Directly in front of me stood the projected champion of the two year old halter mares at the
Quarter Horse Worlds show and she was foundering. I was in slight shock, not because this beautiful
mare was foundering, but that I was present to see it. Just the day before, I had been driving the last leg
of my 1,600 mile journey to Aubrey, Texas, and now I was looking at an animal that was worth more
than my entire college education whose life was hanging in the balance. Not only was this mare’s life in
danger, but it was also up to the veterinarian that I was shadowing to make the right decisions regarding
her care and hopefully her return back to health. I don’t know what I expected to find in Texas, but this
type of veterinary care was above and beyond what I was used to. I quickly found out that this was
routine and also that I was right where I needed to be to realize my dream of becoming a large animal
vet.
Throughout the next month, I saw an innumerable amount of expensive horses with a variety of
ailments. I worked long hours for no pay, and I felt so accomplished every night I went to bed with sore
muscles and new bruises. Seeing the appreciation for the vets I shadowed and the relationships that
they had built with their clients, I knew this was what I needed to do. With every new procedure, every
new lameness, however frustrating, I became more enthralled in what we were going to do next.
Although sometimes monotonous, veterinary work proved to have just the variety in the work day that I
was striving for. It had been a long road up until that point. I wasn’t always so sure of my future career.
When I was five, my Aunt Sue gave me riding lessons for Christmas. By sixth grade, I was convinced I was
going to be a large animal vet. I started showing at local 4-H shows and discovered that showing made
me extremely anxious. I stuck with riding and showing until I was sixteen when I finally decided that the
struggle wasn’t worth it anymore. The next summer, I started working at a local Quarter Horse training
facility cleaning stalls, and while it wasn’t glamorous, it kept me around horses. That job and my
involvement in the FFA encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming a vet. It also didn’t hurt that my
family farm was slowly blossoming into a beef cattle operation. On my fifteenth birthday, I came home
to a calf in our barn that I bottle fed for the next month. Suddenly becoming a large animal vet seemed
like an even more appealing option as my interest in cattle bloomed as well. As I approached my high
school graduation, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I would go to Penn State to pursue an animal
science major.
When I came to Penn State, my actual veterinary experience was quite limited. I had been around when
the vet was called for my animals or when we took my pets to the vet. However, I had only ridden once
with a large animal vet. It was then that my advisor suggested I find a vet close to my hometown to ride
along with and learn what exactly it meant to be a vet. The summer came, and I began shadowing Dr.
Marlo Egleston. The first day I had to be at her house by seven o’clock in the morning. For most people
seven o’clock does not seem that early. It really didn’t seem to be that much of stretch for myself either
until I realized that the hour commute would have me up at five o’clock in the morning. That day was
the first day that I truly tested my desire to become a large animal vet. Not only was I there at seven, I
also didn’t leave until approximately seven-thirty. I never looked back. I didn’t look back from the blood,
the long hours, or the eat and run approach. Each stop is something different. Whether we’re giving
vaccines, doing pregnancy checks, or dehorning calves, I’m captivated. A career in veterinary medicine in
Pennsylvania is exactly what I was seeking, but I knew that I needed to see more. I needed to see
veterinary medicine in a different area on a different level, so I drove to Texas.
The fall of my junior year I knew that I needed to begin searching for somewhere to spend my summer
months, somewhere where the work would be different from Pennsylvania. I needed to stretch my
boundaries, so I learned from a friend that she had spent time in Texas and that I was welcome to
contact them about an internship. It wasn’t long before it was set in stone that I would be working with
Southern Equine Associates in Aubrey, Texas. To say that I was broadening my horizon is a little bit of an
understatement. I had never spent more than a week outside my home state. In the beginning, I was
frustrated. I felt a little overwhelmed with the new surroundings and the different style of veterinary
medicine. However, by the end, I was confident in stocking the truck and helping with procedures. We
worked from sunrise to sunset on most days, and it was the longest, most fulfilling month of my life. I
left knowing that I hadn’t made a mistake taking this path, and that has made all the difference.