Anastasia Keyser, DVM, eschews the word “amazing” as a description of her accomplishments. “Dedicated” is the Arizona veterinarian and eventer’s preferred adjective for her work with horses throughout her life.
The eight horses she keeps and cares for and those owned by clients at Chaparral Veterinary Medical Center in Arizona are a small percent of the equine lives she impacts. Dr. Keyser has rescued and rehomed horses for over 20 years. And she recently took her third week-long trip to help working equids and those who care for them in third world countries.
“I have always had a passion for helping horses,” she explains. “Basically, my whole life revolves around them.”
The Equitarian Initiative
Just before bringing two horses to compete in Galway Downs’ upcoming August Horse Trials, Dr. Keyser went to Guatemala with the Equitarian Initiative. Their mission is to provide immediate care for working horses, donkeys and mules and to educate their owners and caregivers so they can provide better care over time. Educating Guatemalan veterinary students to ensure sustainability of care is another goal. Over 30 students were expected to be part of the late July week.
The Equitarian group of volunteer veterinarians, vet techs, farriers and other care givers sets up shop in typically very remote locations, with word of their coming spread throughout the community in advance. The equids are evaluated on arrival, then sent to an appropriate station for farrier work, a pack fitting session, dental work, etc.
Equitarian’s invention of an inexpensive castration tool is an example of how the organization and its veterinarians meet the challenges faced in low-income countries.
“We may think nothing of a $400 piece of equipment for castration, but in countries like that, an individual veterinarian can’t necessarily afford that,” Dr. Keyser explains. “Equitarian developed a surgical tool for that that is easy to use and inexpensive to buy.”
Horses are largely for fun here in the United States. But in non-industrialized countries, horses, donkeys and mules are critical to families’ livelihoods and to the whole economy.
“Sustainability is a big goal of the program,” Dr. Keyser says. “When we’ve gone in the past, the reception has been good. The owners have to take time off from the needs of their daily life, but they are there waiting in line to get care for their animals and to learn about caring for them after we leave.”
This will be Dr. Keyser’s second trip to Guatemala and she’s also done similar volunteer work in Nicaragua.
Hope For Horses
The veterinarian’s Equitarian work builds on 20 years of rescue work through Hope For Horses Equine Rescue. Since its establishment in Texas in 2003, the rescue and sanctuary has taken in over 500 horses. Dr. Keyser continues to take on at-risk horses at her Arizona farm, but on a smaller scale than the effort she continues to supervise in Texas. She also serves on the board of several volunteer rescue organizations.
“You’d be really surprised at the type of horses that need to be rescued,” she shares. “Everyone thinks it’s the throw-aways, the crippled ones, but it’s not always that. At one point, I took in a lot of PMU (Pregnant Mare Urine) mares and foals out of Canada. These were babies who hadn’t even started their life yet. In other cases, it’s circumstances changing or bad situations that are no fault of the horses.”
Finding suitable adopters is a reward of rescue work, the veterinarian asserts. “People often assume I want to keep the horses myself, but I get more joy in finding them the right home.” While horse adoptions – and pet adoptions in general – were strong during the pandemic, today’s economy is reversing that trend. “There’s definitely an uptick in people concerned about paying for their animals and of people not wanting their older horses.”
Success In the Saddle
After travelling to and within Guatemala, Dr. Keyser’s six-hour drive to Temecula will hopefully be a breeze. She’ll be hauling two 6-year-olds, Wesley and Hero’s Quest, to run in the Senior Novice Rider and Open Beginner Novice divisions, respectively.
Dr. Keyser has ridden her whole life. She switched from hunter/jumpers to eventing four years ago and continues to excel on homebreds and youngsters she brings along herself.
Last year was a high point results-wise. Dr. Keyser is the US Eventing Association Area X’s 2022 Adult Amateur of the Year and Rider of the Year, and another of her 6-year-olds, Bellatrix, won Horse Of The Year.
COVID and an injury prevented Dr. Keyser and her most seasoned partner, Samson, from contesting the American Eventing Championships the first two years they qualified. The fates aligned in 2022. She finished 9th in the Novice-Novice Rider standings, with Samson. He’s a 20-year-old Appaloosa who now enjoys retiree life at her home farm.
Bellatrix finished as reserve champion among 29 starters in the Novice-Amateur Championships. The great finish supports Dr. Keyser’s prediction that the 6-year-old Appaloosa/Appendix Quarter Horse has FEI potential.
Doing What’s Best For The Horse
“Being an equine vet and competing, it’s not uncommon to work a long day, get home at 9 pm and turn the lights on and start riding,” Dr. Keyser shares. “That’s especially true because I have young horses and we have goals for these shows. The horses can’t just sit on the bench.”
Affordability played a part in Dr. Keyser breeding most of her own horses, and the emotional rewards involved justify the investment of time and patience. “There is something really special about breeding them myself – birthing them out, raising them, the whole route.” Even knowing the dam and researching the sire, however, there’s no guarantees about the outcome. “Ultimately, I get what I get and I work with what I have.”
Working with what she has in her horses aligns with Dr. Keyser’s guiding principle – doing what’s best for the horse. It applies when she’s caring for a patient, advising an owner or deciding on goals for her own horses.
Dr. Keyser is that unusual eventer who loves dressage – to the point that she often competes in open dressage competition. She enjoys the challenges. “Until you get into the upper levels, eventing dressage is not that demanding. I was able to take Samson to Third Level, whereas he doesn’t jump high enough to be able to do that level of dressage in eventing.
“Some of my friends call me the DQ (Dressage Queen) because I tend to get good dressage scores,” she continues. “That’s because I care about dressage. Having a rideable horse carries through to all the phases.”
Dr. Keyser trains with Frederic Bouland for stadium and cross-country jumping and with Paula Paglia for dressage. She hauls her horses in for lessons regularly and is comfortable progressing on her own in between.
The veterinarian is closely tied to Area X. She’s based at Chaparral Veterinary Medical Center in Cave Creek, where Dr. Martin Crabo is a co-owner. When Dr. Crabo and Barb Crabo’s talented daughter Jordan moved East to continue her equestrian career, Dr. Keyser inherited Dr. Crabo’s longtime role of on-call vet at several Area X shows as he spent more time following Jordan.
Care Advances
It’s an exciting time to be a sporthorse veterinarian, Dr. Keyser reports. MRI, nuclear scintigraphy, biologics and multiple uses of ultrasound technology are among the relatively new diagnostic and treatment tools available.
Wearing her competitor’s hat, she knows that no amount of technology will replace good horsemanship. “It’s always important to do what’s best for the horse. We shouldn’t get so caught up in the competition and what we want to accomplish that we overlook what’s best for the horse.
“That being said, we’ve made so many advances. We can keep a lot of horses sound and going well for a long time. We just have to be smart about it.”
Learn more about the Equitarian Initiative here.
Learn more about Hope For Horses Equine Rescue here.