Caring for horses during hot weather
⭐⭐ Caring for horses during hot weather ⭐⭐
We are experiencing excessive temperatures at the moment and this can cause heat-related issues.
Overheating can result from:
- Unexpected hot weather
- High humidity
- Poor barn ventilation
- Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight
- Excessive work
- Transportation
- Obesity
Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can induce heat stress, causing problems such as dehydration, muscle spasm and colic. Heat stress is characterised by: increased rectal temperature, increased heart rate, increased respiratory rate, profuse sweating, drooped ears, dullness or looking tired, inappetence.
If a horse is showing signs of any heat stress, it requires immediate veterinary attention. Treatment usually includes: stopping exercise, getting the horse away from the sun, using non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, spraying ice water to cool the horse and giving electrolytes if necessary.
Here are some tips to try to keep your horse comfortable and cool during the hot weather:
1. Spray the horse’s head, neck, back, rump and legs with a steady stream of cool water and repeat this continuously until the horse is cool.
2. Don’t place a fly rug on the horse straight after hosing them or during the cooling process. This will block evaporation from the skin.
3. Give the horse the time to acclimate to the new temperatures (between 15 to21 days) before travelling to compete. Acclimation will increase the horse’s tolerance to heat and exercise.
4. If the weather suddenly becomes very hot, try to avoid prolonged or intense periods of exercise during the hottest time of the day.
5. Ensure that your horse has always free access to clean water.
6. If your horse has a particular thick coat please consider clipping: this will help them regulate better their body temperature.
If you are worried your horse is suffering with heatstroke, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01295 670501.
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🐴🐴🐴 TODAY IS THE DAY - Go Pippa!! 🐴🐴🐴
The day has finally arrived for our lovely Accounts Assistant Pippa to take part in the Macmillan 'Ride of their Lives' at York Racecourse, starting at 12.30pm.
Pippa has been training tirelessly for over 6 months and has been non-stop fundraising. She has now reached over £11,300 for the charity, which is an amazing achievement, we are really proud of her hard work and commitment.
Here's a video of Pippa having jockey training on an equisizer with trainer Charlie Poste, who has been putting Pippa through her paces!
It's not too late to donate - please visit Pippa's JustGiving page and if you can spare the odd pound or two, it would be hugely appreciated. Visit -
https://www.justgiving.com/page/pippa-harvey-1702635407974?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fpippa-harvey-1702635407974&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share
Good luck Pippa - we know you can do it!!💪💪
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Enjoying a little taste of the outside, a beautiful filly foal for Lynwood Stud 😁
Preparing an Endometrial Swab in our lab
⭐⭐ Endometrial Cytology and Culture ⭐⭐
As stud season continue to keep us busy, today we would like to discuss with you about one of the procedures that we often do in our lab.
Before sending the mare to the stallion to be covered or even before performing artificial insemination with fresh or frozen semen, our stud vet will collect a cervical or endometrial swab. This consists of using a speculum to visualize the cervix (entrance to the uterus) and then pass the swab through the cervix to collect a sample in a sterile manner.
This is a very important procedure as it allows us to check if the mare suffers of uterine inflammation or infection. For this reason, we will perform a smear to look for any inflammatory cells and then plate the swab on a MacConkey Agar culture to check for bacterial growth after 24 hours and 48 hours.
If inflammatory cells are seen and/or bacterial growth is present, our stud vet will then treat the mare accordingly. This may include uterine flush with crystalloids (Hartmann’s), placement of the correct antibiotics in the uterus and intra-muscular administration of oxytocin (to promote fluids to be pushed outside the uterus).
This video shows how we prepare a swab in our 'in house' laboratory.
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Today director Claire Maher had a rather more unusual examination to carry out. P & R Horsedrawn Carriages
How we do a Worm Egg Count
⭐⭐ Worm Egg Counts - how we do it! ⭐⭐
Thank you to Team Nurse for producing this quick video of how they prepare a faecal sample for a McMaster Method faecal worm egg count.
Horse worming is an essential part of keeping horses happy and healthy. Regular worm egg counts are recommended for all horses, and worming should be carried out when necessary, using the right product.
Take a look at our website for more information on our annual WEC package - https://www.avonvaleequine.co.uk/our-services/routine-healthcare/
Or read our blog - How often should I worm my horse? https://www.avonvaleequine.co.uk/blog/how-often-should-i-worm-my-horse/
If you have any questions, please feel free to call and speak to one of our experienced vets on 01295 670501.
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#wormeggcount #wormeggcounts #wormeggcounting #wormeggcountservice
⭐⭐ Monthly Theme continued - Body Condition Scoring ⭐⭐
We hope we've given you lots of useful information on this important topic over the past few Mondays.
Here's a short video demonstrating the correct way to use a weigh tape.
If you have any questions regarding this, or any other topic, please call us on 01295 670501 and speak to one of our experienced vets.
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Sarcoid Removal - laser surgery
⭐⭐ Case Study – Mikki’s Sarcoids ⭐⭐
Mikki is a 15-years-old gelding that presented to us with few nodules on his left thigh (inner bum cheek). He was not bothered by them, but after a thorough examination performed by one of our vets, the nodules were highly suspicious of being sarcoids and removal by laser surgery was recommended.
Sarcoids are the most common tumors of the skin in horses, they are usually benign meaning that don’t spread to other parts of the body and remain confined to the skin, but they are also very unpredictable and can suddenly increase in both size and number. That’s why once we notice them, we usually recommend treatment as soon as possible.
There are few treatment options for dealing with sarcoids, but the most recommended is surgical removal by laser as it seems to be the treatment with the lowest recurrence rate. Laser in fact will cause thermal dieback of the surrounding tissue and tissue bed.
Mikki was therefore admitted to the clinic, intravenous sedation was given and Mikki was then moved into stocks. Intravenous antibiotics and anti-inflammatories were administered before surgery and local anesthetic was injected around all the nodules and the surrounding areas. The laser surgery machine was then used to successfully remove all the sarcoids. Mikki was discharged on the same day once he was completely awake, eating and looking bright in himself.
Upon re-examination 7 days post-surgery, Mikki was happy and bright in himself and the wound created by the laser surgery was healing well.
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How to Body Condition Score Your Horse
⭐⭐ Monthly Theme continued - Body Condition Scoring - How to Body Condition Score your Horse ⭐⭐
Body condition scoring is carried out by feeling your horses’ muscle, fat and bone across its body. Body condition scoring should be assessed in three main areas; neck and shoulders, abdomen and hindquarters. The optimum score for each area in a normal horse is between 2.5-3 out of 5.
It’s important to understand the difference between feeling fat and muscle. Fat is softer and creases when there are deposits in certain regions such as the crest of the neck; muscle feels much firmer. It is important that when you implement a body condition scoring regime, each time it is completed it should be at the same time and by the same person to achieve the most accurate results. Recording your horses BCS in a table or graph is a good idea to keep track throughout the year.
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Coffin Joint Arthritis
⭐⭐ Coffin Joint Arthritis ⭐⭐
Here's a short video on how we treated a recent case of Coffin Joint Arthritis.
If you have any questions regarding this or any other issue you may be facing, please give us a call on 01295 670501 to speak to one of our experienced vets.
#centralhorsenewsmagazine #rugbyridingclub #chrcridingclub #teamckrc #WHPC #coventryuniversityequestrian #NWRC #rugbyridingclub #walsgravearc #equinevet #solihullridingclub #vetsinwarrwickshire #vetsinoxfordshire #vetsingloucestershire
⭐️⭐ Ebony’s Wonky Smile ⭐️⭐
🦷Ebony is a 7 year old thoroughbred mare whose owner noticed she had become increasingly head shy and tilting her head. After working through some options she was seen by vet Laura as she had now completely gone off eating hay and had developed a swelling on her face.
🦷After an external examination Laura sedated Ebony and had a look in her mouth with our oroscopy camera. The swelling turned out to be food! As you can see from the video, not only has Ebony food trapped between many of her cheek teeth, one of her teeth (110 in this instance) is rotated over 45 degrees from where it should be. The gaps around the misaligned tooth and between the teeth not sitting next to each other are full of food and causing Ebony very painful periodontal disease. It is no wonder she didn’t want to eat!!
🦷As a result of the pain, Ebony has not been chewing on the right side of her mouth which meant her cheek teeth on the right have not been worn down as they normally should. The angle of the teeth on the left was normal, the angle on the right was very steep. This has resulted in such sharpness on the right that she had worn a deep ulcer in her cheek, which is why she was packing food into her cheek. This had been going on so long that her incisors now met at a slanted angle as well 🫤.
🦷Laura immediately got to work and, whilst Ebony was still sedated and comfortable, cleared out all the trapped food, carried out a safe but effective amount of corrective odontoplasty (rasping) on the cheek teeth and filled the spaces with a putty to allow the gums to heal.
🦷Ebony was a happy horse once more, eating and being ridden, but as you may well notice, this is not a problem that can be eliminated unless the wonky tooth is removed. Even if the tooth is removed Ebony will need life long mouth management of some sort.
🦷You will have noticed Laura didn’t address the wonky incisors. This is because the risk of exposing
Foot Abscesses
⭐⭐ Foot Abscesses ⭐⭐
Tis the season for the classic, yet often worrying foot abscess.
Horses with foot abscesses often present acutely lame, although then can present with some milder lameness in the few days preceding, before becoming acutely and often non-weight-bearing lame.
Horses with foot abscesses often have a hot hoof wall on the affected leg (always compare with the other side). They also usually have bounding digital pulses. These two findings indicate that there is inflammation within the foot. If you have hoof testers, these can be used to locate a painful area, however it is worth noting that horses' reactivity to hoof testers can be very variable.
How to feel for digital pulses:
Use your thumb and forefinger, and run them down the groove between the tendons and the suspensory ligament. Keep running down over the back of the fetlock joint and you will be able to feel the neurovascular bundle (artery, vein and nerve) as it travels towards the foot. You can confirm its location by pressing slightly and moving your thumb/finger from side to side.
You should always compare both limbs, as if the pulses are elevated on one side, it should be reasonably easy to feel, however it can be more challenging in feathered breeds. )
What to do if you suspect your horse has a foot abscess?
👉 Check the rest of the limb for any obvious abnormal swelling.
👉 Bring the horse into a clean dry stable and pick out the feet.
👉 Make sure you have a clean water supply and a kettle for poultice preparation, dressing materials and poultice boots are also good to have on hand.
👉 Call a vet or a farrier to come and examine your horse - they will be able to locate the abscess and drain it.
Once the abscess has been drained, you will need to apply hot poultices to the region until no further discharge is evident on the poultice. After this, depending on the size of the sole defect, the foot should remain covered with a dry poultice or similar to
