↓LARGE PHOTO OF
THE MONTHThat’s a horse’s mouth there, on the left. And on the right, that’s Lauren
McPherson, one of just 4,125 practicing equine veterinarians in the United
States, “floating”—filing down—the horse’s teeth with a battery-powered
dental speculum. Most horses need the preventative procedure every 12 to
18 months to keep their sharp dental points from interfering with feeding.
Summer is the Pickerington, Ohio–based vet’s busiest season, as people
are “remembering they have horses” after the winter; she’ll make up to 40
visits a week. Her patient here is a recent addition to the herd at Bella Run
Equine in Athens, Ohio, a nonprofit that rehabilitates old and unwanted
horses before putting them up for adoption. After the last three U.S. equine
slaughter facilities closed in 2007, the number of unwanted horses in the
States has risen to about 100,000 per year. Bella Run is one of hundreds of
organizations focused on their rescue and rehoming.
PHOTOGRAPH BY KELSEY BRUNNER
@PopularMechanics _ May 2019 11