Equine News

We promote equine health and performance, doing a range of work from routine care, lameness, dentistry work, emergency surgical procedures to vettings and equine passports. We work closely with referral cases, farriers and physiotherapists to ensure the best of treatment for all our equine patients.

Please click on link below to see our latest equine newsletter

September 2007 Newsletter page 1

September 2007 Newsletter page 2

A reminder that all horses, ponies and donkeys MUST have an official passport.

Horse Passport Regulation

Tetanus and Flu vaccinations are vital for horses, both are available in separate vaccinations or as a combined vaccine. Please remember to check your vaccination card for the show season.

Vaccination Regime

Spring is the traditional time to worm your horses with a product effective against tapeworm, we keep a stock of horse wormers at competitive prices at both surgeries and can offer worm egg counts at £6.42 excluding VAT and free worming advice.

Worming your horse

Autumn is a good time to think about preparing your horse for the winter ahead, if they haven’t been checked recently are his/her teeth OK? Horses may graze happily all summer but struggle with the more fibrous hay over winter if their teeth need rasping.

Ultrasound scanning can be used in horses to detect pregnancy and also can be used to detect tendon injuries. This is a huge advantage as not only can we see the exact site of injury, but also show if it has healed or not. A lot of tendon injuries recur because the horse is worked too soon and the use of the scanner avoids this.

Advance in Ultrasound

Colic - In horses suffering from colic, where blood supply to parts of the gut has become compromised, toxins which are normally only found within the gut contents can make their way into the bloodstream of the horse; this is called endotoxemia.  Endotoxaemia can cause severe clinical signs that complicate the horse's recovery from surgery and can even lead to the death of the horse.  If you think your horse has colic please contact us straight away.

Donkeys get colic too - Donkeys suffer from many types of colic similar to those seen in horses.  However colic due to impaction, predominantly of the large colon, is responsible for over half the colic episodes seen at the Donkey Sanctuary, UK.
There are some important differences between donkeys and horses, one of which is their response to abdominal pain.  Donkeys appear to be more stoical than horses and rarely demonstrate the violent symptoms of rolling etc. until the disease is severe or advanced.  The initial clinical signs are often general dullness and inappetance.  The facility rates in donkeys with impactions are reportedly much higher than in horses and this may be due to the delay in detecting the impaction due to lack of clinical signs.  There is also a higher prevalence of secondary hyperlipaemia in donkeys and this also decreases their chance of survival.

As with all types of colic in horses and donkeys the ultimate aim is to prevent the colic occurring at all.