Every equestrian knows that it takes a village to raise a horse. Even those of us who keep our steeds at home require support from farm-sitters, grooms, vets, dentists, and the like. Come rain, shine, or global pandemic, these specialists are always on call to make sure our beloved equines are healthy and ready to perform at their best.
To drive this point home, a couple of weeks ago an unbelievably accident prone OR steed was savagely attacked (…by a horse-fly) and subsequently got himself into a pickle. After a frantic call to the vet (who arrived only twenty minutes later!), the verdict was, “He’ll be sore, but he’ll be fine. It looks worse than it is.” The diagnosis had us wondering if an emergency veterinary visit was even necessary. Should the situation have been monitored for a few hours? Was it a waste of the vet’s time? Are false alarms a vet peeve?
We pride ourselves on being educated, self-sufficient, easy customers, so as we began discussing all of the annoying things these essential equine-workers must encounter, we decided to dig in. We reached out to our respective networks of friends and professionals and asked them what their clients could do better. Some of the responses had us cringing and thinking, “note to self…,” while others had us nodding along in enthusiastic appreciation. Below, a list of Best Practices for horse owners when it comes to interacting with the experts who ensure that the show will go on!
But first, a tip from OR:
Wear your mask during visits from professionals!
This is a friendly reminder because we tend to forget when we’re at home, too.
