Equine Services

General

VISITS
Most of our equine work is carried out on visits to your premises. However, we do also have facilities at the practice to hospitalise your horse for more involved procedures, including radiography (x-rays), ultrasound, endoscopy, and surgical procedures (under either sedation or general anaesthesia).

PREVENTATIVE
1. VACCINATION - as with most other domestic species, horses are susceptible to various diseases, some of which we are, fortunately, able to vaccinate against. The two diseases that horses are immunised against in the UK are tetanus and equine influenza. Various other vaccines are available and used less frequently, most notably of which is equine herpes virus vaccine (generally used to vaccinate brood mares to protect against herpes abortion). Protocols for vaccination depend on previous vaccination history, intended use of the horse, and management conditions - one of our vets will be able to advise you on the most appropriate schedule for your animal or animals.

2. WORMING - worming horses can be a very confusing subject, with so many different products available, and numerous different worms to consider. Our vets are able to give you up-to-date information and advice about the best worming protocol for your horse or horses. We are also able to perform worm egg counts (WECs) at the practice, enabling us to monitor the efficacy of your worming protocol, and make any adjustments that might be necessary.

3. RASPING TEETH - all horses are likely to need some dental attention at some point in their life, and as prevention is better than cure, we would advise that routine rasping is a good way of preventing painful conditions developing in the first place. A general rasping at the time of vaccination is often a good way of achieving this. It is also worth bearing dental disease in mind if your horse seems to resent the bit, or is uncomfortable 'going forward'. As well as the standard manual rasping equipment, we also have various powered rasps to enable us to deal with the more severe dental deformities that can occur.

MICROCHIPPING

All horses registered with Weatherbys now have to be microchipped at registration. However, it is not just Thoroughbreds that are eligible for microchipping - more and more people are realising the benefit of having their horse microchipped. It is a quick and easy procedure to perform, and provides a simple, reliable way in which to identify a horse. If a horse is microchipped by a veterinary surgeon then there is no need for a vet or authorised identifier to draw the horse on the passport application - the vet merely has to scan the microchip, and sign the application form to confirm that the chip is in place. The identifying marks can then be drawn by you, the owner.

STUD WORK

The practice serves the needs of several local studs and private horse breeders, offering ultrasound services for pregnancy diagnosis, and monitoring of the reproductive cycle, in an effort to maximise fertility. We also have plenty of experience in the field of artificial insemination using both chilled and frozen semen. Please feel free to contact the surgery if you would like to discuss equine stud work with us in more detail.

PRE-PURCHASE EXAMINATION (PPE, OR 'VETTING')

We are always pleased to examine horses prior to purchase to establish soundness, both within our practice area, and, with prior notice, further afield. We will even travel overseas if necessary!

Diagnostic and Surgical

ANALYSIS OF BLOOD SAMPLES

The practice has haematology, biochemistry, and electrolyte analysis machines. We can use these to quickly and accurately obtain information about red and white blood cell counts, organ function, and electrolyte disturbances, which can be useful in the diagnosis of certain conditions.

ULTRASONOGRAPHY

Unlike in small animals, ultrasound in horses is most commonly used either to diagnose the presence of disease or injury within soft tissue structures of the legs (for example flexor tendon core lesions), or in stud work as described above. At White Lodge Veterinary Clinic we have a high quality ultrasound machine which enables us to obtain excellent images of equine limb soft tissue structures to aid in the diagnosis of lameness, and to monitor the efficacy of treatment. Because the machine is not portable we always perform these scans at the surgery, in one of our large loose boxes.

DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY

Digital radiography is becoming increasingly popular amongst veterinary practices as it enables superior image manipulation and analysis, sharing of radiographs ('x-rays') with referral specialists, and reviewing of images from the database at the click of a mouse. We can also develop digital radiographs more quickly than conventional films, enabling us to take a series of x-rays in a much shorter period of time than was previously possible. We do have a portable x-ray machine and therefore can, in emergencies, take, develop, and analyse x-rays 'on-site' at your stable; however, in general we arrange for you to bring your horse in where we can take a series of x-rays quickly and accurately with the option to pursue other avenues of investigation as necessary.

PERINEURAL AND INTRA-ARTICULAR ANAESTHESIA ('NERVE & JOINT BLOCKS')

We see a large number of horses at the surgery for investigation of lameness, which will almost always involve nerve blocks, and, less commonly, joint blocks, to enable us to localise the site of the lameness, and narrow down the area of focus for further investigations such as radiography or ultrasound scans.

ANAESTHESIA

As well as our three loose boxes, we also have an equine operating theatre which allows us to perform general anaesthesia on all sizes of horse or pony, from Miniature Shetland to Shire! We are able to offer general anaesthesia for horses and ponies such that we may perform surgical operations that would not be feasible with the horse awake or even heavily sedated, and would otherwise necessitate referral elsewhere.

ELECTROSURGERY

A cutting and sealing probe allows rapid, almost blood-free surgery in many surgical sites, particularly useful for minimally invasive surgical procedures via a 'key-hole' approach.

LASER SURGERY

We have a CO2 laser that enables us to remove equine skin masses under standing sedation and local anaesthetic, with minimal haemorrhage and pain.

ENDOSCOPY

Endoscopy in horses is particularly useful for the investigation of airway disease, including that affecting the soft palate, guttural pouches, epiglottis, larynx, and lower (small) airways. We can also use the endoscope to perform tracheal washes, which enable us to collect a sample of the mucus in a horse's airways, which we can then analyse under the microscope and incubate for bacterial culture. We have also recently bought a video gastroscope (a 3 metre-long endoscope), which enables examination of the lining of the stomach to check for the presence of gastric ulceration (a cause of poor performance in race horses in particular).