Is it possible to be a vet and an equestrian at the same time?

Question

I was wondering this a couple of days ago. Is it possible to work as a vet but at the same time compete as an equestrian? Or would being a vet conflict with being an equestrian? Also, what about if you had a horse rescue at the same time, would all of those things conflict with each other or no?

Answer 1

We have an equine vet who boards her horse at our farm, and she is planning on going into eventing if she can get her horse trained well enough. Of course it's possible to combine work with a sport- you just have to want to do it badly enough. Horse rescue work is a bit different, because animals which get rescued are generally in terrible shape to start with, and require more care. Still, it's possible to be a vet and do other horse sports. There are several who have.

Does that answer your question?

Answer 2

Of course you can.  My bff equine specialist vet worked a practice and rode cutting horses and was a steward at AQHA shows. (and was working on his judges card.)

Answer 3

My vet she does shows...She also did them while going to school and training, its how she paid her way through vet school.  Now i have a rescue and i dont think now i would have the time to do both, all my day light hours are spent with the horses.  Guess if you had enough people helping you you could do it, im to tired to think half the time.

Answer 4

You could be a vet and compete at the same time.  You just need to have a practice where you have a vet to cover you for emergencies.  Or you could be a vet who does research, only.

To do all this and run a rescue at the same time would be pretty difficult, unless you had full time staff working for the rescue.  Running  a rescue is a full-time job, in itself (depending on how many horses you have at one time).  Even so, I think you'd be stretched too thin, between working, competing and rescuing horses.  Maybe someone knows of a vet who has done all three sumultaneously. . . .

Answer 5

It often depends on the support systems they have.  The one vet I know who manages to compete relies heavily on other people, spouse/relatives so that if emergencies arise, someone else can handle getting the horses home, etc. If the competitions are fairly local, it's not much different than getting there from another client's property.

The equine vets I know are rarely if ever called out at 2am  for colic, since if a horse colics at that hour, the owner is asleep and doesn't know it is happening.  If a colic begins while anyone is around to notice, it is either resolved before the vet leaves, or the horse goes to an equine clinic for advanced treatment.   Foaling emergencies are more likely to happen at those hours.

The clinics are not 9-5 jobs either....they operate 24/7, and unless you own it and have seniority, you work your rotating shifts and do your on-calls.  

Combining practice so a group of vets can share duties and one remains on call for emergencies is hard to do in most areas that won't support that many equine specialists.

One vet I know has a rescue on her own property, and has accommodation for her equine patients at another location she leases, and combines her equine practice with a small animal vet practice in their same clinic. If the rescues need special care, she often keeps them at the clinic until they can be brought home to her place.

I think that to try to do all 3 could make you into a jack of all trades and master of none.  Again, though , if they have the right support systems in place, it could be done.  I know many vets, and none of them are doing all three.  In fact, most could not afford to do all three.

If you were more interested in whether doing it represents a moral conflict of interests, I don't think so but I'll ask.  Maybe more so in certain industries like horse racing.

Answer 6

It depends. Large animal vets don't really have steady hours and clients like them to be able to come whenever they need them. My dad is a vet and he gets 2 AM colic calls all the time. It would be a bit hard to go and see a client's horse who had just fallen into a ditch and broken a leg if you're at a horse show.  If you wanted to work out of a clinic for smaller animals where the hours are from 9-5, that would be more more reasonable.

A horse rescue takes a lot of time and commitment. If you were a vet and you ran your own horse rescue and so you did your veterinary work for free, it would certainely reduce the costs a bit.

I'm not saying that it's not possible, but being an equine veterinarian is a 24 hour job.

Answer 7

it depends on your schedules

Answer 8

Most of the vets that come to our barn own and ride there own weekends it would be tough competing and all because of the randomness of the job but it would be expecially possible if you worked for a large facility that will make sure that you get days off

Answer 9

yeah you can

if you like spending alot of time

Answer 10

Well Lauren has a great answer, the only addition I have, coming from an equine vet family as well, is you could be a vet, put your time in, as in pay your dues maybe 15 yrs of practice, then seek a partner and share responsibilities. At that point you would have a little extra time, could even dictate your hours, hire additional vets to a practice, decide to do research, teach, ect......Many possibilities.  I know an Equine vet that is a family friend, that just sees special cases. He owns his clinic, but partners with 3 other vets and they run the facility. He does what he wants to do at this point. But he worked very hard for that privilege.  I think you would have to choose right now and dedicate yourself to one career. That way you can excel, you dont want to spread yourself too thin and fail. Good luck