Dr. Ramey

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when it comes to dietary supplements for hoof growth, you have a whole bunch of choices (I can be a master of understatement). In fact, it seems like every day or two there’s a new product out there to “support” or “improve” or do something otherwise wonderful for […]

OK, here’s the full question – “A couple friends and I were talking about all the horses we’ve trained and ridden throughout the years and comparing their characteristics and personality traits, etc. We were wondering if horses can develop mental illness similar to what humans exhibit. For example, one of my horses, many years ago, […]

I will readily admit that I have not studied the religions and philosophies of India. Nevertheless, I find myself drawn to a quote that is attributed to Sai Baba, an Indian guru and yogi who lived in western India, and who died in 1918 (he’s buried in the town of Shirdi). Sai Baba is considered […]

If you want to elicit fear in someone who owns a horse, tell that person that you think that his or her horse has “navicular.” The story of the horse’s navicular bone is a curious and instructional tale that speaks to how diagnoses and therapies come into vogue, and how hard they can be to […]

Being a horse doctor is wonderful. Just about every day I get up, knowing that I’m going to be outside, working with what I think is one of the most wonderful creatures on the planet. So strong, so patient, so willing to trust, so willing to do the most amazing things for people, asking nothing […]

In my view, sometimes it’s OK to not know exactly what a horse’s problem is. In addition, sometimes it’s OK to try a treatment without knowing the mechanism of action. Honestly, it happens more often than we’d like to admit. However, in my view, when that happens, you shouldn’t lie about it or make stuff […]

One question that seems to come up fairly often during the course of my practice is, “Which hoof dressing do you recommend?”  I wish I had a good answer to that. It’s a hard question to answer anyway. A Google search of “Horse hoof dressing” shows 21 pictures of products on the first page, and […]

I will be the first to admit that I am really glad that I am practicing on horses in modern times, as opposed to just about any other times.  For example, sedatives, the drugs that make horses sleepy, are wonderful, because they make horses so much easier to work on. Still, sometimes modern sedatives aren’t […]

So, I was walking up to this barn, and I see a client strolling down the aisle, shaking her head, obviously concerned about something.  “What’s the matter?” I asked. “I had my horse talk to the psychic,” she said. This is the sort of instance where you can easily blow a doctor/client relationship by saying […]

I get that some horses cost more to buy than others. In fact, I wrote about it – CLICK HERE to read “On the Value of Horses.” Over my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to see and to take care of some pretty great horses. I have a picture that I took of Secretariat in my […]