Bozeman vet clinic adds mobile equine clinic and sports medicine team
Bozeman, Mont., (October 29, 2007) — Bozeman’s Copper Spring Ranch and CSR Equine are bringing their equine medicine expertise to the sports field and competition arena with a professionally equipped mobile veterinary clinic.
The mobile sports medicine team will offer diagnostic and therapeutic options to horse owners away from home while attending sporting events or competitions. “We will be providing cutting edge technology at major equestrian events in the western United States including Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana throughout the year,” Dr. Mandi Holland says. Dr. Holland and “Dr. Ellis” (Farstvedt) will lead the team while on the road beginning in November, and then will return with the Sports Medicine Trailer to Montana in April.
With advanced computer technology, they will continue to stay in touch with CSR Equine allowing scheduling of local surgeries and keeping current with cases at the regional level for consultation or continued treatment with CSR Equine veterinarians, Drs. John Smart and Lisa Baller. “We feel that it is important to accommodate the needs of our clients, even when they are on the road. We have heard from many of our Montana, Idaho and Wyoming clients that getting great veterinary care while at events is difficult to almost impossible at times. We feel this demand for service will put CSR Equine Sports Medicine within reach to clients. It is not all that often you get the opportunity to take your own medical team along,” Dr. Ellis stated. Dr. Ellis, board certified equine surgeon, will be working both with the Sports Medicine Team and at CSR Equine in Bozeman throughout the upcoming winter.
CSR Equine Sport Medicine Team’s mission is to educate its clientele and to provide high quality, technologically advanced health care in a comfortable, professional environment that is on-site at equestrian events.
The team will bring to the field a 48-foot long by 8.5-foot high custom designed Sundowner trailer equipped as an on-site clinic. The trailer includes a 14-foot long living quarters section that serves as an office area for record-keeping and client consultation. For horse owners’ comfort, the quarters have a digital television for client film review and educational material, a bathroom and heating and air conditioning independent of the rest of the trailer. A four-foot mid-tack area houses storage areas for equipment. The trailer’s onboard diagnostic modalities include digital radiography, digital ultrasound, 1-meter upper airway video endoscopy and blood analysis. Additional therapeutics options also include Shock Wave therapy, Game Ready™ Equine dry cold and active compression therapy, and inhalation/nebulization therapy. A 22-foot long by 8.5-foot high workspace in the rear of the trailer has a stainless steel utility sink as well as stainless steel and aluminum counter and cupboard space. This well ventilated, climate controlled area allows the doctors to work on the equine athlete in privacy and comfort to benefit both the horse and client. The mobile sports medicine unit is equipped with essentially everything found in a regular veterinary clinic.
The demands placed on the equine athlete are ever increasing. As in human athletics, competitors constantly strive for better performance. Many horses on the rodeo/show circuit travel considerable distances, after which they are asked to perform difficult, strenuous athletic movements. Often the environment (i.e.: facilities, weather, time, etc.) limits the feasibility of an ideal warm-up and stretching session prior to competition or an ideal cool-down session. The combinations of events at these competitions often lead to various musculoskeletal ailments that require diagnosis and therapy before the horse can continue competing. In most situations, however, there are no treatment facilities on the grounds, leaving the owner with few options.
“The ability to perform an array of diagnostics and therapeutics on-site with instant results will not only save the horse owners time, but may be critical in saving a patient as well. The equine veterinary industry is not only driven by technological advances, but also by quality of service. Having on-site, professional services with technologically advanced diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities puts the CSR Equine Sports Medicine Team at the pinnacle of service and technology,” Dr. Ellis Farstvedt says.
CSR Equine Sports Medicine Team is continuing talks with various English and western associations to schedule show attendance later in the spring and summer. “Currently we are also planning on attending the Scottsdale Arabian Show at West World in February, the HITS English Horse show in Thermal, Calif., Cheyenne Frontier Days, and the College National Finals Rodeo,” commented Dr. Mandi Holland about their upcoming show schedule.
The equine veterinary profession is continuing to grow at a very rapid rate along side, and at times beyond, the human medical field. As values of horses increase, owners are becoming more aware of the value advanced veterinary care has in protecting and saving their investments. When away from home, many horse owners do not have direct access to good veterinary care and most often rely on advice from fellow owners or laypersons with limited, and often times poor, education in the veterinary field.
CSR Equine Sports Medicine Team looks forward to successfully providing professional service while using technologically advanced diagnostic modalities to provide an accurate diagnosis and therapeutic plan on site at equine competitions.
CSR Equine Sports Medicine Team was created by Drs. Holland and Farstvedt and is supported as an entity of Copper Spring Ranch, one of the Northwests outstanding facilities and a leading equine producer.
CSR Equine Sports Medicine Team, PLLC to provide state-of-the-art veterinary service in western United States from mobile clinic that travels to shows and competitions
