Horse Doctor

By CANDICE VETTER

As the founder and original partner of Russell Equine and as an owner of Standard-bred racehorses himself, Dr Garth Henry of North Russell, Ontario knows his horseflesh.

Dr Henry started as a large animal veterinarian, and his wife, Dr Ruth Irving, got him interested in Standardbred horses, which her father, also a vet, raised. “I was exposed to the breed through Ruth’s dad,” Garth said in a recent telephone interview. “Standardbreds were his passion.”

Garth and Ruth hail from the Maritimes; he from Charlottetown, P.E.I. and she from Moncton, N.B. They met in 1979 at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, and then both attended Guelph University to finish their veterinary degrees.

Ruth’s father had a large animal clinic with a small animal clinic on the side.

Veterinarians Dr Ruth Irving and Dr Garth Henry at their clinic

Garth chose large animals, and Ruth focused on pets, eventually opening the Village Veterinary Clinic, a separate small animal clinic in Russell, Ontario. (Author’s disclosure, my cats are taken there.)

Garth found he liked large animals and soon realized he preferred equine medicine. “I’d rather work on horses,” he said. ”From an economic standpoint, people are more

willing to spend money on a horse.” With a laugh, he added, “Plus, they smell better than other large animals.”

The Russell area is just outside Ottawa, and the racing style there is harness racing. “Because of where we are, there are not many Thoroughbreds raised,” Garth said. “Other than by a couple of breeders, so I mostly treat, and we breed Standardbreds.”

“I had a Quebec license and an Ontario licence, and I developed a big practice in Montreal where there were higher quality horses,” he said.

That practice was a couple of hours drive away. Garth would stay in Montreal for three days, work 16 to 18 hour days, then come home to Russell and work three more long shifts, often seeing 50 horses in a day.

Halloween Hanover and her foal with Quintessa