Blue Ridge Equine Clinic is proud to share Dr. Reynolds Cowles’ profile, published in this month’s Equine Veterinary Education magazine. We wish you the best as President of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and know your leadership will be as valued there as it’s always been here at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic.
The doctors and staff spent last Thursday afternoon discussing ways to make every one of our clients’ equine care experiences excellent, every time without exception. We intend that each of our patients, from geriatric pasture pets to horses competing on a national level, will get the best, most cutting edge care available anywhere.
When you see one of our veterinarians, you have access to the entire BREC team: nine veterinarians with well over 100 years of combined equine focused expertise, including a board certified surgeon, a board certified internal medicine specialist, certified equine chiropractic, acupuncture and FEI veterinarians. Our veterinarians continuously stay abreast of the latest discoveries in diagnosis, medicine and treatment. They are involved in many equine associations on the national, state and local levels, and regularly consult on cases with each other and with colleagues across the United States.
We are always here for you and for your horse. Please let us know whenever we may be of help with any of your equine health care needs.
Dr. Tracy Norman attended an advanced equine cardiology course in Las Vegas offered by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine that was only open to internal medicine and veterinary cardiology specialists. New research regarding the importance of heart rhythm disturbances on performance and safety was presented, as well as advanced techniques in echocardiography (heart ultrasound) and cardiac diagnostics for horses with poor athletic performance. This course will help me to thoroughly diagnose heart murmurs, rhythm disturbances, and performance limitations, to formulate a prognosis for horses with heart problems, and aid owners and riders in making informed decisions about the safety and suitability of horses for different kinds of work.
Dr. Tracy Norman, VMD, ACVIM will be available for appointments at the clinic and for farm calls in the Charlottesville area beginning September 30. Dr. Norman will continue to be based in our Valley Division, but will be working at our clinic in Earlysville on Wednesdays and on an as needed basis to serve our clients in central Virginia.
Dr. Norman is a boarded Internal Medicine Specialist, in addition to having her doctorate in veterinary medicine. She has dedicated a large part of her career to excellence in diagnostic ultrasound and has been invited by state, regional, and national organizations to teach ultrasound to veterinarians on many occasions.
A boarded Internal Medicine Specialist is a veterinarian who specializes in conditions that affect the general health and well- being of her/his patients, including conditions affecting the GI tract, respiratory system, blood and lymphatics, liver, muscles, kidneys and bladder, neurologic system, infectious diseases, and care of neonates (newborn foals). Specialty training in Internal Medicine emphasizes critical thinking, excellent history taking and physical examination skills, and a problem based approach to reaching a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Board certification in Internal Medicine requires several years of training with specialists, passing multiple examinations, completing research, and publishing at least one peer-reviewed article. Equine Internal Medicine specialists are employed in many diverse fields, including critical care medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, sports medicine, neonatology, general practice, industry, and academia, to name a few.
As always, let us know how we may best serve as a resource for your equine care needs.
Many thanks to all who attended the seminar last night at the Clinic, especially to Dr. Scott Pleasant and Travis Burns from Virginia Tech. There was a good turnout and an excellent presentation by the Virginia Tech team.
We will plan to have another one this winter. Travis Burns, the farrier from Tech, is going to give us a list of subjects that he feels are pertinent. We also welcome suggestions from area farriers and veterinarians. These sessions are a good opportunity for vets to interact with the farriers that we depend on for support. We had a very good turnout of farriers from the Valley and fewer from Albemarle, but a lot of new faces.
We appreciate the support and expertise of the farriers in our area and look forward to our next get together.
The weather may have been dreary, but Saturday was far from dull for fifty equine veterinarians at the Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville. Blue Ridge Equine Clinic’s 9th Annual Equine Practitioners Seminar featured Dr. Amber Labelle, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVO presenting an in-depth look at all aspects of equine ophthalmology.
Dr. Labelle covered:
* Eye exam tips and tactics
* Study of the cornea: anatomy, wound healing, ulcers, treatment, complicating factors, disease
* Equine recurrent uveitis: role of Lepto, relationship to breed, clinical signs, ocular ultrasound, treatment and goals
* Equine ocular neoplasia: squamous cell carcinoma, diagnosis and treatment, third eyelid treatment, periocular sarcoids, eyelid melanoma, extraocular lymphoma, hemanglosarcoma, equine intraocular melanocytic neoplasia, intraocular neuroectodermal tumors, orbital extra-adrenal paraganglioma and orbital neoplasia
* Case studies
Dr. Katy Cilinski, Secretary of the Virginia Association of Equine Practitioners
(VAEP) gave an overview of the group’s educational offerings and encouraged everyone to take advantage of membership opportunities. The new VAEP board was elected and looks forward to serving equine veterinarians in the 2015.
Many thanks to Dr. Labelle for an informative, entertaining presentation and to our program sponsors: VAEP, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Zoetis, Henry Schein, Merck, Platinum Plus, Abaxis, Sound, Idexx, Adequan and Equine Partners of America. Without their support, this level of quality continuing education for equine veterinarians would not be possible.
Thanks to Equus magazine for letting us share this story. We are always happy for positive outcomes with complicated cases like this one.
An Internal Medicine Specialist is a veterinarian who specializes in conditions that affect the general health and well- being of her/his patients, including conditions affecting the GI tract, respiratory system, blood and lymphatics, liver, muscles, kidneys and bladder, neurologic system, infectious diseases, and care of neonates (newborn foals). Specialty training in Internal Medicine emphasizes critical thinking, excellent history taking and physical examination skills, and a problem based approach to reaching a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Board certification in Internal Medicine requires several years of training with specialists, passing multiple examinations, completing research, and publishing at least one peer-reviewed article. Equine Internal Medicine specialists are employed in many diverse fields, including critical care medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, sports medicine, neonatology, general practice, industry, and academia, to name a few.
At Blue Ridge Equine Clinic, we are fortunate to have two Internal Medicine Specialists: Dr. Abby Sage, based in our Earlysville clinic, and Dr. Tracy Norman, in our Valley Division. They are tremendous resources for our veterinarians, clients and patients, as they are up to date on the very latest research concerning all aspects of equine health. Having two Internal Medicine Specialists on staff enables us to provide our clients and patients with the most complete, cutting edge treatment and care for your horse.
As always, let us know how we may best serve as a resource for your equine care needs.
On February 16, I went with a team from Building Goodness Foundation to Haiti to build an incentive kay. An incentive kay is a small house that is built for a family as a reward for their efforts to restore Haiti’s habitat. Much of Haiti has suffered massive deforestation so one project trying to fix this enlists Haitians to plant trees. My understanding is that it takes 50,000 trees planted and growing to certain size conditions to earn a kay(house). The trees planted to earn this kay were all on the steep slopes of the mountains of Haiti which requires significant hand dug terraces to minimize erosion while the trees are growing.
Excens was the father and primary planter of the family for whomwe were building. The roughly 16’x24’ structure will house him and his wife, as well as a son, two daughters and a grandchild.
The house is built of pressure treated lumber with a tin roof, dirt floor, no plumbing or electricity. It does have a water collection system and a cistern for collecting rainwater.
This humble structure will be the envy of the “neighborhood” and was received with great joy by the family. The whole process was very rewarding for all of us and provided an opportunity for wonderful exchanges between our team and the Haitians with whom we worked. This was my second trip to Haiti, and I am pleased to say that there has been tremendous progress since November of 2011. The tent cities in Port au Prince are gone, many roads have been improved and much of the rubble has been repurposed.
I am amazed by the beauty of the people and their amazing spirit. They are a truly remarkable inspiration to anyone who visits.