Cavallo Veterinary Services

03/24/2025

Hot off the Soft Ride Monthly Newsletter - March Issue #48. “I am an independent equine nutrition consultant (Whitfield Equine Nutrition) and have my very special, 27 y.o. QH Whitley at my home farm in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley. Whit and I share an extensive love story since we first met in 2010, when I was 15. We showed in the hunters and jumpers together, he came with me to college, and along to everywhere else I have moved since then. He is now fully retired and living at home with me, where I can closely manage his varied health needs. Historically he did very well in therapeutic front shoes that addressed his navicular pain, but in 2024 I struggled to keep him comfortable - except when his shoes were pulled and he lived in Soft Rides when outside of his well-bedded stall. Ultimately, with the information from an MRI regarding bone edema, I decided with the guidance of my vet that what made the most sense was what Whit’s feet were telling us - he would be most comfortable with a therapeutic trim and for his outside time, Soft Rides - in addition to continued treatment from my vet. Every horse and his/her needs are different - it was essential to do the full work-up so I could feel confident in a plan moving forward. And at the center of this plan is Whit’s long-term comfort and happiness - and he approaches his 28th birthday in April! The photo is of him enjoying a rare session of winter-time grass.

Gratefully,

Ofelia & Whitley (“Heez Got the Touch”) .ride

03/23/2025

Some well deserved accolades are in order!!! Olivia and Oxford (Mooney) returned to the show ring recently, competing in the 2’ hunters. They did great out of a competitive group of seven, winning two of the classes and placing second in the remaining classes. They took home the Champion at the end of the day!

Perseverance, teamwork and dedication to rehabilitation really paid off for team Mooney ❤️ 🐴 🏆 🥇
l_eq

01/27/2025

Researchers at the University of Minnesota and University of Florida are currently investigating the genetics associated with PPID (Cushings) risk and pergolide (Prascend) response in horses.

If your horse has been diagnosed with PPID through veterinary examination with diagnostic testing and is currently receiving pergolide therapy they may be eligible. They are especially interested in horses that fail to respond at normal doses and/or those in which treatment is more challenging due to adverse effects (horses going off feed, significant weight loss, behavioral/personality changes).

If you are interested in learning more about participating the website and email are below.

This project and its potential impact to improve quality of life in many senior horses is exciting!

https://z.umn.edu/pergolidestudy

[email protected]

Participation requirements for the Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), previously known as equine Cushing’s, genetics research in how horses respond pergolide treatment and the presence of adverse effects.

01/25/2025

Day 4 Costa Rica 🇨🇷🌊🛻
Today was an adventure. We packed up camp at 6 am and headed out to our last indigenous community of Roca Blanca. It was a bumpy beautiful ride with a river crossing. (See story!!!) It had rained all night and we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to safely cross. We were able to make it to the community but it started to rain as we arrived. We tended to the few horses and owners that braved the weather to get to our set up and had some rounds with the students. We found time for fun and laughter and it was a great end to a wonderful week.

As always sharing this time with students, international colleagues and champions for working equid welfare is inspiring and rejuvenating. 💜 🐴

01/24/2025

Day 3 in Costa Rica.❤️🇨🇷💙
This morning we packed up camp and headed to the indigenous community of Alto Quetzal. Once again we are camping ⛺️ on a school property and performing our work on the plaza / soccer field.

Today we saw 51 horses for full exams and performed 15 dentals, 25 farrier visits and 4 castrations.

Some interesting cases included a tooth root abscess, multiple bilateral inguinal canal, high flanker/cryptorchid castrations and 2 cases of significant anemia with babesiosis suspected as the chronic cause.

Dr Sotela taught the students anesthesia today which tends to be one of her favorite things to do on these trips!! 🤩🥳🥰

We are packing up camp early tomorrow AM and headed to our final community for the trip.
PS- the stars are incredible here
✨ ⭐️ 🌟

01/23/2025

Day 2 in Costa Rica 🇨🇷 🌴 🐴

Today was our first full day of Equitarian work. We spent the day in the indigenous community of Roca Quemada. We saw a total of
81 horses for full physical/oral/musculoskeletal exams, vaccination, deworming and topical ectoparasite treatment.
7 castrations
Multiple hoof wounds
Multiple saddle fit issues and wither wounds
2 horses with Sarcoids
30 Dentals
45 Farrier cases

Our team consisted of:

4 veterinarians from the USA (2 of which are ACVIM boarded)
5 veterinarians from Costa Rica
4 veterinary students from UTN (Universidad Technical National CR)
8 veterinary students from UNA (Universidad National CR)
A veterinary technician from UNA
An animal science student
2 farriers from Costa Rica
4 representatives from CREW (Costa Rica Equine Welfare)

Tomorrow morning we travel to our next community for another exciting day of work!! 😀

01/22/2025

Day 1 in Costa Rica. Today our team arrived to Comunidad Indigena Roca Quemada in Turrialba, Cartago Province. It is Equitarian Initiatives first time providing care to the working equids of this community. CREW (Costa Rica equine welfare) alongside World Horse Welfare and UNA (Universidad National de Costa Rica) have previously done outreach to this community to gauge veterinary and farrier needs. Today we had an educational meeting with the locals to introduce ourselves and hear what their greatest areas of need are for their working equids. We also had training meetings with the veterinary and animal science students in preparation for the work we will be doing over the next three days. We then enjoyed a small hike down to the Chirripo Atlantico river that the community is adjacent to.
The drive here was spectacular and also exciting! We are staying in the classrooms of the community schoolhouse for these first two nights and then will move on to the other local indigenous communities.

Stay Tuned!

01/19/2025

Dr Sotela will once again be volunteering with Equitarian Initiative this coming week in Costa Rica. We will be providing care to the working equids of three indigenous communities that have not previously been visited by EI. Stay tuned for photos and daily updates!!

11/05/2024

Phoenix got her yearly spa day yesterday 🎉 🛻 🧼 ✨ Thank you!!! 🙏 Always comes out amazing! 🤩

11/04/2024

CONGRATULATIONS 🎉 to the 2024 HVHJA Finals Solid Citizen Award “Beni” aka “Benevolent” owned by Welwyn and ridden by Leah Kirkpatrick.

It was an honor to sponsor such a meaningful award this year and to see so many happy horses and riders.

Congratulations to all the HVHJA finals participants. Getting out there and having fun is what it is all about!! 💜 🥇 🐴 🏆
stable

10/25/2024

So grateful to have Kelly on Team Cavallo!!!

The Business Infusions team wants to celebrate National Vet Tech Week October 13th - 19th by highlighting a few special techs. Today we celebrate Kelly Shultes, BBA, LVT. Kelly is the Practice Manager for Cavallo Veterinary Services. She is a native to Dutchess County, New York and grew up on a small farm enjoying her love for large animals. In particular, goats and horses are her passion, spending many years involved in the 4H program showing her animals.

In her first career path after graduating college, Kelly worked in the engineering field as an industrial space planner and layout designer prior to raising her five children. As they grew, she decided to switch careers and return to college to transition into the veterinary field. While in school, she was required to do an internship and that is where she met Dr. Andrea Sotela in 2012. She worked alongside her as an ambulatory assistant and upon passing her VTNE and becoming a licensed veterinary technician, she transitioned into other roles in veterinary hospitals.

As an LVT, Kelly has had the honor to teach students in an AVMA accredited LVT program, work in emergency medicine, small animal medicine, a clinical pathology lab, and an equine hospital. Continuing to pursue additional education to obtain her degree in Veterinary Business Management led to another internship. This required internship came at a perfect time as Dr. Sotela was launching Cavallo Veterinary Services, and so the partnership reunited.

Kelly was awarded the honor for the highest cumulative GPA in this program upon her graduation from SUNY Canton. She is honored to continue to manage Cavallo Veterinary Services for Dr. Sotela.

In her spare time, Kelly enjoys gardening, fiber arts, and camping. She lives with her husband and two dogs in Schoharie County, New York.

We appreciate you Kelly and celebrate you not just this week but each and every day for the valuable contributions that you make in the equine field.

What Kelly has to say about Cassadol Equine Software:
"We LOVE Cassadol and the Business Infusions team!!!"

09/10/2024

Congratulations to “That’s Life” (aka Mickey) for being awarded the solid citizen of the day award at the Meadow Creek horse show this past weekend. His Welwyn family is so excited and proud 🤩🥳 .stable

08/26/2024

Congratulation to Ares owned and ridden by Tiffani Donahue!! This past week they spent 3 days showing at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds

Ares and Tiffani went back in the hunter ring for the first time in a year and won the $500 Derby & champion in the 3’ working hunters, the $300 hunter classic and champion in the 3’ child/Adult hunters. Friday they went back to the jumpers and won the $300 take your own line, 2nd place in the $500 DCF Annual high jump and champion in the high jumper division.

Ares was awarded the solid citizen award by HVHJA sponsored by Cavallo Veterinary Services !

08/21/2024

…..I don’t think she agreed with my flexion grade score….. 🤣 💜 🐴 🏥 ⛑️

06/20/2024

A good laugh on hump day. If you are lucky I guess your horses address is your home address 🤪

06/18/2024

Congratulations 🎉

✌️So nice, they chose him TWICE. ✌️At Welwyn, the judges once again chose High Tide, ridden by Clara Barnes, as the winner of the Solid Citizen award.

Thank you to the sponsor of this wonderful award,