Planning to set up an equine dentistry business

Virginia Girolami, a 21-year-old American veterinary technician, works hard to secure her future with horses


Virginia Girolami found little opportunity for growth when she looked for work after graduating from Northern Virginia Community College, certified as a veterinary technician.

Many farmers and vets handle the work she would be hired to do, such as giving vaccines. So she decided to specialise.

With two zero-interest credit cards and acceptance into equine dentistry school, Girolami plans to open her own business, Upper Cusp Equine Dentistry, in April this year.

Girolami's parents - her mother owns an animal-sitting service, her father a masonry firm - gave her the confidence to start her business. But first, she had to overcome a big obstacle related to her age.

Girolami, 21, was denied a small-business loan by First Union bank because she had not established much credit, and she did not want her parents to co-sign a loan. "Who starts a business with a loan co-signed by their parents?'' she said. The bank could offer only a few thousand dollars.

So she applied for, and received, two interest-free credit cards, both with $10,000 limits. She plans to pay $500 toward each card monthly until the debt is paid.

She used the cards to buy $10,000 worth of equipment, pay $5,000 for dental-school tuition and allotted about $3,000 for advertising. The idea is to set up everything before she leaves for dentistry school in February and start the business when she returns in April.

Girolami will attend the American School of Equine Dentistry, run by veterinarian Raymond Hyde of Purcellville, Virginia, U.S., who has practised equine dentistry for 21 years. The four-week course is being offered in New Zealand because there is a high level of interest there, Hyde said.

Many people who practise equine dentistry do so without schooling. It is legal, but some practitioners prefer schooling in addition to an apprenticeship. Girolami has apprenticed with Hyde and Leslie Houston, another equine dentist in the area.

Hyde said more qualified equine dentists are needed in the area, and he thinks Girolami will succeed.

"She is very interested in doing it and is very good with animals,'' he said. "She has a history of working with large and small animals, she has worked with vets and is very enthusiastic.''

To supplement her business credit cards, Girolami is busier than most people. She works at a barn seven days a week, waits tables in the evenings, works at Great Country Farms in season and works for her mother almost every day. Girolami, who grew up in Bluemont, said she hopes to find clients through her years of making friends and contacts.

She said word of mouth among horse owners counts more than advertising.

"If one person gives you a chance in Loudoun County, you're set,'' she said. "I'm scared that people are going to say, 'But she's only 21.' But I went to school and worked my butt off. That has to be worth something.''

Now she just has to do what she considers the fun part: learn more. She will dive into her business as soon as the programme, and a few weeks of vacation, are finished.

"At first, I was so scared, but now it's just exciting,'' she said, as she massaged the gums of Weltkind, a large Hanoverian at the barn where she works. "By May of next year, I might be the happiest woman in the world.''

© Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service