H.S.T.O.

I've been saying pretty much since finishing pre-clin equine husbandry EMS that I doubt I'll end up working with horses when qualified. There are multiple reasons, perhaps the most significant few being that I don't ride and have never owned a horse -which owners I chatted to during that EMS bravely took in stride, once the look of mildly horrified disapproval had been reined in - and that the equine vet world seems by nature to be a lot more brutally competitive. I'm not against the idea of competition, but I'd prefer not to have the odds heaped against me from day one, facing down graduates who have a long personal history with horses and the extra experience points it brings them.

Plus - not that I'd mention it to equine clinicians - by now I feel very comfortable around dogs, cats and other things smaller and less prone to eejitry than horses.

However, I have been reminded again of the fact that I don't actually hate horses (unless they're utter bastards,coughSwaycough) but rather feel a need to avoid some of the personality types I've come to associate with horse owners. These types sometimes seem to rub off on the horse as well. In a happy coincidence/freak accident, my first few days have involved none of these problems.

Instead, there have just been many cheerful and mostly sensible people... well, that, and the 13ish-year-old who looked horrified on seeing the vet with a looped hoof knife (possibly the least threatening tool in hoofcare) and asked if she'd just used it to cut the horse's foot off.