Integrity In Veterinary Medicine - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #140
Release Date: 11/06/2024
The Key To Reducing Excess Body Fat In Horses - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #149
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
There are two reasons for horses to become obese. The first reason is that they eat more calories daily than they use. The intake of calories is in the form of excess starch from hay and grains and excess fat from the digestion of cellulose in the hindgut. The second reason is often misunderstood. There must be a demand for the fat stored in the body fat; otherwise, it will remain or even increase body fat. The demand is created when muscle cells are used to the point of exhaustion, which, in terms of metabolism, means the lactate and glycogen are nearly all consumed within the muscle cells....
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Attracting Good Horse Veterinarians - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #148
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
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...
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Confidence Versus Arrogance In Horses - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #147
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Uncertain people do uncertain things. This uncertainty affects everything, including people and horses, and not necessarily in good ways. Most people have addressed the quest to conquer their inner self, but few become successful. Our horses know this. This podcast looks at the essence of all horsemanship, or, in other words, leadership, because horsemanship IS leadership. It comes from within us, but most people react to things in our lives. To improve your poor relationship with your horse (or any human), you must look inward and improve your view of life as a whole. Brain Health, by...
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To Fix The Hoof, You Need To Feed The Hoof - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #146
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Horse hooves can experience various problems that farriers and veterinarians work to address with their specialized skills and equipment. These issues include crushed heels, splayed walls, cracked walls, dropped soles, bruised soles, and sole abscesses. However, in every conference I attend, every article I read, and every podcast I listen to, I notice that veterinarians and farriers seldom mention the importance of feeding high-quality protein to strengthen hooves. Over the past two years, I have asked numerous farriers and veterinarians why hot shoeing produces such a stinky odor. Only one...
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Constant Hunger In Horses - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #145
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Two factors drive food aggression in horses. The first factor is the foraging behavior created by converting fructose into uric acid. The purpose of fructose is to prepare horses for the upcoming winter. However, not only is it fed throughout the year, but the high-sugar foods being fed cause horses to make more fructose. The second factor is stated in the protein leverage hypothesis, which says that humans (and all animals) will continue to look for food until they consume their daily amino acid requirements. Insufficient high-quality protein in horse diets drives horses to continue...
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Should We Listen To Horse Education? - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #144
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Who do you believe? Is it the person with credentials or the person with experience? Maybe neither, because whenever anyone says something, there is an agenda. The need to talk is to communicate with someone to gain a response. Here are examples: "What is your name?" is a question wanting an answer. "The sunset is beautiful!" encourages others to look up and share what I see. "Feed your horse with my grains and supplements, and they will win the championship." solves the desire of sport horse owners. Attending meetings is a grand example of communication on several levels. The presenting...
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The Science Behind The Connection With Horses. An Interview With Dr. Maria Katsamanis - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #143
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Dr. Maria Katsamanis (Dr. Maria) joins me on this podcast to discuss how science can help us create better connections with our horses. I do these things every day, but I need the science or research behind why I do what I do. She delivers on this and more! Dr. Maria will be delighted if you learn something from listening that helps you connect better on a molecular level. Her life's work is to scientifically understand and improve on why we would rather be in a barn asking horses to help us face the world and heal our minds. Some philosophies of Dr. Maria as stated on her website: ...
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Dr Belden Returns For Our Annual Thanksgiving Interview - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #142
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
This podcast is a special Rounds With Doc T with my friend and colleague, Dr James Belden. Usually, Rounds are for members of The Horse's Advocate, but as an annual Thanksgiving treat, it is available for everyone to watch or listen to. Dr Belden graduated from Cornell's veterinary school in 1964. He has worked on horses in 30 countries, many Triple Crown winners in the Thoroughbred racing world, and many elite show horses in Wellington, FL. He has also competed with his reining horses. His knowledge comes from working on hundreds of thousands of horses in all sports categories. Dr Belden...
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The Crisis In Veterinary Medicine Worsens - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #141
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Three articles from the AVMA arrived in my inbox this week: These articles drove me to make this podcast, the third in a series, about horse veterinary care. It emphasizes the need to prevent illness and injuries. In summary, new vet graduates' mean starting salary (adjusted for inflation) has steadily risen since 2000, while the income of established veterinarians (adjusted for inflation) has not. The educational debt to become a veterinarian has also risen, but the ratio between debt and income on average has fallen due to increasing salaries. However, after removing...
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Integrity In Veterinary Medicine - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #140
The Horse's Advocate Podcast
Forgive me as I rant about veterinary care. This week, I experienced or heard of four events between veterinarians and their owners that have me asking: Are the schools teaching integrity along with veterinary medicine? There are 13 new vet schools in America, spawning 55,000 more veterinarians in the next decade. Most will go into small animal practice. Driving this growth is a demand for pet owners to access care everywhere and corporate strategies to use more veterinarians at higher salaries to remain competitive. In essence, the forecast is for ample demand for services and a need for...
info_outlineForgive me as I rant about veterinary care. This week, I experienced or heard of four events between veterinarians and their owners that have me asking: Are the schools teaching integrity along with veterinary medicine?
There are 13 new vet schools in America, spawning 55,000 more veterinarians in the next decade. Most will go into small animal practice. Driving this growth is a demand for pet owners to access care everywhere and corporate strategies to use more veterinarians at higher salaries to remain competitive. In essence, the forecast is for ample demand for services and a need for more veterinarians to meet this need.
Stepping away from this "supply and demand" model, I now see evidence that integrity is being replaced with a "fix-it" mentality. New veterinary graduates are well-trained in the science of "fixing" an animal's problem; however, are they also advocating for the animal and, importantly, the owner?
Regrettably, the era of the "country vet," who took the time to educate, advise, and console the owner, seems to be fading. The high cost of training and the standardization of care have led to a "cookie-cutter" approach to animal care. This approach, while efficient, may seem superficial to older vets who, though impressed with the knowledge young vets bring to the practice, miss the days of explaining how to prevent problems and advocating for the animal above all else.
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