Richmond River Equine Veterinary Services

03/09/2024

Hey lovely clients
Just a heads up that I will be away from this afternoon Wed 4th September until the 16th September.
During this time I will be having a bit of a much needed phone detox as well so I can come back recharged 🙏 We have been incredibly busy and very much needing a break to spend with my family ❤️
Please keep any messages/calls that aren’t urgent until after this time if possible 🙏 & if you have an emergency contact one of the other wonderful local vets in the area.
Thanks for your support as always ❤️

11/08/2024

Happpyyy birthday to our one and only beautiful Nerissa.
How awesome it is to work with one of your best friends everyday.
We are so grateful to have Nerissa with her amazing positive and hardworking attitude, beautiful caring nature for animals and people, and her fun loving spirit. Jaxy and I would be lost without her ! Nerissa is always thinking of others, and coming up with ideas on how we can help our clients more and everyone in the community, especially with the massive role she played in feeding so many animals during the floods (saving many lives!)
Nerissa didn’t blink an eye this year when her role doubled as vet nurse + wet nurse haha and am forever grateful for how she cares for Jaxy too (and me haha).
Hope you have the best day ever cause you deserve it and I hope we eventually get to go on our much needed holiday 🤣🤣🤣❤️❤️❤️

08/08/2024

These photos we took after an extraction today are so cool because it shows how feed trapping in a diastema can slowly make its way down to the tooth root and cause infection.
This middle aged horse had multiple diastemas (gaps between teeth) that feed was packing in. We have done some diastema burring between other teeth to reduce the occurrence of feed packing and hopefully save them from being extracted down the track !
Dental work on horses is so much more than just rasping down sharp points 🙏

08/08/2024

Gelding day today! Thanks Kita and Nerissa - we can do with seeing you less frequently now! 🤣
Pictured is 𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚 (𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 x 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐒𝐇)

08/08/2024

This filly has been a bright spark in a tough week ❤️ fought some very low odds, but with a very dedicated owner and a strong will she is finally standing and suckling on her own. Great to have the opportunity to perform some gold standard care in the field and have a positive outcome 🙏❤️ Cases like these are what makes me fall in love with my job again ❤️

07/06/2024

Love working with wonderful businesses & clients like these ! Danielle is so passionate and one of the loveliest people you would ever meet. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her if you know of anyone needing equine therapy ❤️ 🐴 🫏

Thanks to Nikita and Nerissa-Richmond River Equine Veterinary Services

06/06/2024

Gives a new definition to “long in the tooth”.
Horses teeth erupt continuously over their lifetime, and they develop sharp points that need filing back (usually at least yearly).

Lots of people ask “Well what about brumbies?”
We saw many brumby skulls in our studies at uni, they were rarely over the age of 10, and their teeth were incredibly sharp and overgrown. So despite a “natural diet and surroundings” this still occurs and is a major problem for welfare.

Remember, if your dentist can’t show you every detail inside your horses mouth, how can they see what they are doing ?

This fella will be feeling lots better after removing 50% of this tooth that was continuously cutting the gum below when chewing, the remainder will hopefully be able to come off in 3 months time so he can chew efficiently again 🙏

05/06/2024

We work together with lots of amazing businesses, these two are always so professional and great to work with, as well as so incredibly caring for our beautiful horses !

This lucky boy was picked up today by to go to to enjoy a beautiful retirement. He is usually a bit scared to load but was so relaxed with Cass !
Horse heaven waiting for him at Okey Dokey with Kylie :)

Thanks team ❤️

09/01/2024

So many embarrassed horses because I’m forever asking for poo photos ! 🤣

Gut health is so important in our equine buddies 👍 and you can tell a lot from a 💩 !

08/01/2024

Mini foal kisses - my favourite ❤️
Only just fitting into my work shirts now 🤣

22/12/2023

It’s been a pleasure looking after your horses this past year, with our 2nd year in business.

Very much looking forward to the 3rd and many many more !

Thanks to all our lovely clients & especially for all the beautiful well wishes, gifts and love in advance of our new arrival next year. ❤️

We wish you all a very safe and enjoyable holiday time ! 🎄

We will be around if any emergencies arise & hours are below ❤️🎄

Xx Nikita

0459594753

20/12/2023

*Sold - Thankyou everyone *

19/12/2023

Narelle is fantastic if anyone needing some physio/osteo help with their horses, especially those with kissing spines & hind limb lameness that we have diagnosed - this is a great opportunity to get some training with exercises & getting your horse moving more correctly 🙏

13/12/2023

You wouldn’t believe this is the same pastern but after many months of treatment this is a result we have had on a sarcoid that very nearly seemed hopeless in the beginning !

The owner and I are incredibly grateful for the expertise of Equine Medical solutions in the UK who were able to prescribe and help us import the medication not currently available in Australia to treat this, as well as provide specialist advice throughout the entire treatment process.

He is also very lucky to have such a committed owner who wanted nothing more than to see him better ❤️

This boy is certainly enjoying being cancer free & is totally sound 🙏🙌

Sarcoids can get out of hand very quickly, and can be very dangerous in certain locations so don’t hesitate to call your vet for advice if you notice a new lump or bump on your pony 🐴 I’m

11/12/2023

Travel dates available for travel cost sharing before Chrissy 🥳

10/12/2023

Can you spot the twin 16 day embryos in this video ???

It is very important to scan mares 14-16 days post ovulation so we are able to check for twins ! Twins unfortunately don’t carry well in horses so we have to crush one under ultrasound guidance. We were able to do this successfully in this mare & still have one healthy pregnancy remaining 🙌

30/11/2023

This is just one reason why antibiotics cannot be given free access and should only be prescribed when absolutely required 🙏 the scary thought is we may not have them for much longer 😬

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Heartbroken pic for a Microbiologist 💔

It shows how much sensitive a bacterial species against several types of antibiotic. Clear zone indicate that, that specific antibiotic can kill that bacteria. First picture shows that in 1991, a bacterial species were sensitive against several types of antibiotic, but in 2nd pic (2021), it shows, that particular bacterial species become resistance Against those antibiotic, only two antibiotic now can kill that bacteria!

29/11/2023

Well the cats mostly out of the bag now ! But if you haven’t seen me in the last few months you may not know that Jai & I are expecting our first baby boy in Feb 2024 🥳🥳

We are so excited & feel so incredibly blessed !

Rest assured that RREVS will be continuing - luckily for us we have an amazing family & friend support system.

Due to our fantastic mobile crush (thanks Oliver Liyou!) I am able to keep working safely as long as I am able to physically up till the birth, then post birth will take 6-8 weeks off routine work to bond with our little man 🥰 before transitioning back into work as much as we are able to happily 🙂

As we have capped our clientele and radius for new clients for much of this year I feel this will be manageable 😎

I will aim to cover most emergencies during the post birth time as long as I am able to, if I can’t make it there are a few other fantastic local vets around 🙏

Appointments here at the clinic will certainly be prioritised & appreciated during the transition! We also have a big discount for clinic appointments 😁
Prescribed medications can be picked up from our base.
Appointments with our awesome nurse Nerissa & phone consults are available too if appropriate 🙏

I want to thank our amazing clients so much for their understanding and support during this exciting time so far and going forward, and we look forward to you all getting to meet our newest team member when he arrives 🥰

23/11/2023

Making horse feeding simple ! An educational series

#2- Red flags on feed labels

* Contains cereal by-products - many feed products contain low quality cereals such as “mill mix” -> I.e. floor sweepings from the mill -> or will not say exactly what grains are included. Just stating ‘cereal grains’ is not good enough in my opinion. The type of grain as well as the method of cooking is very important and can have a huge impact on the gut microbiome ! The true reality is most horses do not need any grain in their diet however.

* States protein meal instead of stating what protein is used. Again this is often used to hide lower quality proteins that are prevalent in the feeds.

* Stating ‘cool feed, laminitis safe, or low GI, or low starch’ but containing grains ? Any feed containing any amount of grain is certainly not laminitis safe and cannot be classed as a ‘cool feed’.

Check out the labels on your feed bags and see if you can identify any of these red flags!

Let us know what you find in your feed! Please avoid mentioning the name of the feed as we are not here to bash certain brands but to educate everyone on making their own great feeding decisions !

Please post any questions below and I will do my best to respond 🥰

Happy Horsing!
Dr Nikita Stibbard
Director/Senior Veterinarian
Richmond River Equine Veterinary Services

08/11/2023

Nikita’s phone is back in action, please bare in mind that we may have missed your calls /texts and they may not come through - if you don’t hear back from us call or text again 🙂

06/11/2023

Making horse feeding simple - an educational series

#1 - Common mistakes made when feeding horses

* Feeding grain when not required.

Most horses do not require ANY grain to be fed. I have had racehorses successfully racing “and winning!” on nearly completely grain free diets. There may be odd exceptions to this, but you really need to consider whether your horse needs to be fed grain when their gut was developed purely to process fibre ! The amount of energy (ATP) they are able to produce from fibre is astounding.

- Feeding multiple complete feeds or the incorrect quantity of a complete feed.

If choosing to feed complete feeds (a premix), you must ensure you are feeding the correct amount on the label to ensure your horse is receiving the proper amount of vitamins/minerals. You also need to consider if the vitamins/minerals are appropriate for your pastures in your region as you may need to add things like calcium, salt and more. I often see people feeding small amounts of 3 different types of premixes and the vitamin and mineral content is very difficult to determine in this case ! Plus you are likely over feeding and wasting your money.

- Feeding large quantities of feed & too much chaff.

Chaff can be great when helping feed to move through the gut more slowly and effectively, but may not be necessary if you are also feeding your horse hay at the time of feeding. Large feeds are never indicated & can lead to colic so try to keep feeds as small as possible ! A horses stomach is surprisingly small !

Please post any questions below and I will do my best to respond 🥰

Happy Horsing!
Dr Nikita Stibbard
Director/Senior Veterinarian
Richmond River Equine Veterinary Services

05/11/2023

Freeze branding - Our place or yours
Performed under sedation
We only run this twice a year - when we can organise liquid nitrogen for a day so make sure to get in - next one won’t be till May/June next year 🙏

03/11/2023

Another successful AI from last year, a beautiful filly with bling Whoohoo congratulations guys ❤️

30/10/2023

This cute little fella was a happy Monday morning arrival ! Here he is as a little blip on the screen last year after a successful first round AI, and a year later looking perfect and all bonded with his mumma 🥰 so lovely to see ! He’s made his human mum very happy too ! Congratulations Kerrie Metzler ❤️

23/10/2023

Foaling season is in full swing now !! Did you know the 1/2/3 markers ?

⭐️ 1 hour foal should be standing
⭐️ 2 hours the foal should be nursing
⭐️ 3 hours the foetal membranes should have been passed.

It is an emergency if these things are not occurring and you should phone your vet immediately!

Have your vet out to examine your foal and perform an IGG test in the first 24 hours so that we can determine if they have received enough colostrum from mum to establish their immune system to give them the best chance of survival. And make sure that you have some good shade available in this heat 🙏🥰🥰

23/10/2023

We will be in the casino area doing Dentals, castrations, vaccinations and lameness work ups on Wed 1 Nov
If you would like to share travel and have an appt on this day please txt or call Nikita on 0459 594 753

17/10/2023

Isn’t this beautiful, this little fella born last night, needed a little help to get sucking today as mums bag was so sore and full ! He’s full of beans and drinking well now, what a beautiful bond they have 🥰🥰🥰

13/10/2023

Save 5% on Eq & VM if order prior to Monday 🙏

Following on from last night here is our price list for Poseidon products that we stock. We often have many of these in the car (smaller tubs) for trial, and do regular orders of the larger stock. We can drop these off when in your area or pickup from the clinic in Meerschaumvale anytime!

Supporting our small clinic helps us support you with great services 🙏

I stand behind these products 100% and have been using them since 2019 now in practice and on my own horses with incredible results.

Please note I also offer full dietary assessments and recommendations for $95 if we have seen your horse recently, otherwise we can do this with a visit for a consult price of $165. We are so looking forward to helping your horses become healthier & happier.

Any questions or orders contact Nikita on 0459 594 753 during business hours :)

12/10/2023

Thanks so much to all those who attended last night, it was great to have a full house of great clients asking heaps of questions & getting involved ! I couldn’t have asked for a better night for my first ever info talk 🙏

We so appreciate Linda from Poseidon for sponsoring the prizes on the night and giving us some awesome up to date info!

I hope everyone is able to walk away with a lot more knowledge on gut health, horse feeds, pastures/hay & how to best prevent gastro intestinal emergencies !

Because the night was such a success we will be running another one hopefully before the end of the year so stay tuned on that ! 🙏🙌

11/10/2023

Found during a routine dental examination,

2 large pockets surrounding the 209 molar tooth with chronic pus visible in one pocket.
The black hole in the middle of the tooth is severe infundibular caries and is likely the source of this tooth’s infection.

This guy needs some X-rays and likely a tooth extraction or two 🙏❤️