Journal 5

My final presentation went super well! I was extremely nervous at first because I was worried no one would really be interested. You have to like horses in the least way to care about taking care of them, and I certainly understand this, so it scared me to know that some people might think my senior exhibit was extremely boring and it was just a waste of 30 minutes while they could be doing homework or playing a game on their laptop. However, it didn’t really matter if they were interested or not because they were still going to have to listen to me talk about it no matter what. I had English right before my presentation and I could hardly concentrate because I was nervous about how it would go and I was so ready to get it over with as well. I got out of class a little bit early to head to Mr. Reed’s room so I could set up.
Due to my computer crashing, I lost the video I had created that I showed to the 5th graders for my application, but I still had the power point that I had made. Thankfully, I decided to use a program that is on the internet instead of just doing regular power point and saving it on my hard drive.. or else I would have been completely out of luck with no presentation! Anyways, I had created notes so that I had an outline of what I wanted to start off talking about and all the things I wanted to say so that I didn’t forget. I took what Mrs. Blashford, Mrs. Hunley and Mrs. Hoppel had said from rehearsal and changed the things they thought I should add/remove. They had given me really great feedback and showed me things about my presentation that I had never previously thought about. It really helped me pull together my final presentation and feel confident about what I was presenting to my peers without all the stress of being graded and having 25 people in the room watching you. (AKA I think the rehearsal with a few teachers was a GREAT idea!)
Anyways, back to my final presentation… all I had to do was hook up my computer and get prepared to show the slideshow and then lay out the tools I had and poster I made. I brought in some bandages, vet wrap, syringes, ointment, thermometers, a stethoscope and a tool called hoof testers for everyone to see. I also created a bulletin board with pictures of me riding when I was little to show everyone just how much horses and helping them means to me. I got this idea from the suggestion of teachers during my rehearsal so that I could give a better reason as to why I chose this topic. The board also had a coggins (which as I explained in my presentation is like a physical for horses) and a few other mementos from riding I have such as the stall tag I had from when I showed in Lexington at state finals. It has the horses name, rider and owner name, contact numbers, vet and hotel numbers, etc. so if anything were to happen to the horse while it is staying overnight at the show grounds people would know how to help it.
After setting up, I just had to wait for people to arrive so I could get started. As soon as they did, I began and started off with showing the power point. I went right into why I did this, what I did and where, what I learned, etc. I had most of my pictures from the summer and then from my application in the power point, and then I showed them the tools I had brought in and asked them if they could guess what the clamps or “hoof testers” were. I believe Jonathon answered and he actually was pretty close.. most people think they are for pulling out teeth or something. It seemed that the teachers and the seniors were the most interested and active ones during the presentation, but that is understandable. They are the ones who are more understanding of what we are going through while we are up there presenting. Overall, I think the presentation went well and those that I talked to afterwards seemed to really like it. I felt so much better after it was over and could not have asked for it to go any smoother.

Journal 1

THIS IS ACTUALLY MY FIRST JOURNAL.

Journal 1 – (Junior year planning)
I have set up who my mentor will be . I was sure to do it early because I knew I wanted Mrs. Hoppel and figured she would be asked by other people and didn’t want to not get her because I took too long to ask. I have also been thinking about ideas for my exhibit and have pretty much set on doing Equine Veterinary. It’s something that I already know a little bit about, while there’s still so much more I could learn. I have heard I’m pretty good with it. It’s something that I am interested in, and comes easily to me. I have also heard from others that I do well under the pressure, and am able to handle the stressful situations that you are generally put in while being an Equine Vet and working with large horses that are sometimes acting up since they are hurt.
I have made further progress on my learning activity! My mother has set up a summer activity for me with the Vet we use for our horses. It is called Rappahannock Equine Clinic and there are three different vets at the clinic, and I will go in most likely around once a week this summer to help out/intern one of the three vets. It is not something they normally let anyone under 18 do, but because I have known the vets for a while and will just be 17, they have agreed to let me do this with my parents having to sign a waiver. I am really excited because I already know two of the three vets, and like them both very much. One is an older, more experienced vet and the owner of the clinic, while the other is young and fun but still knowledgeable. Both of them have taken care of my own pony, which shows that I already know and trust their work. However, I still have not decided what I will do to apply this. I have thought about teaching a class but it doesn’t appear to be something that the average person(at FA) would like to learn about, or at least in my opinion. I plan to talk about this with Mrs. Hoppel as soon as I get things together and set up a meeting with her.
I recently have started second guessing my original topic, but have no idea what to replace it with. So far, I still have not been able to figure out what to do with my application and its making me unsure if I still want to keep this topic. I really like the idea, because it’s something I’m interested in, but if I can’t find a way to apply it, it may not work. I am having trouble coming up with other things that I am interested enough in to consider for my topic but I will continue thinking on it.
My most recent idea for a new topic was doing Forensic Science and taking a week long camp on it this summer. I got a packet in the mail from a program that does many different types of camps, one being on Forensic Science. Since it has always been something that seems to interest me, yet I know nothing about, I thought it would be really fun. The camp looked great since it was close, seemed knowledgeable and you get college credits for completing it. It wasn’t until my parents saw the price of the one week camp that I realized it wasn’t going to happen. So, yet again.. I’m back to square one with Equine Veterinary.
After hearing that my mom has talked to the vets and they have agreed to let me meet with them even under the circumstances that I’m not as old as the people they usually allow, I think it shows that this is something I should move forth with. It’s something different then many of the other topics my peers are doing, and I feel that with my interest in horses already it will only further my knowledge about them. I am looking forward to this summer when I will be riding around with the vets and helping them out.
I am still worried about what my application for my topic will be. I have talked a little bit about it with my mom, and she is thinking that once I get to work with the vet in the beginning of the summer, she will be able to figure something out for me. The further time goes on, the more I will be able to get a feel for what exactly I will be doing and that way I can think of some way to apply it. I also have to figure out a contract between my parents and the Equine clinic, just for legal issues and everything.

Journal 4

My application is over and it went very well! I finally finished the video using Windows Moviemaker. It was much more user friendly and the software was working properly, unlike the online tool I was planning on using at first. I was able to include all the pictures I took over the summer and show them what I did. I had pictures of the facility, one of the vets, x-rays, some equipment I used, etc. The program enabled me to have a title page, captions on all the pages to say what was in the picture, and then have neat transitions between all the pictures.
So, after setting up a specific time with Mr. Evans and then checked with Mrs. Estes, who contacted Mr. Graves, Mr. Dawson, etc. about the logistics of bringing in the miniature pony. They were all okay with the idea and we decided the area right in front of the lower school would be a perfect spot. So, the owner of the pony (who is a family friend) and my mother brought the pony in on presentation day. I headed over to the lower school to find them eager for the presentation. I set up, showed them the video, occasionally stopping on slides to give them a better look and describe the picture a little bit. By the end, everyone in the class had an intriguing question to ask me. They ranged from what were some of the things I got to actually do to if I have any other animals and what are their names? So… some likely got more out of it than others, but I think they all enjoyed it. Then, I announced that I had a “special guest” outside and this got them really excited!
They all lined up, and we headed outside to greet “Doodle Bug.” We went out on the lawn, and I introduced the pony. They all got in a line and walked by one by one to pet her. They all loved this part of the presentation obviously, some more than others. Some thought she was stinky, others thought it was really cool, which is to be expected. Overall, I think the kids got to learn something completely new and different that they normally wouldn’t have. Plus, they got to pet a pony!

Journal 3

So since my last update, I have figured out more details about my application and started planning it. I’m going to create a video for 4^th graders based on ‘A Day in the Life of a Horse Vet.” I’m making it off JayCut- which is an online video editing site. You can add pictures and audio, compile them together and then set it to music, enter text, etc. to make it personalized. The idea behind the video will be to sort of have it be based off a possible career idea for the kids. It will hopefully be a way of sparking their interest in being a horse vet when they grow up. Most little girls (and certainly boys, too) are horse lovers when they are this age, but it’s not your everyday job like a lawyer or doctor would be. This way, they can get a jumpstart in the career.

With Mrs. Hoppel being my mentor, she suggested presenting to her daughter’s class. I met with Mrs. Estes to make sure that was okay, and she liked the idea and was able to take me right immediately to talk to Annmari’s teacher, Mr. Evans. Right away, he liked the idea and seemed especially enthused because he mentioned there happened to be a number of horse lovers in the class so it would likely work well. The plan is to present to them sometime in the first half of March.

I am going to do my best to bring in a miniature horse for the presentation. I would show the video then bring them outside to the pony and then demonstrate some of the things I learned and did while working this summer. I think it will be a lot more interactive and interesting for those who aren’t necessarily that into horses because it’s still a live animal that is there with them. I think it will just be a great way to get everyone interested, make it more fun, and make it easier for them to understand. Of course, the pony is used to being around kids and would be safe for them to be around.

I still need to finalize the video, and then talk with Mr. Evans and set up a date for the presentation to the fourth graders. Which then I will plan out getting the pony to school and make sure that it’s even alright to do that…

Journal 2

June 16th
I had my first day at ‘work’ with one of the vets today! It was very cool. I arrived at the clinic at 8:15 and we started off the day by receiving the schedule for the day. The receptionist has a paper typed out with all of each vets appointments for the day with the location, the name of the horse and what they are having done. Then we had to re-stock her truck with the proper equipment depending on the jobs we had that day, including needles, medicines, and even x-ray machines. Our first stop was at a very large farm that has so many horses that they have an almost weekly appointment with the vet. We looked at around 5-7 horses, and were supposed to look at more but didn’t have time because we had another stop to get to. Some of the horses were just getting check ups from being looked at the previous week, one horse had x-rays done, and some just got shot or two. The three horses we didn’t get to, we were supposed to ‘float’ their teeth, which is just like going to the dentist, but for horses. The next stop was only two horses. One had an abscess, which is a build up of fluid underneath the skin that gets very sore and the second one had x-rays done. All in all, it was a successful day. I worked until 3:30, which seemed to be a fairly early day for the vet. I believe she enjoyed having someone along to help, because some of the jobs can get very tiring, especially when horses are acting up and with it being so hot. As of now, I am going once a week-usually on Mondays but she already offered me to come in on Wednesday to watch a surgery that is being done, but I don’t think I will be able to make it.

June 30-
Today was my second day working at the Equine vet clinic. I rode with the same vet as last time and we went to the same barn. This barn is a big barn and because it has so many horses they have a weekly appointment, where Dr. Carrie goes every Monday to re check horses she looked at before as well as update new ones whether it be with an issue they are having or just shots. We looked at just as many horses as last time, and did some of the same treatments. She did the ‘shockwave’ treatment on some horses, and even let me do some of it. It’s almost like a gun that shoots off shocks to help relieve pain and tension in the horse’s muscles. Most of the other horses just got shots, one had an eye injury and another was having lameness issues.

July 7th-
For the third time at the clinic, I rode with another one of the vets that works there, Amanda. We went to four different barns throughout the day. The first two places just had horses that needed shots (such as rabies, rhino flu, etc). The third was a case the vet had been working on for the past week or so. The horse had colic (which is like a bad stomach ache for the horse in which their intestines get stopped up). The vet had to go to the barn just about every day to tube the horse, and get medicines/fluid inside to start getting the intestines to function again. The final stop we did what is called a pre purchase exam. This is where a vet overlooks everything on the horse, from normal vital signs to each joint, ligament and muscle to make sure there is nothing wrong with the horse before someone buys it. When people decide to buy a horse this is a good step to take just to make sure you are making a good investment and not buying a lame horse.

July 14-
Today I went with Dr Carrie to Whitestone again and we just had a couple horses that needed shots as well as a recheck on a horse she had looked at the previous week. The horse ended up looking a lot better and was given the ok to be able to be ridden again.

July 28-
Today, I rode with Dr. Amanda and we had a junior from Colonial Forge with us that was along the ride to see what being a vet is like. We started off at a farm where we gave vaccinations to three horses, and pulled coggins off two of them. Coggins are forms that each horse needs done every year or so if you plan on taking them off your property to somewhere that they would be around other horses. It just states all their information (name, DOB, owner, appearance, etc) and verifies that the horse is safe to be around other horses and wont transfer diseases, illnesses, etc. Then we went to a big farm that specializes in Arabian horses to work on a horse that was having severe lameness issues. We spent a long time their jogging and lounging the horse (to see/determine where the lameness was coming from) and they decided to do what is called a nerve block. They start from the bottom of the hurt leg and numb the nerves in the first joint, then lounge it to see if the lameness is better. If not, then they move to numbing the next joint, then lounge, and repeat all the way until the horse is sound so they can determine what part of the leg is hurt. Once they figured out what part was hurt, they took radiographs of the leg to see the actual problem.

Aug 4-
Today was a short day with only two visits. I rode with Amanda and our first stop was the barn right next to the clinic. The horse there is a frequent visitor because she has a leg that swells up frequently due to a problem she has in that leg. Sometimes it is accompanied with a fever and the vet just has to come out to give her a shot to reduce the swelling/fever. The next stop was for a yearling that had been having lameness problems in her left hind leg. After examining her, the vet determined it was most likely due to joint tissue and ligaments that were just so weak the leg (stifle) joint was popping out of place. This is usually common in older horses that aren’t in work. The owner decided to take radiographs because it was possible that there was something else going on. After the x-rays, it was determined that the owner was to just hand walk the horse up and down hills every day for 30 minutes to build up the muscle in the leg so that hopefully it would fix itself.

Today we went to a large farm with two different barns, and a total of about 50 horses. This is another farm that has an almost weekly visit scheduled, and we saw around seven horses. We had to do a floating of the teeth, a couple lameness exams where we took x-rays and then a horse with an eye infection. All in all, it was a day where I had done everything we encountered before, and I felt comfortable with helping out. It was much different from my first day where I had to be told about everything because it was all so new, but now I just know what equipment the vet needs and what she needs me to do and when. It was really neat to be able to see how much I’ve learned and figured out throughout the summer.