Our Blog

Many of you have met me as Dr. Chandra, the intern at Weitz Equine. I have spent several months over the last year since graduating veterinary school learning from the amazing doctors at Weitz Equine. I also spent 5 months through the winter in Georgia at Thompson and Associates Equine, successfully avoiding the Minnesota winter and gaining an entirely different perspective and experience. However, the bitter-sweet time has come for me to finish my internship and continue my career in veterinary medicine. 

There is an unfortunate stigma in the veterinary field about internships. They are thought to subject recent graduates to extremely long hours and extensive grunt work for little reward. This has been far from my experience at Weitz Equine over the past 4 months. I have been privileged to work with incredible clients, patients, and doctors and be welcomed into the career of veterinary medicine.

It’s quite the job to be a farm dog. So many responsibilities. Dr. Melissa has observed the many farm dogs she encounters closely and come up with these important rules that all farm dogs seem to follow.

To say this spring has been unique in the history of Weitz Equine would be a gross understatement. We have all faced new and challenging situations in both our own little world and the greater world as a whole. This has forced us to adapt and change our how we perform our tasks and interact with each other.

Weitz Equine now offers Equine Acupuncture!! Below you’ll find some general information about acupuncture, as well as what to expect during an appointment for you and your horse.

The rapidly evolving Covid-19 situation has us all stressed to the max these days. It’s affecting all of our lives both young and old and its going to take some ability to adapt to our lives being altered for the next few months. But if I know anything, it’s that horse people are tough and adaptable and ready to handle anything that comes their way. This blog is a little bit of levity and a little bit important information about how Covid-19 is affecting all of us as horse owners and doctors right now. 

I am quite overdue for writing a blog… so I thought I’d finally get to it. I often get asked what I love about my job, as well as, what I don’t like so much. I’ve given it a lot of thought over the years and it is funny how the list of “likes” is pretty similar to the things that really make this job difficult. So now I’d like to share that list with you.

This week, Dr. Mary, Dr, Eva and Dr. Melissa working together with the help of another veterinarian (who also happened to own the equine patient), learned to perform a standing enucleation (eye removal). Cooperating and coordinating to learn these new procedures is vital to our success as veterinarians. In some practices, it can be an every man/woman for themselves philosophy…or even worse, veterinarians work in competition with each other for cases and patients.

It’s been awhile since we have had a blog…so let’s make this one a good one. Let’s talk CBD products and horses. Here we go…

The other night, I spent an hour or so weeding. I was not weeding my flower or vegetable garden; I was weeding my horse’s pasture”by hand. We had moved in about a month ago, and I had already planned out where I wanted to put fencing, how I wanted to divide my pastures, and what fencing I was installing. My horse was moving here the next weekend, and I still had a lot of work to do. There are many things to think about when converting an acreage into a safe home for your horse. I had already planned for many things, but until I moved in, I hadn’t had a chance to take one final step. I had to ensure my pastures were free of noxious weeds. After an extensive survey, I located three potential hazards: hoary allyssum, night shade, and maple trees.

Ahhh the lazy hazy crazy days of summer are here! And for us in Minnesota this year, it means A LOT of bugs. The wet warm weather has produced a cash crop year for the flying and crawly creatures that drive us all mad. So I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the types of bugs that drive us and our horses crazy.

The equine supplement choices can be overwhelming. There are so many choices. Supplements for joint pain, calming the anxious horse, hoof growth, shiny coat….it goes on and on and on. So how do you know what to choose?

It’s still cold outside here in Minnesota with over a foot of snow on the ground and more coming in the next week, but it’s not too early to start thinking about summer fly control on our farms.

It’s the time of year when we start to see newborn foals….the equine foaling season usually lasts from January 1 to late June. I thought this might be a good time to outline some guidelines for owners with expectant mares.

It’s the holiday time of year. That gets us all thinking about what we are thankful for and what we’d like to get for Christmas. At Weitz Equine we are so thankful for our amazing clients and patients. You and the way you care for your horses, help us love coming to work everyday (even when the weather is cold and snowy). Thank you for being the best horses and horse owners around.

In the spirit of the season, here is an equine veterinarian’s Christmas Wish List: