Natasha McKinnon’s - Equine Adventure

Editor’s note: Deidra Darsa of Rockville, Maryland read Specialist Natasha McKinnon’s story in the Fall 2006 Yellow Ribbon Update and arranged for Natasha to spend the day with her in Damascus. Here is what Deidra wrote:

Army Specialist Natasha McKinnon got a first-hand look at equine veterinary care, a field she hopes to enter, during a recent outing to Maryland’s horse country. At Elemental Equine Services, LLC, Natasha observed Dr. Diane Wagner perform acupuncture on a thoroughbred show horse.

As her patient stood quietly, Dr. Wagner moved her hands along his back. "I’m going over his acupuncture meridians," she explained to Natasha. She watched as Dr. Wagner strategically placed needles to relieve the pain the horse was feeling in his back. During the process Natasha noted that she, too, had received acupuncture to relieve the pain she felt from injuries she sustained in Iraq.

Moving down to the horse’s left knee Dr. Wagner placed needles above and below the swollen joint. She then attached leads to an electro-stimulation device to prepare the area for electro-therapy. "This will help to relieve the pain and swelling," she told McKinnon, who sympathized with Sterling, the dappled-gray horse.

At Damascus Equine Associates, staffer Stephanie Brice gave McKinnon a tour of the clinic that featured equine-size x-ray equipment. Here, she viewed x-rays of a horse’s hoof that showed changes in its navicular bone. Then off to Southwind Farm, also in Damascus, to see what shoeing technique – a cutback aluminum heart bar shoe – had been used to support the navicular area of the hoof on this equine patient.

Natasha continues to set her sights on veterinary medicine. She is currently still recuperating at Walter Reed and is participating in a therapeutic riding program.