Hickory Ridge Equine Clinic Internship

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Hickory Ridge Equine Clinic Internship
Presented by Roni Newhart
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Hickory Ridge Equine Clinic

• Dr. Barry C. Betts, DVM
• Graduated from OSU
• Located in Washington, Pennsylvania
• 3 miles from The Meadows Racetrack
• Mostly Standardbreds
• 1 full time assistant
• 2 students with summer jobs

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The Meadows Racetrack

• where most of the work took place
• 25 barns
• Approximately 800 horses
• 8 veterinarians
• Approximately 200 horses
• Large and small stables
• Race nights Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

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Daily Activities at the Track

• The day started at 800 am.
• Check with all of the clients
• Start a day log
• Treat horses with Lasix that were training or
  qualifying
• Medicate horses that are sick
• Draw blood
• Get treatments ready for later

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Daily Activities at the Track

• Watch horses on the track for evaluation
• Trotting horses up and down the road for
  evaluation
• X-ray and ultrasound
• Injections
• Treating horses that are in to race
• Race against time

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Injections and Scrubbing

• What is injecting?
• Inject joints of horses that seem to have excess
  fluid built up
• Why do people choose to inject?
• It can help a horse that appears to be sore or
  lame by fusing the joint more
• Acid, cortisone most commonly used

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Injections and Scrubbing

• Why must scrubbing be done?
• Scrubbing is washing the injection site with a
  disinfecting soap that rids the site of all germs
  and dirt
• Usually a 5 minute scrub before the injection
• If not done, the joint can become infected from
  dirt or germs that were and the skin and hair and
  brought into the joint by the needle
• Makes the horse extremely lame and can be fatal
• When finished, cover the area with the soap so
  the site will not get dirty again from dust or
  other means

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Scrubbing

• Scrub the injection site with a piece of cotton
  and the disinfectant soap until clean. Change
  cotton every minute or so.

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Injections

• Most joints
• Front Rear Ankles
• Carpal canals
• Knees
• Coffins
• Digital Cushions
• Hocks
• Curbs
• Back and Stifles

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Injecting Knees
The site has been scrubbed and now the injection
can begin.
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Injecting Hocks
- When finished injecting, wash off the soap and
spray with Allu-Spray
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Freeze Firing

• freezing with liquid Nitrogen
• Deadens the area fired
• Curbs
• Splints (shown)

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Scoping

• Evaluation of the respiratory tract
• looking for blood
• looking for mucous

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Drenching

• Stomach tube that goes down through the nose,
  into the esophagus, and then to the stomach
• Vitamins, electrolytes, worming

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Other Procedures

• Castrations
• Annular ligament cutting
• Chest tap
• X-ray
• Ultrasound
• Jugging

• Blocking feet
• Tracheal wash
• Palpations
• Casilisks

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Daily Activities at the Clinic

• Stocking the truck
• Cleaning the stalls
• Working on the horses staying at the clinic
• Assisting with the vet work
• Responsible for evening feeding

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The Main Barn

• Clinic (left)
• Stalls and lab (right)

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The Lab

• Where most of the supplies are
• Sterile supplies
• Blood spinning

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The Main Barn

• 4 stalls connected to the clinic and lab
• 2 straw
• 2 shavings

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The Clinic

• Where procedures took place
• X-rays, injections

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The Truck

• Stocking the truck everyday
• Knowing where everything is located

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The Paddocks

• 7 paddocks with run in sheds
• Responsible for their water tubs and feeding
  horses

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The Pony Barn

• Bars Barn
• Long term horses

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Skills Learned

• People and communication
• Time management
• Working with others

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Overall Experience

• Worthwhile
• Educational value
• Enjoyable