A Minnesota veterinarian is challenging tradition, skepticism, and the remnants of Russian socialism to bring modern veterinary medicine to Mongolia’s most remote horse herders.

Located in East Asia, Mongolia is bordered on the south by China and by Russia on the north. The region was long ruled by nomadic empires including that of Genghis Khan, who created the Mongol Empire, and his grandson Kublai Khan, who conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty there. Modern Mongolia became independent of China in 1921. Later, the country came under Russian control and, by 1935, it was known as The Mongolian People’s Republic, a satellite of the Soviet state. Following a series of anti-Communist revolts, Mongolia became an independent democratic nation in 1991.

Throughout its history Mongolia has been inhabited by nomadic tribes—roughly 30% of the population remains nomadic today—and the country’s cultural and economic identity has always revolved around its horses.

“The horse is part of their whole culture,” said Tom Juergens, DMV, founder of Anoka Equine Veterinary Services in Elk River, Minnesota, where he practiced until his retirement in 2008. “They race them, they ride them, they breed them, they raise them for meat, and they milk the mares five times a day. Horses are even on their currency