What happens when you let horses be horses
Dr. Shelley Onderdonk practices integrative equine medicine in Aiken, South Carolina, where she has lived since 1992. Her holistic approach prioritizes a horse’s long-term welfare as highly as the ability to compete. “A healthy horse is a better partner for humans in all sorts of ways—they’re safer, better athletes, and more fun to be around,” she says. Onderdonk also cultivates regenerative meadows where she “lets horses be horses,” allowing them to graze together as much as possible. (Photo Source: Dr. Shelley Onderdonk)
Dr. Shelley Onderdonk is, at her core, an animal lover. Her veterinary practice in Aiken, South Carolina is a result of professional aspirations that have always been wrapped up in a larger mission: to promote a more humane and just world for animals.
Onderdonk, who grew up just south of San Francisco, has a soft spot for farm animals that led her to stop eating meat at age 15. But her New Haven Farm clinic focuses on equine care, and she also treats some dogs and cats. She practices integrative medicine, a method that values long-term health over short-term performance. Her very busy practice is evidence of growing support for her methods, and indicative of a larger movement in the equine world to value quality of life as much as performance. Onderdonk’s clientele is, in her own words, “self-selective,” and made up of owners who “really care about their animals [and] try to do right by their horses.”
Dr. Onderdonk earned her veterinary degree from the University of Georgia in 1997 and went on to become a certified veterinary acupuncturist in 1999. (Photo Source: Aiken Veterinary Acupuncture)
Integrative medicine’s holistic emphasis is an attempt to move away from the dangerous “hard and fast” lifestyle for equine athletes, she says, where traditional treatment with stimulants and performance-manipulating drugs has been tied to injury, early retirement, and euthanasia. In 2021 alone, 50 race horses died at U.S. tracks, and that’s not including injuries sustained in training or off the track.
When Onderdonk first started practicing 25 years ago, there was much more hesitancy among traditional veterinarians when it came to what was then called “alternative therapies.” Now, most large equine practices have an acupuncturist on staff.
“Researchers have amassed a huge amount of scientific literature behind acupuncture’s efficacy,” says Onderdonk, who focuses on physical therapy, acupuncture, and manual therapy, as well as western medicine. “It’s become pretty routine since I’ve been practicing.”
Onderdonk works with her husband, Adam Snow, a former professional polo player who now works as a coach and broadcast analyst for polo events on NBCSN, and co-manages the care and training of polo ponies with Onderdonk at New Haven Farm. They share parenting duties and have raised three boys on their Aiken property. They’re also co-writing their second book due to be released next year. Their first book, Polo Life: Horses, Sport, 10 and Zen was about their lives in the sport of polo. The second is about the horses in their lives. As yet untitled, it will focus on horse sports and on how to be competitive and win while prioritizing the welfare of the horse.
In this interview, Onderdonk describes her conviction about the importance of fostering the long term health of her patients, her land, and our human relationship with animals - the ones we love, the ones we use, and the ones we eat.
Q: What problems do you see with western equine care? How does integrative medicine address those problems in your experience?
A: Western medicine is great in emergencies and life-threatening situations. That’s what it was designed for. But for the diseases that are chronic— diseases of inflammation, aging, and certainly sports therapy—western medicine doesn’t have many answers. There’s a lot that can be done with integrative methods that traditional veterinarians don’t know about, don’t see, and don’t think about.
Q: Can you elaborate on what you think is the proper way to care for horses?
A: Some animal rights activists believe horse sports, like polo and racing, shouldn’t exist at all. But the vast majority of horses in our country don’t work for a living. They are companion animals used for sports. So unless you’re talking about the demise of the horse, we have to find a way to treat them well.
In my practice, I focus on trying to keep life natural for horses. What that means is letting horses be horses for a significant portion of their lives. I recommend, for instance, that every horse, working or not, gets turned out in the evening or during the day if the weather’s good, with their buddies, in large paddocks, so they’re living in a more natural habitat than a barn.
The book my husband and I are writing talks about the choices you can make to give your horse the best life possible. Ultimately you are the one making those choices, so how can you make it a good life for them? It helps wrap your head around the fact that, yes, you are using this horse for sport, but you’re also prioritizing their quality of life.
Q: What happens when you “let horses be horses”? What are the benefits for them?
A: Physiologically their stress levels go down and you see an improvement in their mental and physical health as a result. A healthy horse is a better partner for humans in all sorts of ways—safer, a better athlete, and more fun to be around.
Wetlands and naturally growing meadows populate the southern border of Onderdonk’s property. The regenerative meadows support grazing horses and the wetlands provide habitat for birds and wildlife. (Photo Source: Dr. Shelley Onderdonk)
Q: Do you see any potential for this shift taking place in the world of industrially raised animals, too?
A: I think it has to be a paradigm shift that just hasn’t come yet. We have this dichotomy in our country of people who love animals and spend a lot of energy and money on their pets. But they don’t see that we have this huge problem in shelters and with farm animals. To me that’s ironic because if you look at the number of animals in our country, the vast majority are farm animals.
Most animals that have anything to do with humans are going to be killed and eaten. That to me is a bit unconscionable. We brought them into the world and therefore, yes, we have the right to “use” them. But we also have a responsibility to care for them. I certainly see this attitude reflected in a lot of my clients and certainly in my friends. They really try to do right by their horses. It’s a self-selective client base; I get people who really care about their animals.
Q: At Stone Pier Press we talk about moving towards plant-based diets, or at least avoiding factory farmed meat products. In such a holistic, welfare-based field like integrative medicine, does the topic of factory farm animal welfare and sustainable eating come up?
Onderdonk and Snow raise and train polo ponies on their property, where the horses spend as much time as possible grazing in regenerative meadows with other horses. (Photo Source: Dr. Shelley Onderdonk)
A: It’s hard for me—vegetarianism is its own little niche. In my veterinary practice, it's rare to find people who are also vegetarians, which is odd to me. I am someone who sees it all as kind of the same thing. One thing I’ve learned is that people’s food choices are highly personal. People get offended very easily when you start talking about what to eat.
The welfare of farm animals is different. I think you can go there, and I do go there quite aggressively, with anyone who asks my opinion. I’m a big follower of Temple Grandin and I think her take on animal welfare, namely to do what we can to minimize animal pain and fear, is acceptable for the vast majority of people.
Q: You’re a big believer in promoting long-term health for your animals, but also for your land. Tell us more about the methodology behind your regenerative meadows.
A: My husband and I got introduced to Gabe Brown, a regenerative agriculture farmer based in North Dakota. He wrote a book called Dirt to Soil, and has become sort of the face of the movement. We’ve always tried to do the best we can to reduce our use of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Now we’re adding cover crops and seeding into our meadows as well.
We’re really happy with the results because it's better for our land and the farm, and the horses have more months where they can eat green grass of some kind. It's also great for our pocketbook. It may be expensive to drill seed, but not quite as expensive as it is to buy hay.
Sarah Katharine Hurlock is a Stone Pier Press News Fellow based in Needham, MA.
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