LA inexperience catch-22

[MarxistPreVet]

Hi everyone, I am (I think) at about sophomore level right now, transferring to UW-Madison from a CC. (I am graduating from the CC this May with an A.S. in Liberal Studies degree.)

I am running into a dilemma with trying to gain experience with large animals. I didn't grow up on a farm and never was able to convince my parents to get me a horse or riding lessons.

I've been sending applications and resumes to horse stables and dairy facilities, but so far nobody is even interested in interviewing me. They want to know alllll about my horse/cow experience and I have none to discuss. :/ I live near a big vet school and most people I know who are pre-vet in this area (southern WI) seem to have grown up on farms and have way more experience than me.

How do I convince someone to give me a chance with large animals? It seems like I'm caught in a Catch-22 right now.

I talk up my work ethic, my awards/scholarships/leadership roles, my 4.0 GPA, my strong desire to specialize in large animal medicine, but this is (understandably) not impressive to someone trying to run a serious horse or dairy operation.

I am starting wildlife rehab work at a humane society but they also will not train me to work with horses/farm animals unless I have prior experience.

Should I be calling LA/mixed-practice vets and asking to shadow them? Would they even be interested in allowing a LA-inexperienced person to shadow? I'm feeling really shy about asking to shadow, and I'm not even sure how to go about doing it. I'm willing to embarrass myself trying to figure it out, but I figured y'all might have a good idea or two for me.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Horses925]

I'm not sure what kind of job you have applied for at the different barns, so I apologize in advance if you have already done this - but have you thought about offering to help with the more menial, non-animal-related tasks first? Like mucking stalls? If you can get your foot in the door, they will get to know you, and even if they aren't willing at first to let you do any handling, as they get to know you you might have better luck. Another thought is to try to look for rescue organizations - equine rescues, like all others, are always looking for volunteers. The downside is you wouldn't get paid necessarily, but you could get good experience (some might even train you), and possibly have a shot at a paying position elsewhere after you have some experience under your belt.

I know it is frustrating, but I can understand a stable's reluctance to hire a person who has no experience with horses - they are big and unpredictable, and if you don't know what you are doing yet, it could be a liability concern.

Good luck with your search!

 

[cs5910]

.

 

[that redhead]

While large animal experience isn't required, I think it would absolutely be beneficial to someone who wants to go into LA medicine.

I think you're going about it the wrong way - applying for an actual job likely won't net you much since (as you said) most places want someone they don't have to train but also don't have to worry about around the animals. Suggestions:

- Shadow a large animal vet. They'd be more likely to take on someone untrained since they don't necessarily depend on you directly. As you get comfortable with the "easy" things like haltering/holding a horse, you might get more priviledges like getting to give an injection, etc.

- Volunteer at a therapeutic riding center. I know many volunteers who started out without horse experience and progressed. You could also ask a friend (or friend of a friend) if they wouldn't mind taking you along to their barn and letting you brush and eventually handle their horse, just to get to be around them.

- Offer to milk at dairies. The hours are a witch but (around here at least) they're happy to have anyone willing to learn.

Good luck!

 

[MarxistPreVet]

Thank you all so much. You're right; I am getting ahead of myself trying to start out directly working with large animals. I will try to focus on "proving" myself first and I will also look into equine rescues/therapeutic riding centers, shadowing a vet, and milking. I'm not afraid of crazy hours; I happen to have a 2-year-old so I'm very familiar with sleep deprivation.

 

[BladeofGrass]

I had the exact same problem!! It was frustrating but not impossible to find LA work. Check out the internships at the Miner Institute in NY: http://www.whminer.com/. They are actually looking for people without much farm experience but who are willing to learn, work hard, and who are looking to go into the profession (aka working with dairy/horses, in whatever capacity).

I don't think you are approaching this the wrong way...it just takes one person to give you a chance!

 

[LetItSnow]

While large animal experience isn't required, I think it would absolutely be beneficial to someone who wants to go into LA medicine.

Beneficial, for sure. But probably not necessary. There's an outstanding girl in my class who came into school small animal, decided in the first week she loved horses even though she knew nothing about them, and hasn't looked back. She's going to Rolex next week, has a horse she rides all the time, and is ramping up faster than Evel Knievel jumping a row of buses.

Only saying that I wouldn't give up on the goal if the OP somehow can't manage to snag exactly the right experience. Definitely don't disagree with you.

Should I be calling LA/mixed-practice vets and asking to shadow them?

Yup. That's what Redhead said, and I agree. Other than applying for jobs that you aren't likely to get, I get the sense you've got the right attitude and are going about it ok. Just keep plugging away. Network as much as you can. I'm small animal, but I did some equine and LA shadowing; in both cases it was pure networking. My sister leased a horse from the equine doc and hooked me up; a pre-vet classmate of mine rode with a LA (primarily dairy) vet and got me invited into the practice. So keep talking to people; even (or especially) people you wouldn't think would have the connections you'd want. I had no idea my sister's horse was leased from an equine vet - I just happened to mention one day that I wanted to tack on a few weeks of equine shadowing and she said "guess what; my horse is owned by one." The more people you talk to, the more likely that sort of thing is to happen.

Even the majority of my pre-vet small animal shadowing was friend-of-a-friend kinda stuff. My study partner in my pre-req days was a pre-med student. Turned out she was distantly related to a small animal vet and got me in at that clinic. I still spend time there.

Just keep networking and talking to everyone who will listen about what you're looking for.

 

[kakurubird]

- Volunteer at a therapeutic riding center. I know many volunteers who started out without horse experience and progressed. You could also ask a friend (or friend of a friend) if they wouldn't mind taking you along to their barn and letting you brush and eventually handle their horse, just to get to be around them.

This is definitely what the first thing that came to mind that I would have suggested. Generally, they'll need volunteers to groom & tack (or help the student do so, depending on ability/level) and then to side-walk or lead the horse. The nice thing is these horses are all going to be rather level-headed and a nice way to get to feel comfortable with the basics of handling a horse without making others nervous regarding the horse's temperament combined with your (lack of) experience.
(Plus, once you know them, ask who they use as a vet, contact that person, and you can include that you have the experience there and people who have seen you around horses.)

I have been riding for years and used to volunteer at a therapeutic riding center (lesson leading and exercising the horses) and really miss it quite a bit. It's a special thing.

 

[bunnity]

You could also just sign up for regular old riding lessons and then once you're established ask if you can hang out when the vet comes to do shots/coggins or a horse gets sick. Some universities have horsey clubs and teams or you could just go through a private stable.