It was always veterinary, I never wanted to do anything else. I think James Herriot (the British veterinary surgeon known for his autobiographical books, which were the basis for the BBC show All Creatures Great and Small) had a lot to do with it, and horses. I was always into horses. I got my first pony for doing really well in a piano exam. I was allowed to rent one at a local stables and I was absolutely overjoyed.
I was always hoping. You can never be too confident because the points are so high. I worked really hard in school and I got in and I was absolutely delighted.
I work in north Co Dublin. It’s mainly an equine veterinary practice but I also do acupuncture on small animals, as well as acupuncture and chiropractic on horses.
In the early days I probably wouldn’t have had much time for acupuncture or chiropractic. The longer I was in practice, it became more about feeling the animals, seeing their beauty, their magnificence.
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My husband is also a vet and, when we started a family, I took time out. With life experience I became more interested in looking at healing holistically and I travelled over and back to Belgium to study acupuncture.
Medicine is like an art form. You are constantly trying to hone your skill, and when you have exhausted all conventional avenues, you look at other ways you could help.
I was trained very classically. It would have been all very conventional, but things are changing and there seems to be a lot more emphasis on prevention. It’s important to try and halt processes, or change their course before they take hold because the body has an enormous capacity to heal itself.
Acupuncture is a great tool to use for pain. In older dogs with arthritis, it’s giving them a helping hand with being old. Horses, like humans, are prone to arthritis and back pain.
The more you understand it, the more you realise how scientific acupuncture really is, even though a lot of it is philosophical and esoteric
Acupoints are areas on the body that tend to occur in lines called meridians. A lot of the time, the meridians follow nerve pathways. The acupoints are often located where nerves penetrate tissue or divide, so it’s linked with the whole system.
These acupoints are tiny, but you can feel them. They can become hyperactive or hypoactive and dulled. You learn to feel that, but you also look at the horse or dog. The more you get in tune with them, they will tell you in their own way which ones to focus on. Feeling the acupoints is a method of diagnosis really. If some are painful, it can lead you to a certain joint, for example.
The acupoints are linked to emotions too, and often the horses and dogs are so empathetic with their owners, you wonder if they have the same kind of energy.
In people, our emotions are linked to health. Loneliness and stress are linked to disease. Even the language we use, words like “ruminate” – the rumen is a cow’s stomach. In eastern philosophy, the stomach and spleen are linked to worry and overthinking.
The more you understand it, the more you realise how scientific acupuncture really is, even though a lot of it is philosophical and esoteric.
When you activate different acupoints with a needle or acupressure, the body releases neurochemicals at a local level. You also get an increase in blood flow to that area. In the brain, you get a release of opioids, so it has a feelgood factor too. You can see the animals are enjoying it.
Yes, of course people are sceptical. I tend to do conventional veterinary medicine unless somebody asks me to do acupuncture. A lot more people are asking for it.
You can certainly see when you are helping because the animals are very demonstrative: they will make faces at you. Horses will yawn with their tongues hanging out, they will blink very slow blinks, they will lick and chew. If you are doing it in a yard, you’ll find the neighbouring horses start yawning as well. Soon the whole yard is yawning.
Dogs tend to close their eyes and get very soft in their manner, they get more sleepy and relaxed. The animals move themselves around me as well, as if to say, “You missed a bit”.
I did chiropractic training last year and I find the spine so important in the whole health of the animal. It has made me look at my body differently too
Animals have a huge capacity for understanding. If I am going to do something that is not too pleasant for them, like sticking a scope up their nose, just saying in my mind, “It’s going to be quick. Don’t worry, it will be fine. This is what’s going to happen” – I wouldn’t say it out loud, you don’t want to sound mad, but you find the whole thing goes a bit easier. I’m not saying they understand, but they might gain some of your intention.
I did chiropractic training last year and I find the spine so important in the whole health of the animal. It has made me look at my body differently too. I try to breathe properly, I try to stand properly. Your posture has such an enormous effect on how you feel.
When you come to a point where you can’t do anything more for an animal, that’s pretty tough. At that stage, I guess you are mainly helping the owner and just listening. The work is quite physical, too. I realise now I have to stay fit if I want to be doing this in my 70s.
The best part of the job is the animals: getting to go out every day and meet different animals and different people.
I think love is important in the little things, just to have a little bit of love with each patient you see. I feel very grateful that I can work with these animals, who are so responsive and so loving in return.
I feel enormous joy and gratitude to be doing what I love.