Veterinary teaching hospitals save horses’ lives and train future veterinarians. But along with the human faculty, another type of staff member has an integral role in training new vets to care for your horse.

“Our teaching horses are very valued members of our teaching facility,” stated Beth Davis, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor of Equine Internal Medicine at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.

What does a “teaching horse” actually do? One of their jobs is to donate blood when a critically ill patient requires a blood transfusion. The 10 horses kept at Kansas State are blood typed and those found to be blood type Aa/Qa negative (the equine equivalent of “universal donor”) work as blood donors, along with their other teaching functions.

Some horses are donated to the college and it is not unusual for horses to work there many years, like 11-year veteran gelding Charlie Brown. Students learn simple techniques with the horses including haltering, leading, picking up feet, along with more specialized skills such as drawing blood and other examination procedures. Strict guidelines determine the limited number of procedures a horse receives.

And it’s not all work for equine blood donors and veterinary teaching horses.

“Some live in groups, and they are often rotated to pasture, depending on their dietary needs and condition,” Davis explained. “They have free choice hay and grain twice a day.”

It is not unusual for teaching horses to be with Kansas State well into their 30s, and they’re often adopted by staff members when retirement does arrive.

“I don’t know what we would do without them,” Davis said. “They are dearly beloved.”

Read about more Dirty Jobs for Horses.