Early Career Insights: How to Build Trust With Horse Owners

Being the “newbie” at a veterinary practice can be tough, whether you are a new graduate, just finished an internship, or have several years of experience and recently relocated. Horse owners are notoriously partial to older doctors they already know, and if you own a horse, you might feel the same way. It’s important to consider the client’s perspective and be understanding of their concerns. Whether the patient is a retired horse or a show jumper, the owner, rider, and/or trainer have goals as well as attachment. Many horses also have significant financial value. It’s not surprising that owners often prefer experienced doctors.

Give a Talk or Demonstration

Building trust takes time and familiarity. When clients meet you and learn your strengths in a low-risk setting, they start to accept your credentials. One excellent way to do this is to be a featured speaker at an owner seminar. If you are nervous about public speaking in front of a group, you can host a demonstration instead, showing how to bandage, perform an oral exam, or take vital signs while talking the audience through each step. If you grew up with horses, sometimes sharing a story of your experiences allows others to recognize that you have equine knowledge beyond the medical realm.

Attend Calls With Senior Veterinarians

Senior veterinarians are integral to clients’ acceptance of new practitioners. When they talk about their trust in your abilities or your advanced training in chiropractic, dentistry, or the ISELP course you just completed, clients listen. When you attend calls alongside one of the established doctors, it helps if they deliberately ask your opinion as a colleague. Being treated like a technician when accompanying a senior doctor is counterproductive in building trust. Ideally, you should do the clinical work while they chat with the client about how excited they are to have you on the team. If you lack certain clinical skills, ask your mentor to help you gain them in low-key settings like a rescue facility or with a teaching horse. Alternatively, consider attending the AAEP Foundational Skills events to increase your confidence.

Show Respect

Experienced horse professionals can sometimes be challenging to work with. Imagine a syndicated breeding stallion presenting with a “stove pipe” hind leg. You are a new graduate, and the farm manager is very experienced, stubborn, and in his 70s. Your physical exam reveals a 102-degree fever and an elevated heart rate. The affected limb is hot, and when you gently press the flats of your fingers to the medial aspect of his thigh, he hikes the limb up in pain and nearly tips over. You are confident this stallion has cellulitis or lymphangitis, but the farm manager insists he has a fracture.

Showing respect, you offer to radiograph and apply a Robert Jones bandage but ask that he allow you to treat the horse with anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. You explain why you think you have the correct diagnosis. He accedes your request. The radiographs are unremarkable, but he is not convinced. The next morning, he calls you to say, “You were right! The horse is so much better already.” You now have an ally who trusts you and will tell others about you. Being respectful, asking for the client’s input, and acknowledging their level of experience will help build a foundation for a future relationship with that professional.

Cover Emergencies

Although many early-career practitioners wish to minimize their emergency responsibilities, meeting clients at their time of need is very helpful in building trust. Most emergencies are not catastrophic and are well within most graduates’ skill sets. Swollen eyes, torn eyelids, simple skin lacerations, fevers, and mild colics are common emergencies that make owners anxious. When you handle the situation with confidence and compassion, you earn the owner’s trust. If they mention their usual veterinarian, it is helpful to say, “I know how much you trust his opinion. I would be happy to give him a call and run my plan by him if you would like.”

Final Thoughts

Being humble and willing to help a client feel more comfortable will always work out better than getting frustrated because your doctoral degree doesn’t make them trust you immediately. Be patient and accepting of others’ perspectives. In time, you’ll have proven yourself and be the one helping the next newcomer.

Related Reading

• Early Career Insights: How Equine Vets Can Develop Foundational Skills
• Early Career Insights: Establishing a Successful Mentor-Mentee Relationship
• Performance Horse Ethics for Early-Career Veterinarians

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