The Equine Practice, Inc

20/01/2026

https://youtu.be/pLlifoS9WWQ

The debate over horse dentistry needs to be resolved before it escalates into an all-out war, leaving horses without the dental care they need. The two main issues fueling this conflict—hand floating versus power equipment, and the debate over whether only veterinarians or non-veterinarians should perform dental work—have been ongoing since the 1960s. I know this history well, as I began my own journey into equine dentistry in 1983.

Like many forgotten histories, this discussion often pits people against one another without understanding past mistakes and solutions. Those involved focus solely on their own perspectives, turning the debate into a personal battle in which the horses are caught in the middle, suffering as their needs are misrepresented or ignored.

As this conflict continues to play out on social media and in veterinary meetings, an increasing number of horse owners are opting not to have their horses' teeth cared for. Consequently, horses are left chewing in pain or struggling with the bit, only to see a dentist when the dental issues become severe, rather than receiving preventive maintenance.

In this podcast, I will discuss this dilemma by examining the various schools of thought, which often rest on unproven theories and distorted facts. It's time for all parties to cease fighting and for veterinarians to expand their scope of care, offering more options for horse owners. By doing so, we can ensure that more horses receive the dental care they need, which is essential to Help Horses Thrive In A Human World™.
https://youtu.be/pLlifoS9WWQ

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 157: "How Should Dentistry Be Performed In Horses?" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on January 4, 2026The deba...

28/11/2025

The Horse’s Advocate Community is a place where horse owners and credible equine professionals can come together to help us ensure our horses thrive in a human world! Not only can you try the community absolutely free for 14 days, which includes access to courses, discussion areas, and live online meetings with Geoff Tucker, a DVM with over 50 years of experience working with horses, but we are having the biggest sale of the year! Be sure to use the code FRIDAY25 for 80% off your first month or your first year at checkout after the 14-day trial is over.

You can share this code with your friends and use it on the checkout page:
https://community.thehorsesadvocate.com/lp1
@topfans

06/11/2025

New upload on YouTube:

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 149: "The Key To Reducing Excess Body Fat In Horses" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on March 11, 2025There ar...

30/10/2025

New Video Out!

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 148: "Attracting Good Horse Veterinarians" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on March 3, 2025In South Dakota, th...

23/10/2025

Geoff Tucker, DVM, is leading the charge to help your Horse Thrive In A Human World™.

Tonight at 8pm, October 23rd, we are having a live Zoom discussion. Join us at The Horse’s Advocate Inner Circle to clarify common misconceptions about feeding horses and equip you with practical strategies to address issues like poor hair coat, weak hooves, and even behavioral challenges. With over 50 years of experience with horses and insights from Cornell's Veterinary School, Dr. Tucker will guide you through straightforward nutritional principles that can make a real difference in your horse's life.

You'll learn how to identify inflammatory foods, ensure your horse gets high-quality protein, and the importance of keeping a record of their progress. We believe that feeding horses doesn't need to be complicated, and this presentation will empower you with the confidence to make informed decisions for your equine partner.

Don't miss this opportunity to save time and money while improving your horse's overall health. Come and discover how air, water, and quality plant-based feed can Help Horses Thrive In A Human World™! We look forward to seeing you there!

If you want to attend this event and experience all the benefits of being an Inner Circle Member, start your FREE 14-Day Trial by signing up. Don't forget to use the code OCT4025 to get 40% off after your trial period. Don't miss out; this code is only active during the month of October!

https://community.thehorsesadvocate.com/lp1
Thanks and see you there,
Geoff Tucker, DVM

07/01/2025

Who do you believe? Is it the person with credentials or the person with experience? Maybe neither, because whenever anyone says something, there is an agenda. The need to talk is to communicate with someone to gain a response. Here are examples:

- "What is your name?" is a question wanting an answer.
- "The sunset is beautiful!" encourages others to look up and share what I see.
- "Feed your horse with my grains and supplements, and they will win the championship." solves the desire of sport horse owners.

Attending meetings is a grand example of communication on several levels. The presenting organization uses its associates to orchestrate an assembly of speakers and audience. The goal for most is to make money, primarily if sponsors are used to finance everything.

Last week, I attended six lectures presented by an animal feed ingredient maker and sponsored by several horse feed manufacturers. I report on my experience, which was mostly a waste of my time. Luckily, it was free and online. However, it is essential to report on this because I need to know how they manipulate horse owners. Bamboozling, deceiving, and misleading are all words I would use to describe what marketing does, and unfortunately, our horses suffer.

Not all marketing bamboozles. All businesses need to make money to remain in existence. However, integrity must be addressed when a need to return a profit at the expense of those supporting a business is compromised. Most lectures should have addressed the overarching problem in equine nutrition; what they say about feeding horses is not helping them.

The same was true at the AAEP meeting in Orlando this year. Again, medicine wants to explore ways to fix things rather than prevent them. Several of the presenters of scientific papers said from the stage that their studies were underpowered or didn't last long enough to show causation. In other words, what we say here may or may not help horses, but we won't study anything that will prevent illness and lameness. How can veterinarians offer help when preventive strategies are never mentioned? Just take a look at the sponsors down on the trade show floor. After all, they are the driving force behind what is said from the podium.

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Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 144: "Should We Listen To Horse Education?" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on December 11, 2024Who do you bel...

26/12/2024

The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 143: "The Science Behind The Connection With Horses. An Interview With Dr. Maria Katsamanis" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on December 4, 2024

Dr. Maria Katsamanis (Dr. Maria) joins me on this podcast to discuss how science can help us create better connections with our horses. I do these things every day, but I need the science or research behind why I do what I do. She delivers on this and more! Dr. Maria will be delighted if you learn something from listening that helps you connect better on a molecular level. Her life's work is to scientifically understand and improve on why we would rather be in a barn asking horses to help us face the world and heal our minds.

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 143: "The Science Behind The Connection With Horses. An Interview With Dr. Maria Katsamanis" By Geoff Tucker,...

21/12/2024

Three articles from the AVMA arrived in my inbox this week:
- Gap shrinks between new graduate, overall veterinary salaries
- Midlevel practitioner proposal secures enough votes in Colorado
- Federal appeals court reverses Texas VCPR ruling

These articles drove me to make this podcast, the third in a series, about horse veterinary care. It emphasizes the need to prevent illness and injuries.

In summary, new vet graduates' mean starting salary (adjusted for inflation) has steadily risen since 2000, while the income of established veterinarians (adjusted for inflation) has not. The educational debt to become a veterinarian has also risen, but the ratio between debt and income on average has fallen due to increasing salaries. However, after removing the 17% with no debt, the debt-to-income ratio is higher and less sustainable.

All veterinarians are young, with 8% older than 65. Thus, the pool of experienced veterinarians to mentor graduates is shrinking.

Colorado approved the development of a midlevel practitioner to "fill the gap" between technician and veterinarian. Almost all veterinary organizations opposed this; however, the voters accepted this idea. Is this different from non-veterinarians already diagnosing and prescribing (dentists, farriers, bodyworkers)? Will this become available in other states? How will this affect the safety and cost of care for our horses?

Texas accused a retired veterinarian of offering advice to a patient via email without first establishing a VCPR (veterinary-client-patient relationship) in person. The federal court overturned the lower court's guilty decision, saying that offering advice by email without a VCPR is a right under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. How will veterinarians and state boards use this decision?

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 141: "The Crisis In Veterinary Medicine Worsens" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on November 13, 2024Three art...

19/12/2024

Forgive me as I rant about veterinary care. This week, I experienced or heard of four events between veterinarians and their owners that have me asking: Are the schools teaching integrity along with veterinary medicine?

There are 13 new vet schools in America, spawning 55,000 more veterinarians in the next decade. Most will go into small animal practice. Driving this growth is a demand for pet owners to access care everywhere and corporate strategies to use more veterinarians at higher salaries to remain competitive. In essence, the forecast is for ample demand for services and a need for more veterinarians to meet this need.

Stepping away from this "supply and demand" model, I now see evidence that integrity is being replaced with a "fix-it" mentality. New veterinary graduates are well-trained in the science of "fixing" an animal's problem; however, are they also advocating for the animal and, importantly, the owner?

Regrettably, the era of the "country vet," who took the time to educate, advise, and console the owner, seems to be fading. The high cost of training and the standardization of care have led to a "cookie-cutter" approach to animal care. This approach, while efficient, may seem superficial to older vets who, though impressed with the knowledge young vets bring to the practice, miss the days of explaining how to prevent problems and advocating for the animal above all else.

https://youtu.be/CU5CmEj4tKg

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 140: "Integrity In Veterinary Medicine" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on November 6, 2024Forgive me as I ran...

15/12/2024

Over the next ten years, thirteen new vet schools will be built and accredited by the AVMA to teach and add 55,000 more veterinarians to the existing veterinary colleges and new veterinary graduates.

The expansion of the profession is driven by the growth of corporate-owned veterinary clinics and the aspirations of new veterinary graduates to enhance their quality of life. However, this trend may lead to a twofold outcome: increased cost and decreased quality of veterinary care. The impact is particularly felt by owners of animals other than dogs and cats, who may face more significant challenges in accessing quality care.

80% of new graduates are predicted to enter small animal practice, leaving only 20% for all other animals. Cattle, small ruminants, swine, aquatic animals, zoos, research, government roles, and our horses are left with too few new graduates to replace the steady loss of veterinarians leaving equine practices. However, the ratio of new veterinarians per horse practice diminishes this number, as practices need to employ more veterinarians to meet young professionals' social and financial needs.

For example, to cover a large geographic area with 24-hour care, two to four veterinarians need to be available to allow time off when, in the past, one or two covered it. Additionally, non-veterinary owned (corporate) small animal veterinary clinics offer high salaries that horse practices need to match to retain young employees with high student loans.

The mission of The Horse's Advocate is to help horse owners prevent unnecessary veterinary visits by improving farm and barn safety, improving nutrition, and teaching horsemanship skills. The goal is not to replace veterinarians but to enhance their efficiency so they can attend to horses needing urgent attention.

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 139: "More New Vets But Less Horse Vets" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on October 31, 2024Over the next ten ...

11/12/2024

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 138: "Horses And Perception Management" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on October 9, 2024

Perception management is a real industry that affects everyone in every aspect of our lives and our horses. In a spy thriller I'm reading, one man hires a perception management team to turn the world against Russia, causing everyone to purchase more weapons from his arms company while almost ending the world. It's scary stuff but relatable in the news today.

Can someone manipulate our perceptions of horse care for their advantage? Absolutely. The critical question to ask is, "How effective are your current horse care practices?" If the answer is a disappointing "They're not," it's crucial to reconsider your approach and critically evaluate who truly benefits from your methods. This process of critical evaluation is not just necessary, but it's empowering. It will engage you in thoughtful consideration of your horse care practices and a purpose and willingness to change them. However, effort is needed to distinguish good information from bad.

This podcast provides two relatable examples of perception management in horse care: Is 24-hour access to hay good, and should you feed processed foods? By listening to this, you can empower yourself to ask questions and build new strategies to improve your horse care practices. The knowledge you gain from doing so will give you a sense of control over your horse's well-being. I also provide a simple image to illustrate how life is fueled, with advice on managing food intake with energy output. This image of energy flow will help you focus on where change is needed: diet, exercise, or both.

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 138: "Horses And Perception Management" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on October 9, 2024Perception managemen...

30/11/2024

The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 142: "Dr Belden Returns For Our Annual Thanksgiving Interview" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on November 21, 2024

This podcast is a special Rounds With Doc T with my friend and colleague, Dr James Belden. Usually, Rounds are for members of The Horse's Advocate, but as an annual Thanksgiving treat, it is available for everyone to watch or listen to.

Dr Belden graduated from Cornell's veterinary school in 1964. He has worked on horses in 30 countries, many Triple Crown winners in the Thoroughbred racing world, and many elite show horses in Wellington, FL. He has also competed with his reining horses. His knowledge comes from working on hundreds of thousands of horses in all sports categories.

Dr Belden tells stories of his work with horses, blending his experience into impactful ideas for all to use with their horses today. Practical advice sparkles throughout as he also answers questions from the audience. I hope you enjoy and learn from this veterinary treasure.

Welcome to The Horse's Advocate Podcast Episode 142: "Dr Belden Returns For Our Annual Thanksgiving Interview" By Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on November 21,...