Leith Ryan and a smiling patient.

Leith Ryan, the singing horse dentist

By Suzy Jarratt

Equine dentist Leith Ryan has not only tended to the teeth of some of Europe’s finest horses, he has worked with pioneering Aussie rock bands and still plays the blues and country music.

We have all heard of singing cowboys, who were so popular in early westerns. Singing barbers always attracted an audience, as did a Belgian nun, and we must not forget Jud Arthur, the opera singing farrier from New Zealand. But, until Leith Ryan, there has never been a singing horse dentist.

“I treat the horses for my heart and I play music for my soul,” lyrically proclaims Leith, who divides his time between living and working in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and Rekingen, Switzerland.

His affection for horses had begun when he was given a Shetland pony while living in Redfern, Sydney. “I was six and wore a Hopalong Cassidy outfit,” he recalls. A fascination for horses’ teeth all started when watching a breaker named Harry work with young racehorses at Warwick Farm...

Read the full article in the June issue of Equestrian Life here!