The Vital Horse Podcast
with host Dr Lily Wilson
Episode 12 - Thorough investigations of horses with Dr Daniella Vansteenkiste
In this episode, I talked to Dr Daniella Vansteenkiste of VSK Veterinary Neurology. We looked at neurology, the importance of a thorough and focused physical examination when investigating for possible pain and dysfunction, and at pain physiology in a way that will help you as an owner to get the help your horse needs.
About the host:
Dr Lily Wilson is a veterinary surgeon practicing in the UK. She runs a veterinary rehabilitation facility on a track system in West Sussex and has particular interest and expertise in species-appropriate lifestyles, postural improvement, and ethical behaviour modification. She also does home visits for whole horse evaluations and dentistry, and runs online courses, consultations, and coaching calls.
Lily’s passion is helping people and animals to live their best life together by nurturing their all-round wellbeing and unique partnership. She is fascinated by all aspects of wellbeing from how the body functions in health and disease to how we all learn, think and feel, and how all of this is intertwined. She wants to help people on their journeys of discovering how to keep horses’ bodies and minds healthy, comfortable, active and engaged and to explore the integral role of both the horse’s and our emotions in all of this.
About the guest:
Dr. Daniella Vansteenkiste is a board-certified veterinary neurologist with a lifelong passion for horses. With a strong international background, she offers expert consultations in equine neurology to support owners, veterinarians, and trainers seeking answers to complex neurological cases.
Dr. V earned her veterinary degree from the Royal Veterinary College in London 2014. She then completed a small animal rotating internship at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in New Jersey, followed by a research fellowship at the University of Missouri.
She completed her neurology and neurosurgery residency at The Ohio State University, where she also earned a master’s degree. Her thesis focused on cervical spondylomyelopathy (CSM, also known as Wobbler’s Syndrome). Dr. V also completed her neurosurgery certificate and continues to invest time in learning new surgical techniques.
Dr. V sees small animal patients at Metropolitan Veterinary Associates, in Norristown, Pennsylvania where she sees a wide array of patients with both medical and neurosurgical problems. She is starting up a consulting service that she tells us more about in the episode itself, called VSK Veterinary Neurology.
In her spare time, Dr. V loves to work with her horses Zookie and Sesame. She strives to combine species appropriate care, good horsemanship and performance. At home, Dr. V loves to spend time with her husband and their pets, Victor (dachshund) and Marty (cat). If Dr. V wasn’t focusing all her time on her patients then she would probably open up a sourdough bakery!
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