Weekly Wrap Up from Calacali, Ecuador
August 1, 2007
On Friday of last week HER hosted vet students from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The group consisted of around twenty, third and fourth year students and four Veterinary Doctors. They all belong to an organization of Christian Vets who make a bi annual trip to Ecuador to offer services for animals. The HER horses were some of their beneficiaries this year. Each horse received physical examines, rabies vaccines, and some had their teeth floated. To have their teeth floated is a dentistry term which means, they had their teeth filed down. For instance, one of our horses Espanola, had lost a top tooth and the bottom tooth was literally growing up into her jaw, which helps explain why she was having a problem gaining weight and just a little crabby. (Nicole is pictured with Espanola below). They also performed a worm count (you don’t even want to know how this is obtained) and found that every horse literally had numerous worms and the treatment is much more aggressive here because it never freezes, so the worms never die on the ground. One of the horses sadly received a grim diagnosis as the owners thought he just had warts, when in actuality it is an aggressive form of skin cancer and lymphoma. The cool part is before the vet students got here, Nicole had done her homework online and had already accurately diagnosed his condition. Now with the help of the Vet team, a reliable health care plan will be implemented for each of the horses here on the property.
For those of you who have kept up on our Blogspot, you will know that since Nicole has been here, she turned down a spot at Vet school for numerous reasons. While here she has been a whirlwind, preparing the horses and stables for the Vet group to visit. Then to watch her interact with the group and her obvious passion for the care and treatment of horses, we became convinced she should apply again next year. This belief was confirmed by the Veterinary Doctors who encouraged her to apply at their school and use them for a reference. Also, they felt she should list the time spent here as an equine intern, so that is another addition to her already lengthy resume. Who knows maybe she’ll return as our equine program intern!
Just a little update on what is going on near the middle of the world. Please let us know what is happening on your side of the equator.
As God is our Refuge, Mary for the Scholl Family
Horse Stables Vet Group Jonathan & our baby Nicole & Espanola
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