Re: RC: Re: Re: Re: FEEDING BEER TO HORSES

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/11/00 2:00:55 AM Pacific Daylight Time, tracey@tbt.co.za 
writes:

<<  I must admit, much as I adore my vet, the one time Toc came down lame, I 
phoned my farrier first and then the vet.  Problem was that my farrier's 
phone was on voicemail, and the vet came immediately.   I would never just 
phone the farrier - I like the two to play together like nice children.  It's 
just a shame there is so much professional jealousy between vets and 
farriers.  The farrier my vet likes to work with, I won't let within fifty 
feet of one of my horses, and the vet my farrier likes to work with I don't 
know.    >>

Part of the problem here is in the veterinary profession, and part of it is 
because owners still perceive every vet to be a general practitioner, well 
versed in everything.  Medicine is simply too complicated for any one person 
to be good at it all.  There is a place for general practitioners--just as 
there is a place for family practitioners in human medicine.  But when you go 
to your family practitioner, expect to be referred to an OB/GYN for female 
problems, an orthopedist when you break your leg or trash your knee, an 
allergist when you break out in hives from what you eat, etc.  But when 
veterinarians try to specialize in a particular field, unless they are in a 
referral-only practice, they are still inundated by requests to do things 
that are far from their specialties and which they may well not do on a 
regular basis.  So why on earth would they be good at those things?  In order 
to be good at ANYTHING, a vet MUST seek education past vet school and gain 
experience with particular procedures.  Plain and simple.  Quite frankly, 
there is just as much emphasis on teeth in vet school as there is on how to 
palpate a mare.  And new graduates don't come out very good at either one.  
Those interested in repro work do a lot of it, go to CE about it, and get 
good at it.  Those interested in teeth do likewise.  But don't expect your 
repro vet to do more than knock off the edges in a simple float, and don't 
expect your dentist to palpate mares.  I won't let my OB/GYN do surgery on my 
knee, either.

Heidi