Easing horses’ silent suffering is Ana Rangel’s goal as she brings specialized expertise in pain management | Virginia Tech News

New veterinary college faculty member followed a winding road from Mexico City racetracks to equine medicine at Virginia Tech.  

The donkey arrived as a routine colic case, but Ana Rangel could see something wasn’t right. 

The patient showed signs that didn’t fit typical stomach pain. What followed was a complex medical puzzle spanning multiple organ systems. “The donkey had a lot of issues we discovered, from heart problems to kidney issues,” said Rangel, a new assistant professor in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. “We went through almost everything — neurology, cardiology, respiratory. It was a very challenging case, but I learned a lot.” 

Although not every case ends in recovery, each puzzle reinforces why Rangel chose internal medicine and brought her expertise from Mexico City to Virginia Tech, where she focuses on equine medicine, with a particular expertise in pain management — critical in a field where horses’ stoic nature often masks their suffering. 

The unexpected path to horses

Growing up in a family of engineers, marketers, and designers, she was “the weirdo in my family” and had no farm background. 

Her parents, seeking an outlet for their hyperactive daughter, tried every sport imaginable before horses finally captured her interest.

“I got my first horse when I was around 14 years old, and it was a game changer for me,” Rangel said. “I started getting good grades at school because I knew I had to have good grades so I could have some time to see my horse.” 

Horses also introduced her to veterinary medicine. 

“Horses love to get sick all the time, so we ended up in the hospital a couple of times because of colic,” she said. “I was pretty amazed by the hospital and how everything worked.”

That fascination led her to veterinary school in Mexico, where she graduated in 2018. She then worked in private practice and academia, including private practice and racetrack medicine in Mexico City, Veterinary College of Louisiana State University and Washington State University. The experience taught her to navigate different budgets and expectations—lessons that would prove crucial when she later developed cost-effective pain management solutions.

Reading faces that don’t speak 

Animal welfare drives Rangel’s passion for internal medicine. “I prioritize welfare and minimize pain in horses,” she said. “They’re sensitive creatures. They don’t tell you anything, but you learn to read their expressions.”

Horses’ inability to communicate pain makes internal medicine challenging and rewarding. “It’s rewarding seeing a horse arrive super painful with that face — they don’t know what’s happening — then watching them go home as a different horse.”

In equine internal medicine, practitioners handle everything surgical that cannot be treated: neurology, cardiology, and dermatology. Unlike small animal medicine, which has developed specialized fields, horse medicine is divided between surgery and internal medicine, making internists like Rangel true generalists.