Well-oiled machine

Our third Low Cost Gelding Clinic last Saturday went on without a hitch. All the horses brought in were halter broke and easy to handle which allowed us to geld all 11 stallions in 4 hours! I think I can safely say that we have perfected our system; we are a well-oiled machine.

A few of our regular UC Davis Equine Vet volunteers were unable to make this month’s clinic, but lucky for us we had two new hands ready to help out. Let me introduce Dr. Gordon Bunting D.V.M. of Bunting Veterinary Services, who flew all the way from Bend, Oregon to take a closer look at how we facilitate our clinics. Dr. Bunting is interested in hosting some Low Cost Gelding Clinics in his area and we were happy to share our system with him.

Once all the horses were in their proper stalls, we were underway. The first horse of the day was Star who was recently adopted out from a rescue as an 8-year-old stallion with only one eye. Thankfully, his adopted family did not see a need for him to stay a stallion and brought him to our clinic. Adopting out a stallion is a recipe for disaster; this is exactly the type of scenario that could have easily led to the production of more unwanted horses.

Dr. Dewey and her team of volunteers were able to show Dr. Bunting our clinic charts and describe to him the process before entering Star's stall to sedate him.

My favorite part of our clinics is the educational element. I am thrilled to see the Veterinarian and Veterinarian Technician students get a hands on feel for their chosen profession. Here is Naomi doing the pre-castration exam on a little, 2-year-old, Morgan colt, named Bolt.

Here she is getting some one on one time with Dr. Dewey during the actual procedure. Dr. Dewey is a fantastic mentor and is always willing to show the students something out of the ordinary or give them scenarios and tips for problems that they may encounter in the field.

Out of the 11 horses that came to the clinic, I voted Sonic, a 10-year-old mini as our cutest patient. He was such a good boy and hopefully after our clinic he will be easier to handle and will have a much happier life as a gelding. He has been kept a stallion all of these years simply because his father was a grand champion. He was recently picked up “free”, underweight, with grown out hooves and has since been taken in from a private rescuer where he will be rehabilitated, taught to drive a cart and then re-homed. Good luck in your new life Sonic.

The Jim was back this month and ready to lend a helping hand as usual. It is so nice to have a farrier around when a horse comes in with overgrown hooves. Thanks Jim for all your help, you are a great leg holder too!

Allison was able to make us these great calculation sheets. They are proving to be a wonderful tool for the students who are still learning to the drug calculations in their heads.

After a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, Grandma Lee’s homemade cheesecake and some good stories, we were all full and ready to finish up.

So, it was back to the stalls to cut a few more….

pull some more wolf teeth and

check more dosages

As Dr. Jeske demonstrates, practicing Veterinarian medicine is a dirty job; thankfully, everyone here is ready to do it!

Again, this clinic was only a success because of our wonderful vets Dr. Dewey and Dr. Jeske our great host Cheryl Rankin of The Shiloh Foundation and all of the volunteers who are willing to sacrifice a Saturday morning in an effort to help the unwanted horse.

Together, we have successfully gelded 34 stallions through our low cost clinics; many would not be geldings if not for our low cost option. We are all very proud of our work and will continue to host our low cost clinics as funds allow. You can help us reach our goal of gelding 100 stallions this year by donating to our cause, just click here. We are an official 501c3 and all donations are tax deductable.