On 24th March 11 vet and vet nurse volunteers enjoyed a busy day of learning a camaraderie at an education and welfare clinic at Stoneleigh Park. The fantastic veterinary team, lead by Mark Bowen worked together to microchip and passport 30 horses and castrate 21 horses. Some horses also received dental care and the team took the time to offer advice and guidance to the horse owners.
Marie Rippingale shares her experience of volunteering at the clinic; I volunteered as a Registered Equine Veterinary Nurse (REVN) at an education and welfare castration clinic run by BEVA and the BHS recently at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. This is the second clinic I have volunteered at and both experiences have been very positive. The day started with meeting all the other volunteers both from the veterinary team, and those from the BHS and the Blue Cross. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, it made for a good start to the day. My role as a REVN was to assist in setting up the drugs table, making sure the clinical waste was managed properly, working out drug doses and drawing medication up ready for use. I also made up the enzymatic disinfectant to the correct concentration and helped to clean and disinfect the emasculators and other surgical instruments used. I also got involved with the castrations by monitoring the general anaesthetics and recovering the horses after the procedure. I was able to talk to the owners of the horses and assist them with loading the patients ready for them to go home. The patients seen at these clinics are often young and unhandled, and it is nice to be able to talk to the clients about the handling of these patients. Overall I had a really good time, and working with a great group of people with the combined goal of improving the welfare of the horses at the clinic, was extremely rewarding. I would thoroughly recommend this as a volunteering experience for equine veterinary nurses.