Like Pulling Teeth.

19th October.

Australian Equine Dental Practice member, Kurt Boegel made a career move. “I was born and bred around horses and about two years ago moved from Macedon in Victoria to Tamborine Village on the Gold Coast Hinterland. We enjoy the outdoor life and it was a bit cold at Macedon. I studied as a mature age student to become an Equine Dentist. (Kurt is part of the Equine Dental Practice which consists of a group of equine dentists around Australia who seek to work at high standards. Members of this group render service to organisations such as the RSPCA, RDA, secondary and tertiary colleges, clubs and individuals). I changed my career for the long term. You have to do something you want to do and not leave it too late.

“I am a full-time equine dentist and when this first broke out, I just called a halt. I did nothing as far as work was concerned and did not even visit friends who had horses. I just stayed at home and waited to see what would come about, when we could go out and work and how to go about things. We have Australian Stock Horses and they have all had the virus and were pretty down for about ten days, but are OK now. After about six weeks, most of the horses in this area had had the virus, but there are a few pockets that are clean, still and the feeling up here is that they should be vaccinated and after the due quarantine time, we can all start moving again. The AEDP established strict bio-security protocols and I just recently began to do a little bit of work, to just keep my business running for when this is over. I might visit one property one day, have a day off and then visit another and so on. I believe I have to wear the cost and operate with strict bio-security and carry the business through and that’s what I am doing. I may only treat a few horses a week at $65 each, so I am currently operating at a loss.

“We get some support from the government, but that can’t keep you going. I am not knocking them as they are helping. We are very lucky as some people out there rely totally on horses for their income. We’ll survive and I plan to keep my business going because I am passionate about my work. One day we will be back on our feet. But we need consistency when it comes to advice on the virus situation and we need some sort of time frame regarding how long this will go on, so we can make plans”.

“To many in the non horse world and even some within it, the EI outbreak is now old news. Horse Deals is keen to try and keep the attention firmly on the many within it experiencing difficulties during the rampage of this unprecedented virus. It is important the horse community support each other through this difficult time. Thank you to the fine group of people at Horse Deals for wanting to publish my story. To all the people out there in a similar situation Keep your chin up.”