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Horseytalk.net Special Interview
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The Equine
Dentist who jumps out of planes. But is frightened of falling
off horses |
Everyone is unique. But there are not many people in the
world as unique as Simon Vieweg.
He is the son of a mounted policeman and an award-winning
dressage champion.
He is a sky-diver with a freefall record of 15,500 feet.
Having completed the half Iron Man course in 2007, he is
now preparing for the full Iron Man’s triathalon course
for this year.
And if that’s not enough he is one of the most qualified
equine dentists in the country, an expert on horse tooth
restoration and a leading advocate of higher standards and
qualifications in the whole field of equine dentistry.
Yet, in spite of all that, he admits he is frightened of
riding horses.
“I’m scared of falling off,” he says. “Always
was. Even as a kid. Always will be.”
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But what about throwing yourself out of a plane
15,500 feet above Florida?
“That was different,” he laughs.
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Simon was born in Lewisham, south east London. For 25-years,
his father, Douglas, was a mounted policeman with the Metropolitan
Police.He was based at East Dulwich, Bromley, Rochester Row
and Brixton.
“Dad’s favourite horse,” says Simon, “ was
Rebel. He was an 18 hh Irish Draught. He has just died. He
was struck dead by lightening in a field in Headcorn in Kent.
The other horse in the field with him also died. It was so
sad.”
Simon’s mother, Pamela, was a keen dressage rider.
She was trained by John Lassiter, the international dressage
rider and trainer, who won many major international dressage
awards over the years.
“As you can imagine, I grew up with horses. There
was no alternative. My mother worked at a riding school so
even as a kid I was on and around horses all the time. At
five or six, I went to Lees Green Riding School.
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My favourite pony, I remember, was Bouncer, a tiny , little
Dartmoor. I also rode Creamy, a little Palomino.
”By the time he was eleven, he had had enough. He decided
he wanted to give up riding. Why?
“I was crap at it. I was scared of falling off. I only
did it because my parents made me do it.”
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In his early 20s, however, he decided to give it another
go.
His father had retired. The family had moved to High Hurstwood,
near Uckfield. He started riding Sky, a Thoroughbred, an
ex-racehorse.
“I did all the basic stuff. I did circles. I hacked
out. But I was still no good at it. I gave it up a second
time, “ he says.
This was when the boy, who was frightened of falling off
horses, took up sky-diving. He did over 120 jumps throughout
the UK as well as the United States, the highest one being
that 15,500 foot freefall over Florida.
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“I had a couple of scary moments,” he says. “I
spun out of control a couple of times. My chest strap came undone
once during a freefall. And I had a number of bad falls.”
As bad as falling off a horse?
Simon laughs. “I was very, very lucky. I didn’t break
anything.”
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When Ella, his eldest daughter was one-year-old, he decided
to give up freefalling.
“When you’ve got kids, you suddenly feel more
sensible.”
It was then Simon turned to the Iron Man triathalons. A
half Iron Man involves swimming 1.9 kms, cycling 90 kms and
then running 22 kms . One after another. In a single day.
The first time he tried it, Simon did it in under six-hours.
A full Iron Man is 4kms swimming, 180 kms cycling and
42 kms running. Simon attempts that for the first time on
July 12 2009. His target time: 12 hours.
“I’m confident,” he says. “I always
did a lot of running even before I took up Iron Man. I am
also very focussed. If I decide to do something, I do it.
During the Iron Man, for example, I completely disconnect
from reality. Apart from pain management, I concentrate on
nothing but finishing.”
It is this same power of determination that has made Simon
one of the top two leading equine dentists in the country.
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“It was my father’s idea. He had retired
and had become an equine dentist. He said, Try it. I
said, No.
I got a job working in the Post Office. I was a part-time
postie. The rest of the time I then decided to work as
assistant to my father. Now I’m passionate about
it. My father is very proud of me.”
Once he had decided to become an equine dentist, Simon
was determined to be the best equine dentist he could
be. Instead of qualifying in this country, he decided
he would qualify at the American
School of Equine Dentistry in Virginia in the United
States.
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He joined the International
Association of Equine Dentistry, the oldest , largest
and most prestigious association of equine dentists in
the world. Today he is the only Englishman on their Board
of Directors.
In 2004 he passed both the British Equine Veterinary Association
equine dental examination at Hartpury College, Gloucester
and the International Association of Equine Dentistry basic
certification at Fort Worth, Texas. The following year he
successfully sat the IAED’s coveted Advanced Certificate
and is currently one of only two people in the UK with the
qualification.
Today he runs his own equine dental practice, Westrow Equine
Dental Service 2, a sister company to his father’s Westrow
Equine Dental Service Ltd.
He has also just been invited to join the Lingfield Equine
Veterinary Clinic to run a regular , expert equine dental
clinic, which will cover everything from basic dentistry
to advanced procedures such as the treatment of periodontal
disease and dental balancing.
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With his father, he is often called in by outside organisations
to handle serious equine dentistry problems around the
world. The
International League for the Protection of the Horse recently
asked him to solve a series of serious equine horse problems
in San Salvador.
As if they didn’t have enough problems to face,
the country was rocked by a serious earthquake, measuring
a massive 5.6 on the Richter scale, while they were there.
Says Simon, “This is a good time to be an equine
dentist.
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People are becoming more and more conscious of the need
to keep their horses teeth in good condition.
In many ways the teeth are the most important part of a
horse. The teeth are the first part of the digestive system.
Without teeth, the horse can’t eat. If the horse can’t
eat, well, you get all kinds of other problems. “
The science and the technology is also developing fast.
Equine dentists now talk about the science of balance and
jaw functionality. They never used to do that in the past.
There is also talk of horse tooth restoration, the need to
keep everything scrupulously clean and so on.
“People are also more conscious of the horse. In the
old days, dentists used to wrestle with horses. Now there
is more sense of working with the horse, knowing how to handle
the horse , working with the horse as a partner.
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“Finally, I think, equine dentistry is being recognised
more and more as a profession.
There is a need for qualifications, proper training,
higher and higher standards.”
So serious is Simon about the need for higher and higher
standards in equine dentistry that he is planning to
launch a UK branch of the International Association of
Equine Dentistry, which will establish and run its own
training courses and examinations for equine dentists
. He is already talking to the Government and DEFRA about
the plan and is confident it will be a huge step forward
for horse welfare as well as for the equine dentistry
profession in this country.
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Which
is not bad for a boy who was scared of falling off horses. |
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