The one job title that doesn’t appear on Dr. Jesslyn Bryk-Lucy’s resume is “juggler,” but there certainly would be justification for adding it.
The veterinarian in charge of caring for Centenary University’s 100 horses was recognized as the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH Intl.) 2021veterinarian of the year. She also has been involved in producing a well-received study about the importance of sufficient turnout for horses. The other balls that the Hardwick, N.J., resident is keeping in the air include teaching classes at Centenary, running a private veterinary practice and taking care of her family.
Dr. Jesslyn Bryk-Lucy. (Photo courtesy Centenary Univesity).
The attention Jesslyn gives to the Therapeutic Riding at Centenary (TRAC) mounts has paid off “in a team of happy, willing horses who are kept fit and healthy for our program participants,” according to Karen Brittle, TRAC’s director.
Another person who recommended Jesslyn told PATH of her caring approach recalling, “I will never forget a cold winter night: after putting down one of our beloved (TRAC) program horses, this veterinarian dropped to her knees in the snow to lovingly braid some locks of mane for me. Afterward, she wrote me an email on grieving.”
Dealing with horses used for therapeutic riding at Centenary’s equestrian center in Long Valley, N.J., requires that veterinarians adjust to a different mindset than they would have in evaluating horses for most prospective buyers.
“We’re not interested in `Will the horse hold up for competition; will the horse be able to walk, trot and canter without any worries about it?’ ” explained Octavia Brown, who founded the TRAC program and was a pioneer in developing therapeutic riding in this country. She discussed with Jesslyn what should be considered in terms of horses accepted for TRAC.
“What we’re looking for is personality and fundamentally walk-trot sound enough for what we want. That is what she and I worked on in her mindset and she got it really fast.
“The wonderful thing about Jesslyn, when the horse was showing signs of being uncomfortable or had arthritis, we would discuss how to manage the horse for the best quality of life, for its comfort, for what we needed to do. That’s the kind of thinking that woman has and that’s why we nominated her,” Octavia said.
Caring for the horses used in TRAC, many of whom are older, involves not only helping them through chiropractic work and acupuncture, which Jesslyn is able to do, but also making decisions about when to transition them from being ridden to being used for groundwork; when they should be retired and when they should be euthanized, if they can’t be made comfortable.
“She takes such special care of our horses, knowing what they do, knowing what they need,” Octavia commented.
“And she’s cheerful and nice to boot.”
Jesslyn has taught everything from equine health and anatomy to breeding management, usually amounting to 10 to 12 credits per semester, while checking over the Centenary horses three days a week and handling treatment and emergencies as necessary. She encourages students to help with diagnostics and treatment, which really amounts to teaching another class.
The veterinarian did not have any clinical experience with therapeutic riding prior to coming to Centenary, but is impressed by what she has learned about it.
“It takes very special people and horses to work in that field,” pointed out the 2009 graduate of Cornell University’s veterinary school.
Interestingly, though, Jesslyn’s daughter began riding in a therapeutic program at a local stable when she was two, even though she had no need for the therapeutic part of the experience, because “it’s colors and games and just getting your balance and steering. It was a perfect outlet to get her started.”
When she won PATH’s Region II award, a precursor to being in contention for the national award, it was “total shock,” said Jesslyn, noting she didn’t even know she had been nominated.
Every horse she deals with is important to Dr. Bryk-Lucy. (Photo courtesy of Centenary University.)
Upon earning the national title, she said, “I was speechless and truly honored. It’s just a very noble organization and they do such important work and for me to be involved in that and recognized in that way, I never thought that would happen to me. My private clients (at Leg Up Equine Veterinary Services) were proud to be a part of it, too.”
Jesslyn also has gotten attention for a paper on the benefits of turnout that she did with student Abigail Reilly, who is listed as the first author.
For students like Abigail who are trying to get into veterinary school, Jesslyn explained, “it’s important they get research experience so they can present at a conference or publish a paper that really sets their application apart.”
The study was presented at the Equine Science Society’s virtual symposium last year. The question was how soft tissue injury related to restricted turnout.
Jesslyn recalled Centenary had five horses on whom nothing was working to bring them back to soundness. That prompted resorting to an old horseman’s remedy “turn them out 24/7 and we will look at them in a year.”
The result? “These horses have come back and are working, maybe at a lower level, but they’re still in the program,” said Jesslyn. For some of the horses, the return took only three months. For another, it was two years, but the horse is back jumping.
The abundance of paddocks at the World Equestrian Center Ocala acknowledges the importance of turnout for show horses away from home. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The research involved using records the university kept on the horses, looking at the initial injury, and whether they were being turned out more or less than 12 hours a day. The veterinarian said it showed horses turned out less than 12 hours a day were twice as likely to sustain an injury.
While thick collagen fibers provide tensile strength to the tendons, they are formed under static conditions and don’t have much give. Thin collagen fibers formed with exercise allow elasticity of the tendons. Horses that are exercised and spend time in the pasture have more thin fibers, meaning their tendons are better equipped to adapt to their movements.
“It makes sense when you talk about fitness and strength of the muscles, tendons and ligaments, they’re going to be fitter being turned out,” Jesslyn said, and the study backs that up. She and Abigail did all the research and wrote the paper together, while Linda Ritchie, a Centenary statistics professor, used her specialty for the project. Their work appeared as an abstract in a special issue of the Journal of Veterinary Science.
Jesslyn noted the entire paper hasn’t been published yet, with questions yet to be answered including conformation, paddock size and footing in paddocks. The intent also is involves putting GPS trackers on the horses to see how much they move.
“It is worth looking at this more,” noted Jesslyn, who is hoping for funding to continue the work with another Centenary student after Abigail leaves for vet school, and eventually get the paper peer-reviewed as a precursor to publication.
The veterinarian notes a lot of the TRAC horses have lived out 24/7, which helps their temperament and enables them to be quieter, calmer and happier, which is very important in their line of work.
As Jesslyn pointed out, “Colic, most of the diseases we see in horses are man-made, from us changing their management; from being grazers and constantly moving about on the plains to (instead) standing in a barn. I understand they’re performance horses and have a job to do and that’s why they’re here,” she acknowledged.
At the same time, she said, “I think we should…try as best we can to get them back to that grazing, moving environment.”
