Veterinary Courses – An Important Step to Become an Equine Veterinary Technician
An equine veterinarian is an animal veterinarian that specializes in treating equines with diseases. Equine professionals can specialize in treating diseases affecting their own horses or can specialize in treating horses in other people’s animals. They are also known as horse specialists. Generally, they can perform basic veterinary checkups on horses by doing routine exams, administering samples for testing and diagnosing common horse illnesses.
However, there are some instances where equestrian veterinaries cannot perform certain tasks because of the lack of a specialized license. In such cases, other animal professionals, particularly the owner, are required to perform these tasks. In some places, the local government requires horse owners to get a license if they want to allow veterinaries to diagnose and treat diseases affecting horses. The American Society for Testing and Medicine (ASTM) also has different criteria for judging qualified equine veterinaries.
If you are planning to become an equestrian veterinarian, it is important for you to understand that you will have plenty of work. Similar to any kind of veterinary medicine, you will encounter a lot of demands for your time and attention. As a horse owner, you have to ensure that your horse is kept healthy at all times. You will have to attend to medical conditions of your horse often and must be able to know how to take care of him if something goes wrong. You will need to administer drugs and medications regularly and learn the proper way of addressing horse injuries and concerns. If you want to become an equine veterinarian, you must be dedicated to the job and willing to learn about all aspects of equine veterinary medicine.
To become an equine veterinarian, you will have to attend veterinary school and pass the necessary licensing exam. Most states require for aspiring veterinarians to pass this exam before they can legally practice. There are many universities that offer the program in equine veterinary care and all of them have a board of examination which you need to pass before getting the license.
Apart from the licensing exam, you will need to complete the necessary courses related to being an equestrian veterinarian. You can either take up a two year or a four year degree program, depending on how much time and effort you are willing to invest. After graduation, you should get hands-on training by participating in a course in basic biology and nutrition. Once you are fully equipped with the knowledge, you can go on to take up further studies such as classes in animal behavior, physiology and anatomy. After completing a full four year degree program in this field, you should be well prepared to enter into specialized schooling such as biostatistics and cytology, among many others.
The other thing that you need to know is that most veterinaries work with horses for a long time and there is plenty of interaction between the two animals. That is why, when working as an equine veterinarian, you must have a sound knowledge about basic horsemanship and good horsemanship principles. Other subjects that you will need to study include nutrition, pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, immunology, and a lot more. These are just the basics that every vet must know in order to become one.