Nucla High School senior Merrilee Gallagher will give her Pinhead Institute presentation on Sept. 24 at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, in a showcase that happens from 6 to 9 p.m. Gallagher will give highlights of her experience in interning at Outlaw Equine, in Decatur, TX, an ICU and rehabilitation facility for horses. She was there mid-July to mid-August, via the Pinhead Institute, a Smithsonian affiliate.
Gallagher is a lover of all things equine, and though she doesn’t own a horse, she took riding lessons as a little girl and now works for Jubilee Stables in Norwood. She’s been interested in equine science and veterinary medicine, and the “Pinternship” was very telling for Gallagher.
After spending four weeks immersed in emergent care, she’s not sure she wants to commit to seeking a vet degree. At the same time, her love for horses has only been bolstered.
There at Outlaw, she worked in the ICU side, not the rehab side. She helped other interns and the medical professionals treat horses for various acute conditions. She helped run catheters for horses with colic. She worked with wound injuries and abscesses, sometimes using hydrotherapy and herbal sprays. Once she helped apply maggots to an infected wound, so the dead tissue could be eaten. And, she helped treat a baby donkey and its dam, both of which had strangles. Catching foals who needed oral medications sometimes took a total of four people. All of this was happening in the Texas heat, which exceeded 100 degrees typically.
Though she didn’t directly help with euthanasia, it was a part of the practice for equines that couldn’t be saved.
Just arriving there was big for Gallagher. In fact, she’d never flown before and took her first plane ride, landing in Dallas. Other interns helped her get to the grocery to buy food she had to prepare for herself. She lived with a group of other interns in an apartment, learning what it means to be a self-responsible adult.
Being away from her family was the hardest; she spoke with her mom daily.
She said her managers and doctors were nice. She made friends with some of the interns there too.
She still wants to have a life that includes horses or a horse business, but she’s thinking of majoring in business now, to learn to own and operate her own boarding facility. She’d like to minor in equine science.
“It was mind-blowing,” she said. “It opened my mind to different opportunities that I haven’t seen before. I’m so used to being in a rural town. I’d never have seen that type of facility and all those horses. It was a lot.”
Gallagher, who was also homeschooled until she entered public school in 10th grade, said she’s definitely more confident in herself after the Pinternship. She’s now looking at colleges on the East Coast, some in New England, one in Florida and others. She’s ready to book additional airfare to go and do some college visits.
Nucla principal Sara Bray said she’s proud of the young woman.
“She has worked really hard and done some great things,” she told the Forum, adding that Gallagher is also a Chang-Chavkin Scholar.
Gallagher, through the Chang-Chavkin Scholarship program, will receive $60,000 to use at any college of her choice, along with four years of support services, advising and tutoring help.
“She's really doing great things, and we are so proud of her,” Bray said.
