effort…
    Doc-t July 25, 2015
    0 Comments

    Our Special Day

    This is a tribute to 38 years with Kathy. She recognized that "thing" in me that only a woman can recognize and she is the reason I am here with you t…
    Doc-t July 23, 2015
    0 Comments

    500,000 Miles

    Half a million miles with few mechanical problems.My GMC pick up truck is the most important piece of equipment. It takes me safely around the country…
    Doc-t July 13, 2015
    2 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 6, 2014

    Pictures from New York on a summer's day. A beautiful barn with hand made interior doors and a set of wolf teeth from a 27 year old that were loose at…
    Doc-t June 7, 2015
    0 Comments

    Happy Holidays from The Equine Practice, Inc.

    May the Season be bright and the new year turn out to be just right. With warmest wishes for Good Health and Happiness. Have a wonderful New Year!
    Doc-t December 28, 2014
    0 Comments

    The 2014 Equine Affaire

    My family traveled to the 2014 Equine Affaire in Springfield, MA to bring attention to our style of Horsemanship Dentistry and our new Equine Dentistr…
    Doc-t December 14, 2014
    0 Comments

    Small Paradise

    A unique stall in south FL. We should be as creative on our own farms. I wonder how the horse likes it and if this helps their psyche as some horses s…
    Doc-t October 9, 2014
    0 Comments

    “Ollie Berger”

    The loss of my best equine friend cannot be adequately express.From an embryo on my ultrasound through being an orphan to 24 years later. He slipped f…
    Doc-t August 21, 2014
    6 Comments

    Stranded

    This wasn’t planned for the end of my day. A leak in a radiator hose shut us down for the day. Thankfully, AAA has sent this fine towing service and…
    Doc-t June 25, 2014
    0 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 23, 2014

    This past weekend spent working on the equine dentistry school. Nothing more to say here. Certainly fun, but not as much fun as flying the helicopter …
    Doc-t June 23, 2014
    0 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 19, 2014

    I have finally gotten over last week’s all night driving from NY to FL. I have also calmed down from my first helicopter flying experience for Fathe…
    Doc-t June 19, 2014
    0 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 9, 2014

    Summer in the northeast. A beautiful barn in NJ, NY City southern sky line, parasite control images, a white tail deer in tall grass, a picturesque cr…
    Doc-t June 9, 2014
    0 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 4, 2014

    A gorgeous summer day in NY. A sales barn with horses from Germany, France, Holland and Russia. A NY barn in the hills with 2 very large horses, one r…
    Doc-t June 4, 2014
    0 Comments

    Travels With Doc T – June 3, 2014

    This rabbit and chickens on a non-profit in Florida help people with psychological disorders heal with help of nurses. Also extraction of 2 end stage …
    Doc-t June 3, 2014
    0 Comments

    Fusaichi Pegasus

    The grandson of Fusaichi Pegasus. I had floated the teeth of this great TB race horse when he won the Kentucky Derby. Also image's from a client's "C…
    Doc-t May 30, 2014
    0 Comments

    A Pain In My Finger

    Our style of equine dentistry does not automatically medicate the horses. There are days I pay the price of a head that moves and my finger gets raspe…
    Doc-t May 29, 2014
    1 Comment

    Who Knocked Out My Front Tooth? (blog)

    A lost incisor from decay (EOTRH). I also quote a client with her description of how the horses respond to our Horsemanship Dentistry approach. We are…
    Doc-t May 27, 2014
    0 Comments

    Retrospect

    Split rail fences in need of repair. stark against the snow randomly carved with animal paths. Melissa parked the car then we both just stared at the …
    Doc-t March 18, 2014
    0 Comments

    Christmas Eve

    Veterinarians are horse owners with confidence coming with the degree. But it wanes when we face life decisions on our own horse. This is my story of …
    Doc-t December 26, 2013
    0 Comments

    Sun-Up Sunday In The Hamptons

    The eastern tip of Long Island, NY. Trapped in the past filled with modern chic from the city. It's also home to a working cattle ranch and arguable t…
    Doc-t November 11, 2013
    1 Comment

    The George Washington Bridge

    1 - the illegal closing of the GW bridge trapped us for hours as we crossed about midnight. 2 - the threshold of pain as it relates with dentistry. Se…
    Doc-t November 8, 2013
    7 Comments

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    This is one of my old blogs about a day in my life. The second half has interesting thoughts about dentistry, the threshold of pain and the judicious use of medications in horses over time.

    The George Washington Bridge in New York City

     The car was tossed up and down, out of gravity’s control, as we sat helplessly on the George Washington Bridge in New York City and the clock ticked past midnight into the new day. The last hour had been spent creeping one mile through the tollgate with only half the toll lanes open. Cars with bleary faced drivers, along with delivery trucks and semi-trucks, all trying to beat the morning traffic into the city, were falling victims to workers repairing the damage of years of traffic on the bridge. Now everyone was forced into one lane. Drivers with feigned courtesy submitted to each others realization that we all needed to band together to get through this mess

    Now we sat in the middle of the bridge as the bright lights of the worker’s headlamps mixed with the mesmerizing, flashing, yellow strobes of construction vehicles controlling the lives of drivers wanting to mind their own business. As the traffic zipped in the other direction, their weights sprung the steel and concrete suspension bridge, tossing our car, the semi’s and the workers gently up-and-down like a small boat on the giant, rolling waves of the ocean.

    There was nothing to do while parked on the bridge but to reflect on our day. B. B. King gently played his guitar and sang through my noise canceling headphones, sealing out the constant drone of city life - even at midnight.

    Melissa and I had started out at 6:00 in the morning and drove to where we stash the dentistry equipment in New York so our flight the night before was not burdened with the extra weight. The day before we had worked in Miami and Palm Beach Florida in 85-degree sunshine and vibrant green surroundings. This morning it was 35-degrees with a brilliant, blue sky, though the autumn color was all but gone and tree limbs were bare to the on-coming winter wind. At midnight, as the traffic started moving, we still had another hour to go to the hotel.

    An afternoon in November on Long Island, New York.

     The 18-hours that passed from morning to this moment was filled with something very few people experience or even realize is possible. Most believe that equine dentistry is boring and routine. But this day was the epitome of what has driven us to do what we do for years. What we both experienced on this day makes every day worth it.

    Every horse has a threshold of pain and it is this perception of pain that determines their reaction to life including sharp teeth. Three horses today experience pain differently than almost every other horse we see. Their pain threshold was so low that any pain in their mouth sent them into defensive moves that made floating impossible without medication. It also made six months too long to go between floats. At five months they were close to un-rideable, therefore we float them every four months.

    They had all been given in the past a blend of a sedative, a morphine based painkiller and a potent anxiolytic to complete the routine floating of their teeth. Today, each saw me enter their stall as a trusted friend - a reliever of their pain. Passing the rasp back along the space between the cheek and the last upper cheek tooth became, for each of them, a process of them trusting me. Finding a place deep in them to resist turning inside out was achieved only through a give and take between the horse and me.

    The floating process was still difficult for them to overcome today, but they all recognized that the results would be worth it. And now it was done without any medication.

    We were rewarded with signs of gratefulness throughout the process: heads lowered, nose gently touching the back of the arm, head pressing into my chest as I rub their cheeks over their smoothed cheek teeth.

    The signs of gratefulness are what we work for and are the reason nine out of ten horses are floated without medication. Floating without medicating the horse is not easy to do – nor are building relationships. Like bouncing on a bridge at midnight, with patience, all obstacles can be overcome.

    PS - This incident, it turns out, was the political trick the governor of New Jersey did that got him into trouble!  It was called "Bridgegate."

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