Ed Note: “Letters from Laughing Oak Farm” is a new Op Ed column which will appear on a regular basis. It’s written by Sue Beal, a veterinarian who gravitated toward holistic treatments. In future columns she’ll be dealing with everything from herbal medicines to feeds to weeds, but we thought it would be a good idea if she began by introducing herself with a little background.

It Was Only Natural

My folks tell me I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was two.

I was working for a veterinarian before I was fourteen - he was in the first veterinary acupuncture class held at Purdue in the early 1970s,... and so when I applied to veterinary school it was with the intent of practicing acupuncture. One thing led to another,... and I very quickly began using more and more of the more traditional healing arts in my practice.

My work is primarily based on the philosophy and practice of homeopathy - in the fullest sense of the experience. I also provide referral craniosacral therapy and also a considerably smaller amount of osseous chiropractic care.

Homeopathy made sense to me - the energetic medicine part of it was easy for me to comprehend, the philosophy sound and universal with no need to change the rules for each and every situation, and the fullness (in every sense) of the responses to treatment continue to encourage me.

My practice, though never static, is now is a combination of clinical medicine (hands on and some telephone consultation), teaching and writing (primarily about homeopathy and craniosacral therapy) for both professionals and non-professionals, mentoring other clinicians, studying both on my own and in more formal settings, and,....

The caseload is varied - small animals and horses just about equally (depending a bit on the season) with a about a third of my time dedicated to food producing animals, small ruminants, and whatever's left. I spend a fair bit of time working with folks and their local food supply, as well as encouraging thriving small family farms.

It’s a practice that involves common sense medicine and management, offering care based on natural medicines - particularly homeopathy, clinical nutrition, herbal remedies - optimal nutrition and avoidance of chemical and manipulative pharmaceutical products.

The idea is to avoid crisis management by steady observation and assessment of the individuals, looking for those subtle and minor shifts that indicate all is not well, and to intervene at that point, rather than wait until the situation escalates.

I also provide the caregivers and farmers tools with which they can manage many situations on their own. The most important tools are a keen eye and an understanding of the natural ecology and economy of the individuals and species under their care – there is no medicine in the world that can surpass that.

The clinic is simple, located in a town of a couple of hundred people - an hundred year old, quirky two-story building that was once the local general store, though it had incarnations as a motor cycle shop and a evangelical church that splintered when the congregation brought in the arsenic and rattlesnakes. It's nothing fancy, but has a pretty peaceful sense about it.

I work alone - the answering machine and my big dog, Olaf, and me.

In the past I've said that I'd like to have a completely non-speciated practice - we'll see how that evolves over time,..

I live at a lovely place – Laughing Oak Farm - in a small funky old trailer house I'm slowly renovating. The property and energy there is great - almost twenty-five acres, half in the woods with rocks and a creek and trees and half in the more open of old farmland that has been left fallow for decades. I'm slowly working to reclaim the pastures, do some woodlot management and integrate some largely biodynamic/holistic management fundamentals into my farm and the nearly forty acres I have leased. In addition to lots of wild life, including a good-sized bear who lives in the hemlocks below the house, I've a small flock of Jacob sheep.

Pretty simple, really - and it feels odd to write this. Mostly I just keep my head down and try and do the simple, good work.

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