By Shaun McKinnon | The Arizona Republic
Dr. Tim Patterson planted his feet on the ground next to Lexi, an 11-year-old Arabian horse. He dug his hands into Lexi’s back and pushed. Hard.
He leaned into it, looking like a frustrated rider trying to coax his stubborn mount back on the trail — or perhaps a country prankster out tipping livestock.
He changed positions, arranging his hands on Lexi’s hip. He pushed. The horse shifted one leg but held her ground, even when another horse in the stable whinnied. Patterson finished the adjustment and retrieved a plastic box from a silver SUV, the office on wheels for his practice as a holistic veterinarian.
Like the town horse doctor in Arizona’s past, Patterson makes stable calls, easing concerns for owners about how to get a sick horse in for a checkup. But unlike those frontier vets, Patterson administers decidedly non-Western remedies, turning instead to Eastern-influenced techniques such as acupuncture, homeopathy and chiropractic.
