3rd Equitarian Workshop in Costa Rica
Supported by a grant from the AAEP Foundation
The Equitarian team, led by Dr. Adrienne Otto, began to gather near the international airport in Alajuela near the capital of San Jose on March 6th. The drive the following morning in rented SUV’s from there to the Osa Peninsula in southwestern Costa Rica is spectacular.
Dazzling yellow flowers on ‘Cortez Amarillo’ trees dotted the landscape for the first few hours of our drive over winding mountain roads. As we approached the lowlands, we enjoyed a short break at the Rio Tarcoles. From our vantage point on the bridge, we counted some twenty something salt water crocodiles, some clearly more than six meters in length.
The second part of our journey was along the South Pacific coast, past Dominical, a surfers’ paradise, with black sand beaches and crystal clear surf, where we stopped for a late lunch. This coast is also well-known for one of the largest marine reserves in the Americas.
The final third of our seven-hour journey ran along a ridgeline into the Osa Peninsula (‘Osa’ is the local name for the giant anteater found in this area). Back to the lowlands and the tropical rainforests on the western part of the peninsula, we arrived at our base in hot dusty and humid Puerto Jimenez, just before sunset and met with our coordinating team member, Dr. Ricardo Alfaro Paniagua. Dr. Alfaro owns a busy mixed animal practice, with attached pet store, feed shop, tack shop etc. If you want anything animal related on the Osa, he probably has it! We were joined in Puerto Jimenez by eight more team members who had arrived by different routes. Our team included Drs. Ricardo Alfaro Paniagua, Isabelle Kilcoyne, Sharon Spier, Steve O’Grady, Adrienne Otto, Tracy Turner, Dave Turoff, Kim Thabault, and Julie Wilson. Non-veterinarian team members included Jeff Ridley, president of the AAFP, Jerry Rapp, a retired farrier/ pack outfitter now living in Costa Rica, and two terrific Costa Rican animal science students, Ricardo Alvarez Brito and Jimena Rodriguez Moya. Jeff succeeded in acquiring an incredible donation of farriery equipment, which was donated to local owners who showed strong interest in improving their hoof care skills.
Our Costa Rica Team: Kneeling row: Dr. David Turoff and Jimena Rodriguez
Standing (left to right): Jerry Rapp, Dr. Tracy Turner, Dr. Julie Wilson, Dr. Steve O’Grady, Dr. Sharon Spier, Jeff Ridley, Dr. Isabelle Kilcoyne, Ricardo Alvarez, Dr. Adrienne Otto, and Dr. Kim Thabalt. (Not pictured: Dr. Ricardo Alfaro, Dr. William Sanchez, Dr. Mariano Mora)
DAY 1 - LA BALSA It was great to return to La Balsa, a rural community of mostly subsistence farmers. Most families live along ridgelines or in small valleys that converge in this mountainous area. There is no electricity and, though only about 15 km from ‘downtown’ Puerto Jimenez, access is strictly by horse or, in the dry season, 4x4 vehicle. A 4x4 pickup truck taxi with benches in the back brought 1/3 of the Equitarian team. In the two SUV’s bearing the rest of the team, Adrienne’s and Jeff’s driving skills were put to the test, with some hairy moments of spinning wheels, and bottoming out.
The La Balsa worksite venue once again was the farm of Javier and his family. It.fortunately included enough shade for the gringos, who were soon sweating profusely, particularly the northerners who had left snowy states. The one site hazard was falling coconuts, which missed Julie’s head by just a few inches.
Most of our clients arrived with two or three equids each. We divided ourselves Into work-oriented roles. Jeff and Jerry did feet and coached the local owners as they worked on their own horses’ feet. Tracy and Steve focused on castrations, feet, and lameness. Sharon, Isabelle and Kim did surgery, anesthesia, medicine and dentistry. Julie focused on routine care, vaccines, medicine and keeping the medical records straight. Adrienne did not only routine care, but also castrations and fly traps. Ricardo A. and Jimena helped everywhere, indispensable as translators, and administrators of dewormer and fipronil. Dr. Ricardo helped when he could, but ended up with asthma like signs that precluded helping on later days.
Tracy works on a foot while Kim translates and educates.
We enjoyed ‘refrescos’, natural fruit drinks (guanabana and piña) throughout the day, and a typical ‘Tico’ lunch prepared by the families. Lots of kids were present and were delighted to receive veteran Equitarian Angie Gebhart’s equine care coloring books and crayons. The horses were in better body condition that the previous year, but some still lacked basic ground manners, particularly the young stallions that were presented from castration. All of the owners were very friendly and appreciative. Several received extra tutelage in hoof care from Jeff, Steve, Jerry and Tracy. We treated a total of 31 equids at La Balsa.
DAY 2 - DRAKE BAY LOS PLANOS
We spent two days in Drake on the northern shore of the peninsula. The bay itself is spectacular, and one of the gateways to the Corcovado National Park.
Many of the equids here are utilized for the tourist industry, which is economically critical to this part of the Osa. Inland, where we worked, is a mixture of semi-hilly and low-lying agricultural areas. The equids here are plagued by EIA, incredible numbers of ticks and of course ‘tabanos’ (a type of deer fly-excellent EIA vector) and vampire bats. With the tourists, they also spend a lot of time packing non-riders along the gravel roads, making farriery and saddlery even more critical. Kim was our go-to person for explaining, in Spanish, how to improve saddle fit and ways to avoid saddle and girth sores. Although unable to join us for the entire trip, we were delighted that Dr. Mariano Mora, a Costa Rican veterinarian and 2012 workshop team member could also spend this weekend with us at Drake.
Our first day in Drake, in the community of Los Planos, we worked at the farm of one of the community leaders. There was plenty of shade, but the accompanying leaf litter was chigger paradise! A Costa Rican protégé of Dr Alfaro’s, Dr. William Sanchez joined us for the day. As a new graduate, Dr. Sanchez especially enjoyed the interaction with the rest of the team. As in La Balsa, we had the pleasure of seeing clients and patients from previous workshops. It was especially good to follow up on a case of suspected brucellosis and a suspected nasal fungal infection, a common affliction on the peninsula.
Enlarged withers in a thin mare who was suspected of brucellosis, but also EIA positive, and afflicted with a poll abscess.
This was a particularly busy day at the dental station where David and Kim had 14 dental procedures. In total we treated 58 equids, all of which were vaccinated and almost all of which were dewormed and treated for ticks with fipronil. Once again, a generous mid-day meal and refrescos were provided by local families. The day was marred only by Julie’s loss of a thumb nail while she was checking horses’ teeth for dental issues. A little before dark we wrapped it up and made our way to our lodging, an inn set in a beautiful garden run by a women’s cooperative. We enjoyed (really) a cold shower, a good meal, and an excellent night’s sleep.
DAY 3 - DRAKE BAY EL PROGRESSO
The next morning, we discussed the first two days’ work and everyone had the opportunity to suggest ideas to make us more efficient, many of which worked well in the days ahead. These included holding a brief owners’ meeting at the start of the day to explain who we were, why we were there, our volunteer status, funding from AAEP Foundation, donations from drug companies, the medical record form in triplicate, the numbering system for the horses to determine order of treatment, and the opportunity for farrier training for any owner that was interested.. We explained that the castrations would be prioritized to get them finished before the heat became excessive. The owners were encouraged to ask questions of us or Dr. Ricardo in the days that followed, as well as to tell us about their local equine health problems After treating our previous day’s chigger bites with the local remedy, ‘Cepol’, we arrived at our next venue in Drake, El Progresso. This is the third year we visited this community as well, but our venue was a huge improvement over the previous one which had consisted of a series of small corrals and cattle chutes.
This year, we set up at a soccer (futbol) field and community center, where lunch was provided, all dominated by a huge Ceibo tree; a real improvement, particularly from a safety standpoint. Once community members got the water going, it turned out to be an excellent spot. We treated 42 equids, but were unable to vaccinate due to limited supplies.
A huge number of ticks between the hindlegs and under the tail in one of the horses that was anesthetized for castration
DAY 4 - PUERTO JIMENEZ
Last year’s venue, the community rodeo grounds, became unavailable, thus we experienced a last minute venue change. This resulted in some confusion, as the owner of the new venue expected us to work on her horses, most of which were used for ‘Topes”, a kind of parade and other exhibitions, certainly not working animals. Additionally, our ‘hostess’ failed to provide adequate help, or anyone in particular that was interested in learning about farriery. Although at least half of the 40 horses we examined were indeed working animals, owned by subsistence farmers and definitely in need or our assistance, the nature of the venue was intimidating to these most important clients. Although they expressed interest in tabanid control (several of our patients had been tested positive in the past), few of these owners were present at the end of the day to be involved in the actual construction of the tabanid trap.
One of the most interesting cases of the day was a horse that arrived breathing heavily, with a rectal temperature of 104 that was diagnosed with heat stress. Sharon and Isabelle quickly got the horse cooled down with ice in rectal sleeves over the jugulars and very frequent cool water sponging and scraping off of the warmed water.
Working near Puerto Jimenez presents a very real challenge, as the dichotomy between ‘rich’ landowners with a political presence and ‘peones’ is significant and there is little sense of community among the latter. Although clearly the least fulfilling day we have experienced in three years of this Costa Rican Equitarian workshop, it succeeded in generating frank discussions within our group as well as with our Costa Rican contacts regarding our actual mission and how to avoid similar situations in the future, while still providing service to those clearly in need. Overall, we treated 40 equids, and were done early enough to enjoy a swim in the ocean at Playa Preciosa, a beautiful black sand beach just 10 minutes west of Puerto Jimenez, and enough energy for some to dance at an open air bar and restaurant next to our hotel. It was a good send off for Sharon and Isabelle, who headed out the following morning to explore the area of Golfito on the other side of the Golfo Dulce.
DAY 5 - RANCHO QUEMADO
This was a new community for the Equitarians, and will definitely be included in future workshops. Most of the equids were used to carry food, supplies and produce. Not surprisingly, the animals suffered from vampire bats, ticks and less than optimal farriery. Our venue was a soccer field in the center of the small village, with a number of macaw pairs in the surrounding trees.
A typical Tico lunch (vegetarian!) was provided by local women in a nearby house. The equid owners were exceptionally interested in the tabanid trap, and took part in the construction of a trap at the end of the day. As it was a new community, we took a few more blood samples for EIA. Jeff was more than happy to leave some of the donated farrier tools with them too, as they clearly appreciated the educational opportunity that was provided. We treated a total of 22 equids, which was very good for our first time in this new community.
The finished portable tabanid trap made with Adrienne’s guidance and Jimena’s help Jeff with two of his star farriery pupils
DAY 6 - ALTO LAGUNA
Our final workday on the Osa Peninsula was at the indigenous people’s futbol field up in the hills. Our work team was downsized significantly (7) as our great students, Jimena and Ricardo, had to return to Heredia for class, plus a Chihuahua in whelping distress claimed Adrienne’s and Dr. Ricardo’s attention. Thankfully, Jerry remembered the way. The drive into the hills was remarkable for its rudimentary bridges and iguana sighting.
We set up quickly at the end of the field with the most shade, held a brief explanatory meeting with the owners, and got to work, prioritizing the castrations before the day became too warm.
Kim performs a castration with the Henderson drill with the help of Steve and Jeff.
David and Julie were very pleased to learn that the most challenging case from the previous year, a gelding with cystitis, had responded well to our treatment. His owner, Memo, not only brought him but also 5 other horses and a mule, all showing a very high standard of care, including well done shoes and impeccable behavior. His mule had skin lesions suggestive of insect hypersensitivity. Kim gave him a recipe for homemade repellant and a fly mask which miraculously fit the long ears. A number of foals, ranging from 15 days to 9 months kept us entertained with their antics, cavorting around the field after getting dewormed, while we worked on their dams. Steve solved the lameness issue for the 9 month old foal by finding a stone wedged into the foot and a secondary abscess, which he opened up. The foal was significantly better and the owner was much relieved by Steve’s success.
Once the five castrations were done, Steve and Tracy joined the medical team, helping Julie with both the routine tick and anthelmintic treatments and addressing several other skin and respiratory issues, with translation help from both Kim and Julie. Jeff and Jerry were pleased to see that hoof care in general was good and that a number of the men were eager to improve their skills. David had a steady flow of dental work for most of the work hours, and then joined the medical team to help us finish up. We were very pleased to have provided health care, education and hoof care instructions to 41 equids and their owners in time to get Steve and Jeff back to the Puerto Jimenez airport for their afternoon flight to San Jose. Unfortunately, Kim and David had to leave immediately as well as one of Kim’s own horses in Guanacaste was colicking and needed her attention. David would leave soon after arriving in Guanacaste for Nicaragua where he is planning a yoga retreat as a fundraiser for the new veterinary clinic on Ometepe.
Adrienne rejoined us in Puerto Jimenez, happily reporting a successful Caesarean section and spay of the now much improved Chihuahua. She and Dr. Ricardo had also had a chance to go over some of the challenges we encountered during the week. Adrienne, Tracy, Julie and Jerry ended the day with a very relaxing dinner at the Perla de la Osa beachfront restaurant, reflecting on the success of the trip, particularly the strength of our foot care team and the improved body condition scores of the horses. We discussed a number of ideas for growing and improving the Equitarian work here in 2014, as well as the possibility of starting a second project in conjunction with World Horse Welfare on the other side of the Golfo Dulce in 2014.
Days 1-5 Blogs by Adrienne Otto, Day 6 Blog by Julie Wilson, Pictures by Tracy Turner