This year will mark Dr. Brendan Furlong’s fifth Olympic Games.

His service to the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team began in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics and he has been a member of every World Championship, Olympic and Pan American delegation since. His contribution to the consistent medal-winning effort of the U.S. Team is profound. Most recently he attended to the Gold medal-winning team at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico where the U.S. horses and riders also scored Individual Silver and Bronze. Every horse completed the team portion of these games on their dressage score.

It was an historic first.

“Brendan is a horse person first and a holds a vet’s license second,” said Buck Davidson, Team Gold and Individual Bronze medal winner at the 2011 Pan American Games. “He knows that we spend every day with these horses and he asks a lot of questions. From how they’re eating to how they’re going. He knows that there is more to it than what he is seeing in the time he’s evaluating them. That’s his biggest asset: he’s a horse person. He’s very much hands-on rather than technology based. He’s the ultimate team player. He loves to be part of a team and help the U.S. win medals.”

Brendan is regularly accompanied on these trips by his wife, Dr. Wendy Leich. Wendy is a renowned veterinarian in her own right and has attended the previous three Olympic Games as the acupuncturist for the Eventing Team.

Where to find us in 2012

Brendan and Wendy, and their colleagues Dr. Margaret (Meg) Mullin and Dr. Jessica Stahle, will be based in Wellington, FL for the majority of the 2012 FTI International Winter Equestrian Festival. Their client book includes many of the best eventing horses, driving horses and show jumpers in the game. These clients frequently represent the United States at home and abroad and include the who’s who of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s teams.

“I’m very excited about this upcoming season particularly with it being an Olympic year,” said Brendan. “In addition to my work with the eventing team, I’m honored to be appointed to the vet panel for the show jumping selection process.”

Canadian Eventing Team veterinarian, Dr. Christiana Ober joined forces with B.W. Furlong and Associates in 2007 and together with Brendan and Dr. Lisa Casanella established another practice called Peak Performance Equine Veterinary Services in 2011. This practice operates out of Ocala, FL, servicing the mid-Atlantic region throughout the competition season. This flexibility allows Christiana and Lisa’s clients, who include members of the O’Connor Eventing Team and several top Canadian riders, access to their own veterinarians wherever they are training.

Meanwhile at the home base of Oldwick, NJ — the practice remains busy throughout the winter. Equine MRI of New Jersey is open year-round and frequently provides a valuable piece of the puzzle of lameness evaluation and diagnosis. MRI and regenerative medicine specialist, Dr. Sarah Gold, provides her services in New Jersey year-round as does Dr. Rachel Gardner, the Internal Medicine Specialist, who specializes in reproductive medicine,  foaling and high-risk pregnancies.

Very shortly, Dr. Misty Gray will be certified in Equine Chiropractic Medicine in addition to providing reproductive services in the New Jersey area.  We have the full-time services of a veterinarian dedicated to emergency medicine and dentistry in Dr. Emily Olson who also maintains weekend appointments to fit our clients’ schedules.

Introducing Furlong’s Healthy Horse

The fall of 2011 marked the inception of Furlong’s Healthy Horse — a service available exclusively to the clients of B.W. Furlong & Associates, Peak Performance Equine Services, and Equine MRI of NJ. Clients are now taking advantage of Furlong’s Healthy Horse, finding they have quick and easy online access to veterinary products. Furlong’s Healthy Horse offers prices that rival the large, generic, online businesses, but with the quality of service clients expect from the veterinarians and staff of our practices. This is an online equine health service unique in the industry, reserved for our clients. We take our relationships with our patients seriously and have designed this service to simplify their horse care program.

“We’ve been in business for three months and we’ve found that our clients like that our prices are comparable to large online pharmacies but that  we are faster in the delivery,” said Adam Furlong, Vice President of Furlong’s Healthy Horse. “We stand behind the products we carry and because of our unique client/veterinarian relationship we know exactly what is appropriate for your individual horse.”

Please click here to learn more about Furlong’s Healthy Horse and be sure to sign up for our bi-monthly newsletters which will include information about our practice and services, horse health and anecdotes about our travels throughout the horse community.

Be sure to check facebook and follow us @BWFurlongAssoc to stay up-to-date between newsletters.

Don’t miss the Equine Seminar for Horse Owners and Professionals on February 4th in New Jersey. Sign up here.

We wish you the best of luck in the 2012 season and look forward to helping you with all your horse health needs.