A Veterinarian's Life with Horses

The Life is Good people say, “Do what you love. Love what you do.” Well, that is exactly what a very passionate Thor Hyyppa, Equine DVM, owner of Equine Veterinary Clinic in Portland, has been doing for the past 28 years.

Since 1984, Hyyppa has been treating equine patients of all shapes and sizes. He does so from his mobile unit as well as at his state of the art equine medical facility, at his 28 acre expansive homestead on Glastonbury Turnpike. Armed with an insatiable yearning to constantly learn more ways to keep horses healthy, as well as a lifetime of equine experience, Hyyppa is definitely well versed in “horse sense”.

When asked, why horses? Hyyppa replies, “I have always been in awe of their
athleticism and what they are capable of. I have an immense amount of respect for their size and power. It is extremely rewarding to me to be able to improve their quality of life and I enjoy the challenges horses present to me through my veterinarian work as well as from a husbandry point of view.”

It’s easy to see Hyyppa’s natural affinity for his equine patients and friends as he enters the stall of his award winning, 17.3 hand stunning horse, Ramsay. With a gentle hand and a quiet smile, Hyyppa greets his beautiful buddy with a pat and a rub. Majestic and awe inspiring, this impressive Dutch Warmblood is just one of three Hyyppa calls his own, which also include Hanoverians, Gunni and Wallaby.

“At one time we had has many as 18 horses here, now we are down to these three, but I love them, they are wonderful,” Hyyppa explains.

Having begun his love affair with everything equine at the very young age of three, tagging along to his sisters riding escapades and harboring his father’s deep admiration and love of animals, Hyyppa began riding. The rest, well, is truly is history. Studying at MIT, then onto Tufts University to hone his veterinarian skills, Hyyppa has spent his life figuring out what makes horses healthy.

“I try to always practice at a high level of equine medicine, looking to bring new treatments into the area,” explains Hyyppa, stroking his office cat Bella.

“The industry has changed tremendously since I was a kid,” he adds. “Vets were very limited with what they could do back then. They had a lot of compassion, bute ( Phenylbutazone a pain reliever) and wisdom and that’s about it. Now everything is different, there have been tremendous strides not only in equine medicine and surgery, but in nutrition and farrier practices as well. Now we can save horses that in the past would not have had a chance.”

Hyyppa, who is extremely passionate about his stem cell work, is constantly on the lookout for new, innovative procedures and medicines to keep his patients happy, healthy and safe. These include, acupuncture, shockwave therapy, protein rich plasma therapy (PRP), digital radiograph, diagnostic ultrasound, Tildren (a bisphosphonate) work for arthritis and more.

His practice is 70 percent ambulatory and 30 percent on site at his elaborate clinic, which he designed himself and had built to include the first digital x-ray machine in Connecticut, recovery stalls equipped with drop down IV hooks and monitors, an extensive exam stall, a surgery area and a prep area. He also has an onsite incubator for breeding procedures and a centrifuge machine for his PRP work.

In addition to his intensive work in his own practice, which keeps him more than busy, for the past fourteen years Hyyppa has given care to the over 250 horses that have been seized by the state because of neglect and abusive situations.

“That work has been extremely rewarding for me. Those people are great and the department does a wonderful job. Over the years, we have only lost three of the horses that have been taken. I think those are pretty good numbers given the condition some of these horses are in when they come to us.”

“The majority of the horses I see are sport horses, but I will treat and work with any equine. I get the most gratitude out of making horses better, enabling them to achieve their maximum ability,” states Hyyppa, who says that becoming an equine veterinarian has to be about passion.

“This is not a nine to five job, it really is a true 24 hour a day, seven days a week, weekends and holidays job. It is a dangerous job, you have to have compassion or you’ll get kicked across the room and it can’t be about the nickel you make, it has to be because you love what you do and I really truly do.”

Because of the time demands of his job, Hyyppa, who at one time rode 12 different horses a day, doesn’t have the time to ride anymore. This is one down side to his vocation he wishes he could change.

“I miss everything about riding and eventing,” says Hyyppa longingly.

“The bond with the horse you get, being the ultimate team, jumping crazy jumps; there really is no feeling like it in the world, it is a total adrenaline rush. I miss all that, but I am grateful that all four of my children had the chance to
grow up with and around horses. It teaches responsibility and that there are
things out there that are more important than themselves. It has also taught
them all to set goals and follow through. Not to mention the sheer excitement
of riding and competing. All my kids are responsible kids, with goals in life, working hard to achieve them. We used horses to teach them life lessons and it has been great!”

He adds, “I have been very fortunate, my practice has allowed me to keep my family’s farm from being a development, I love what I do and I am excited by new prospects in veterinarian medicine to help keep horses even healthier. I look forward to what the future holds.”

For more information, or to make an appointment with Dr. Hyyppa call, 860-342-0039.