Virginia Polo alumna & current Board Member Dr. Molly Muedeking traveled from her home in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands to attend the Virginia Polo Spring Board Meeting this April. Molly is the sole equine veterinary practitioner on Tortola and in addition to caring for the island inhabitants’ 40+ horses (both on Tortola and traveling my boat to surrounding smaller islands) she also sees exotic animals including sea turtles and domesticated zebras. While in Charlottesville she generously provided her expert equine veterinary services to the Virginia Polo ponies.
Board Member Dr. Molly Muedeking checks her progress as she floats a pony’s teeth. Men’s Team player Nick Paciorek holds the pony’s head.
On Monday following the NIC finals with the help of a few student players Dr. Muedeking was impressively able to complete dentals for 17 Va Polo ponies!
This procedure is part of the necessary maintenance on horses and helps them to chew their food more thoroughly and enables them to maintain their weight. Additionally, floating their teeth on a regular basis helps prevent ulcers in the mouth created by sharp edges on teeth.
Making the vet visit especially impactful, Molly spent time explaining what she felt in each pony’s mouth and provided the students the opportunity to feel as well. As she used the dental rasp she explained what she was doing and how it would benefit the horses. For many students this was the first time they had the chance to learn directly from a veterinarian.
Students interested in the veterinary field professionally were excited at the opportunity to learn from a past Virginia Polo player. Molly welcomed them to ask questions as she went through the ponies as they were brought to her.
Fourth year player Julia Hersh.
In addition to the dentals, Dr. Muedeking also performed accupuncture on Cobra, one of the Women’s Team’s ponies who had recently played in Nationals. She explained the meridians and placement of each needle, showing the interested students the body’s sometimes subtle reactions to different needle placements.
Fourth year Julia Hersh holds Cobra for her accupuncture treatment.
We are truly grateful to Dr. Muedeking for making the long trip to Virginia to participate in the Board Meeting and for her generous day spent providing expert care to our ponies. Our goal for the Virginia Polo Club is to educate participating students not only in polo but also horse care, and this was a great opportunity for the players to see another facet of what goes into owning and caring for the horses that carry us to National Championships.