B. Ramanathan (Pune, Maharashtra, India)
Last November, my mare Scarlet was suddenly in a lot of pain. She was breathing heavily, very uneasy and had signs of colic. She could barely stand, was moaning and would barely eat. My horses are in Gujarat, the west part of India and we do not have sophisticated veterinarians who specialize in treating horses.
I still sent her to a vet hospital 2 hours away. They treated her with fluids and castor oil so that she pooped but then she could not walk. She could not move her limbs. When we would force her to walk, she could barely do it with a lot of pain. The vets were not able to say what was the problem.
I came to know about a veterinarian Dr. B. Ramanathan who was visiting my city and I called him up and asked if he would visit my farm. He came up with a neat, well-equipped truck, quite surprising to see someone this organized dealing with animals in our part of the country! His truck had a welding machine and all equipment needed to make a shoe for the horse and to treat a horse.
He managed to get a mobile X-ray unit and had Scarlet’s x-rays taken. Based on the X-rays, he detected laminitis in both front feet. Based on the X-rays, he made shoes on the spot using the equipment he had in his truck and after spending about 4-5 hours at the farm with the mare; he shod her to adjust how she would place her hoofs on the surface to relieve her of pain. She started walking!
Since then, he has adjusted her shoes a couple of more times. She had a deep-seated abscess and this was drained.To prevent gross contamination a hospital plate was designed.This facilitated in dressing and cleaning, also prevented gross contamination. She has started eating well since she is not distracted with pain and she is improving her condition.
I can safely say that if B. Ramanathan had not attended Scarlet she would not have survived. I was surprised to see a veterinarian and a farrier, all packaged in one person! His deep knowledge in the anatomy of horses and their traits and his love for them is seen every time I have met him. He is so skilled; he is also a sculptor and creates beautiful horses of different metals.
It would be hard to find such an interesting farrier in any part of the world!
— Neha Sheth (Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India)
