There aren’t many young people who are willing to pay almost €40,000 up front to learn their trade, but 25-year-old Casey Phair of Co Fermanagh has put her money where her mouth is in pursuit of her career. Or perhaps that should be where her horse’s mouth is. Casey has successfully trained to become one of only a handful of a qualified equine dentists in Ireland.
“My mum told me when I was young that I wasn’t allowed to ride horses for a career. I thought about becoming a vet. I watched some castrations and things on our yard – I could watch the blood and stitches – but when it came to the school end of things, I wasn’t really dedicated enough,” says Casey.
“I rode too many horses and didn’t study enough in school, so what could I do? Do the teeth? Or be a chiropractor? I suppose farriery could have been an option? But I was just always drawn to teeth as a kid. I did give show jumping horses a go, but decided that was best as a hobby and that dentistry was the right profession to strive for.”
People might be surprised to discover there is currently no legal requirement for specific qualifications to perform routine equine dental care in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Equine dentistry is not an easy path to go down – and there is also no Irish association of equine dentists. So to graduate is to join a rather exclusive club on these shores.
Casey says, “There are two governing bodies you can be a part of : the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT), and the Worldwide Association of Equine Dental Technicians (WWAED).
In Ireland, there are only seven members of the BAEDT and a couple of WWAED members – that’s in the whole of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“To become a qualified equine dentist there’s a final exam, but there’s a million different avenues to get there, and ideally, you do an apprenticeship with a qualified dentist.
"The problem is, you tend to slow them down for a long time – you’re not of much benefit to them. You’re asking questions, you’re adding time to their day. So often established dentists don’t like to take students on.
Doing her research
“The first thing I researched was a school called TriDent, which is in England, and is run by equine dentist Martin Brooks. TriDent is a group of qualified dentists that have come together to set up a clinic specifically to teach people how to do the job.
“It’s really good, but it’s a cost, it’s an investment, it’s also only a week-long course that you have to keep doing every six months with ongoing guidance and the recommendation for the rare apprenticeship placements.
“When I started, I presumed that all I had to do was go to TriDent and that would be the end of it. But I quickly learned the reality. I think it was day two of TriDent when Northern Irish equine dentist Gemma Laurie, a BAEDT team member, got a message from me panicking, saying, ‘I’ve done all this, I’ve saved all this money, and I really want to become a dentist. Can you please take me out with you?’
“I was blessed to find someone like Gemma, I worked with her for a couple of years before I got full training to go out on my own and to pass my BAEDT exam.”
The final BAEDT exams are very intense. First of all, students must send off 300 case studies, 40 of which must be advanced case studies, where the student has collaborated with a vet, and the horse has had to be sedated.
“You have to have every one of them signed and numbered, and each one of them are marked,” says Casey.
“You get feedback after an examiner has scrolled through each and every one. There is also a set theory course to complete before you sit a theory exam, which for me was in Birmingham. You have a paper to write in the morning, then after a break, you come back in and have to chart a cadaver, which is interesting, to say the least.
I opened the mouth and thought, I need to help this pony. He was ulcerated all along his edges due to his age, he was in a lot of pain
“Charting the horse involves a deceased horse’s head on the table. The head has been split in half and put on the table with a tongue hanging out, the hair and the ears and eyes are still on it. You have to get past that – and get past the smell – there’s about 20 cadavers in the room.
“And of course, it is the worst, most complex mouth you’ve ever seen – and you have 30 minutes. That half an hour is the shortest time in the world when you have to pick out all the grass, examine and chart this horse’s mouth.
“Then comes a final exam and that is just one horse, one hour – it’s make or break. As you work with the horse you have to describe everything you’re doing. The examiners will stop you, they will ask you lots of questions. They will look in the mouth. They will make you explain in more detail what you’re doing. Or if you find something, they’ll ask you the theory behind that particular thing.
“It’s intense and incredibly nerve-wracking. Once you’ve passed, that’s it. But first you have to go home and wait for two days to get the results.
Casey’s admirable motivation for investing in her professional qualification stems from her life-long love of horses. She wants to do everything right. She wants to have the confidence that she is doing the best for any horse that she treats. “Because it is so difficult to get through the exam, you really know your stuff by the end of it,” she says.
Support system
Finding the almost-€40,000 to get her tools and her courses completed has been no mean feat. “There are no student loans, you have to have a good support system around you, and you have to work really hard to try and pay for it, while trying to train to do the job.”
Casey sees horses of every size, with mouths in every condition. “I have lots of nice stories. I did a little Shetland recently. He was about 26 and he had never had his teeth done, the owner just didn’t know he needed them done as he was an unridden companion pony.
“I opened the mouth and thought, I need to help this pony. He was ulcerated all along his edges due to his age, he was in a lot of pain. When I tried to work on him, he fought and fought and carted me and his owner around the stable. I think she could have been sitting on his back at one point to try to keep him still for me to treat him, but I wasn’t leaving until I helped this pony.
Horses are a dream
“Fast forward six months, I find myself going to the same yard, and the same pony is there – the rest of the horses are a dream. But I’m dreading it because of this one pony who had put up such a fight. But he stood like a dream the second time, and that was my way of knowing that this pony realised I was there to help him. I’ve done his teeth every six months since.
“I would like people to understand the importance of equine dentistry. The reality is that if any horse hasn’t had its teeth done within the last year, it is likely to have edges cutting its cheeks. Horses are such stoic animals, and they hide pain so easily,” says Casey.
At the moment, Casey’s hard work is paying off; she is busy. She travels up to two hours from her Fermanagh home to treat horses and if there’s a yard of horses further afield, she’ll stay for a few days to get the work done.
She is not resting on her dentistry laurels however.
“I am building my business. I very quickly had a nice full set of books. But I’m always trying to give the best service to my customers,” she says.
“I am getting questioned more and more about bits and the way the horse rides, so I am looking into doing a bitting course – that way I can have a nice
cohesive service that helps riders with bridle and bit fitting and do the teeth too – all-round care for the horse’s mouth, which will have a positive effect on its body, its movement and inevitably its future success.”
Through hard work and determination, Casey has successfully trained to become one of only a handful of qualified equine dentists in Ireland. \ Casey Phair Equine Dentist
You can follow Casey on Instagram at Casey Phair (@caseyphairedt).
There aren’t many young people who are willing to pay almost €40,000 up front to learn their trade, but 25-year-old Casey Phair of Co Fermanagh has put her money where her mouth is in pursuit of her career. Or perhaps that should be where her horse’s mouth is. Casey has successfully trained to become one of only a handful of a qualified equine dentists in Ireland.
“My mum told me when I was young that I wasn’t allowed to ride horses for a career. I thought about becoming a vet. I watched some castrations and things on our yard – I could watch the blood and stitches – but when it came to the school end of things, I wasn’t really dedicated enough,” says Casey.
“I rode too many horses and didn’t study enough in school, so what could I do? Do the teeth? Or be a chiropractor? I suppose farriery could have been an option? But I was just always drawn to teeth as a kid. I did give show jumping horses a go, but decided that was best as a hobby and that dentistry was the right profession to strive for.”
People might be surprised to discover there is currently no legal requirement for specific qualifications to perform routine equine dental care in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Equine dentistry is not an easy path to go down – and there is also no Irish association of equine dentists. So to graduate is to join a rather exclusive club on these shores.
Casey says, “There are two governing bodies you can be a part of : the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT), and the Worldwide Association of Equine Dental Technicians (WWAED).
In Ireland, there are only seven members of the BAEDT and a couple of WWAED members – that’s in the whole of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“To become a qualified equine dentist there’s a final exam, but there’s a million different avenues to get there, and ideally, you do an apprenticeship with a qualified dentist.
"The problem is, you tend to slow them down for a long time – you’re not of much benefit to them. You’re asking questions, you’re adding time to their day. So often established dentists don’t like to take students on.
Doing her research
“The first thing I researched was a school called TriDent, which is in England, and is run by equine dentist Martin Brooks. TriDent is a group of qualified dentists that have come together to set up a clinic specifically to teach people how to do the job.
“It’s really good, but it’s a cost, it’s an investment, it’s also only a week-long course that you have to keep doing every six months with ongoing guidance and the recommendation for the rare apprenticeship placements.
“When I started, I presumed that all I had to do was go to TriDent and that would be the end of it. But I quickly learned the reality. I think it was day two of TriDent when Northern Irish equine dentist Gemma Laurie, a BAEDT team member, got a message from me panicking, saying, ‘I’ve done all this, I’ve saved all this money, and I really want to become a dentist. Can you please take me out with you?’
“I was blessed to find someone like Gemma, I worked with her for a couple of years before I got full training to go out on my own and to pass my BAEDT exam.”
The final BAEDT exams are very intense. First of all, students must send off 300 case studies, 40 of which must be advanced case studies, where the student has collaborated with a vet, and the horse has had to be sedated.
“You have to have every one of them signed and numbered, and each one of them are marked,” says Casey.
“You get feedback after an examiner has scrolled through each and every one. There is also a set theory course to complete before you sit a theory exam, which for me was in Birmingham. You have a paper to write in the morning, then after a break, you come back in and have to chart a cadaver, which is interesting, to say the least.
I opened the mouth and thought, I need to help this pony. He was ulcerated all along his edges due to his age, he was in a lot of pain
“Charting the horse involves a deceased horse’s head on the table. The head has been split in half and put on the table with a tongue hanging out, the hair and the ears and eyes are still on it. You have to get past that – and get past the smell – there’s about 20 cadavers in the room.
“And of course, it is the worst, most complex mouth you’ve ever seen – and you have 30 minutes. That half an hour is the shortest time in the world when you have to pick out all the grass, examine and chart this horse’s mouth.
“Then comes a final exam and that is just one horse, one hour – it’s make or break. As you work with the horse you have to describe everything you’re doing. The examiners will stop you, they will ask you lots of questions. They will look in the mouth. They will make you explain in more detail what you’re doing. Or if you find something, they’ll ask you the theory behind that particular thing.
“It’s intense and incredibly nerve-wracking. Once you’ve passed, that’s it. But first you have to go home and wait for two days to get the results.
Casey’s admirable motivation for investing in her professional qualification stems from her life-long love of horses. She wants to do everything right. She wants to have the confidence that she is doing the best for any horse that she treats. “Because it is so difficult to get through the exam, you really know your stuff by the end of it,” she says.
Support system
Finding the almost-€40,000 to get her tools and her courses completed has been no mean feat. “There are no student loans, you have to have a good support system around you, and you have to work really hard to try and pay for it, while trying to train to do the job.”
Casey sees horses of every size, with mouths in every condition. “I have lots of nice stories. I did a little Shetland recently. He was about 26 and he had never had his teeth done, the owner just didn’t know he needed them done as he was an unridden companion pony.
“I opened the mouth and thought, I need to help this pony. He was ulcerated all along his edges due to his age, he was in a lot of pain. When I tried to work on him, he fought and fought and carted me and his owner around the stable. I think she could have been sitting on his back at one point to try to keep him still for me to treat him, but I wasn’t leaving until I helped this pony.
Horses are a dream
“Fast forward six months, I find myself going to the same yard, and the same pony is there – the rest of the horses are a dream. But I’m dreading it because of this one pony who had put up such a fight. But he stood like a dream the second time, and that was my way of knowing that this pony realised I was there to help him. I’ve done his teeth every six months since.
“I would like people to understand the importance of equine dentistry. The reality is that if any horse hasn’t had its teeth done within the last year, it is likely to have edges cutting its cheeks. Horses are such stoic animals, and they hide pain so easily,” says Casey.
At the moment, Casey’s hard work is paying off; she is busy. She travels up to two hours from her Fermanagh home to treat horses and if there’s a yard of horses further afield, she’ll stay for a few days to get the work done.
She is not resting on her dentistry laurels however.
“I am building my business. I very quickly had a nice full set of books. But I’m always trying to give the best service to my customers,” she says.
“I am getting questioned more and more about bits and the way the horse rides, so I am looking into doing a bitting course – that way I can have a nice
cohesive service that helps riders with bridle and bit fitting and do the teeth too – all-round care for the horse’s mouth, which will have a positive effect on its body, its movement and inevitably its future success.”
Through hard work and determination, Casey has successfully trained to become one of only a handful of qualified equine dentists in Ireland. \ Casey Phair Equine Dentist
You can follow Casey on Instagram at Casey Phair (@caseyphairedt).
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