A popular equine dentist servicing Standardbreds in both Ontario and Quebec is fighting for his livelihood and his ability to practice.

Yves Jean works on horse teeth, and he's done so for more than 25 years. What he's not is a veterinarian, and that's the crux of why he's facing a fight from the Order of Veterinarians in Quebec. They feel his practice should be performed only by licensed vets, and commenced legal action. The courts have sided with Jean, for now, but the Order of vets has appealed the decision.

Jean notes that equine dentistry is not a specialization in Quebec, and future vets only receive seven to 10 hours of instruction on dentistry despite the mouth and dental structure not only being an extremely important part of a horse's health but a vital element of how well a Standardbred racehorse performs.

"We really observe the difference. We see horses that come here are all skinny. [Yves Jean] comes, and a month later, they are very fat," Geneviève Bastien of Stable DCGB told Le Journal de Montreal. "Before the judgement is rendered, it was very afraid [he could not practice]," she said.

One of the key issues for Jean is the matter of sedation, which he's not licensed to perform. He'd like the vets to work with him more to avoid what he considers "unnecessary competition" in the equine industry. In other jurisdictions, vets and equine dentists work together in the name of overall horse health.

"I want the students to learn from my experience."

The full article, originally published in French, is available here. An English-translated version provided through Google Translate is available here.