Dedicated to the Care and Treatment of
Performance and Pleasure Horses
David Ramey, DVM
David Ramey, DVM, is a graduate of the Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. As a student, he took advantage of many learning opportunities: he learned horse shoeing and worked as a farrier, he worked as a ranch hand at various horse and cattle farms, he interned at 4 large metropolitan zoos, and he wrangled at the livery of the YMCA of the Rockies. He also found time to compete in school rodeos, run and ties, and endurance races across Colorado and Wyoming.
After graduating in 1983, Dr. Ramey completed a yearlong internship in equine medicine and surgery at Iowa State University where he managed cases under the guidance of several distinguished equine veterinarians. During his internship, he learned specialized procedures such as arthroscopic surgery and internal fixation of fractures and non-unions. His internship also provided him opportunities to lecture and to publish scientific papers, including 5 case reports and the first review of the application of surgical skin stapling in horses and one of the first applications of gastrointestinal stapling equipment in colic surgery, now common practice today. Since his internship, Dr. Ramey has received additional training in equine dentistry and ultrasonography.
Following his internship, Dr. Ramey entered private equine practice based in Los Angeles, California. He established his own ambulatory clinical practice, Ramey Equine, in 1987. His practice is approximately 60% show and performance horses (jumper, hunter, barrel racing, gaited/carriage, and dressage), including FEI-level jumper and dressage horses, with the remainder being various breeds and individual pleasure horses. As a concierge practitioner, he offers direct lines of communication with his clients and provides whole-horse care to his patients, from routine vaccinations to complex lameness cases to 24/7 emergency calls.
Dr. Ramey is a registered FEI treating veterinarian and has been the treating veterinarian at FEI-Concours Dressage International (CDI) shows held in Los Angeles for 15 years. In addition, he has experience as an endurance race and rodeo veterinarian, and he currently works as the show veterinarian for local hunter/jumper and dressage shows.
Despite working full time in private practice for 35 years, Dr. Ramey has stayed active in professional activities. His contributions to the equine veterinary profession and the knowledge base of equine medicine are unprecedented for a solo practitioner.
Dr. Ramey’s research has been published in proceedings and peer-reviewed professional journals. He has conducted a number of scientific studies on a variety of topics including: predicting lameness, nutrition and supplements, horseshoe pads, wound treatment, thermometers, compounded medication, "therapeutic" magnets, and intraspinous injections. In addition to publishing his own work, Dr. Ramey has been a reviewer for several journals, including Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, the American Journal of Veterinary Research, Equine Veterinary Journal, and Australian Veterinary Journal, and he has been an editor for two issues of the Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice.
As an internationally recognized advocate for the application of science to medicine, Dr. Ramey has been a frequent critic of practices that lack good evidence, such as the diverse therapies collectively known as “alternative” medicine, needless nutritional supplementation, and conventional therapies that lack scientific support. Dr. Ramey’s papers advocating evidence-based medicine and reviewing alternative therapies (specifically acupuncture, chiropractic, herbs, homeopathy, lasers, and magnets) have been published in many journals, including Australian Veterinary Journal, BMJ, Canadian Veterinary Journal, Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association, Rheumatology, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice, and Veterinary Record. In total, Dr. Ramey has had over 70 papers published in peer-reviewed professional journals.
Dr. Ramey has lectured on various topics at 6 universities and professional conventions around the United States, as well as Canada, Australia, and the UK. He has presented at the annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention 12 times, most recently in 2017. Other professional conferences where he has been invited to speak include the Annual Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Conference, Annual Meeting of the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB), American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Annual Convention, Alberta Horse Conference, Bain-Fallon Conference on Equine Medicine and Surgery (Australia), International Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine Network (EBVM) Conference, and International Hoof Care Summit. He has also instructed in 2 post graduate courses on the navicular bone and on lameness diagnostic techniques.
Dr. Ramey has 15 total years of experience volunteering on various committees and task forces for the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and the National Library of Medicine (NLM). He currently serves as the District 5 Representative on the Los Angeles Equine Advisory Committee (LAEAC) for the City of Los Angeles. He has also been the chiarman of the Academy of Magical Arts Golf Committee, responsible for orgranzing the annual Golf Tournament event, a fundraiser for the Dai Vernon Foundation.
With a passion for educating the public, Dr. Ramey has written 13 books for horse owners: The Concise Guide series on equine medical conditions (colic, tendon and ligament injuries, navicular syndrome, respiratory problems, nutrition, arthritis, laminitis, and medications and supplements), Equine Medical Encyclopedia, Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine Considered, A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Therapies in the Horse, Horse Feathers, and Snape’s The Anatomy of An Horse. He has written dozens of articles on equine medicine for national magazines such as Veterinary Practice News, The Horse, The Chronicle of the Horse, Horse Illustrated, and Equus. After being exposed to blogging by writing several entries for ScienceBasedMedicine.org, Dr. Ramey started his own independent blog, DoctorRamey.com, in 2011, and his site has gained the attention of the online horse world, with an average of 45,000 unique visitors monthly (Feb '16 - Feb '17) and 32,000 followers on Facebook (Aug 2019).
Dr. Ramey has been increasingly involved in equine welfare projects. He is an Affiliate of the University of California, Davis' International Animal Welfare Training Institute (IAWTI) and has trained animal welfare professionals and volunteers as well as shelter veterinarians and veterinary technicians for Los Angeles and Riverside Counties in California. He consults for the Santa Monica Animal Shelter, lectured at the Animal Care Conference in 2015, served on the AAEP's Equine Welfare Committee from 2010 to 2012, and contributed two chapters to the book Equine Welfare in 2011.
Dr. Ramey has 2 adult sons and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, horse, 2 dogs, rabbit, and snake. His non-horse hobbies include history, cooking, golfing, languages (working towards his JLPT N4 in Japanaese), and magic (magician member of the Academy of Magical Arts, Close-Up Gallery performer at the Magic Castle, and regular volunteer at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital).