Three Moors Veterinary Services

22/04/2025

As foaling season is in full swing please help us with this survey about the Madigan squeeze.

Please share with anyone thats involved with foaling.

Help Us Advance Neonatal Foal Care – Share Your Experience with the Madigan Squeeze*

We are collecting feedback on the use and outcomes of the *Madigan Squeeze Technique* , developed from research on Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome (“dummy foal”) by Drs. Aleman and Madigan at UC Davis.

Your experiences—whether as a veterinarian, breeder, farm manager, or horse owner—are invaluable in helping us assess how widely the technique is used and how effective it has been. Your input will contribute to ongoing research and improved outcomes for foals worldwide.

Take the survey here:* [ *https://www.surveymonkey.com/ r/M3J2P32 ( https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M3J2P32 )* ]
*Estimated time:* ~6 minutes

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M3J2P32

12/04/2025

A morning of hedge planting today 🤩 only 875 more plants to put in 🤣 but Rome wasn’t built in a day. 🌱🌿🌳
We are committed to a better carbon footprint as well as providing a haven for our local wildlife 😍🐝🐞🐛🦋🐿️🦔🐾

12/04/2025

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I think we can all relate to this!
I definitely have them as companionship and stress relief (but wish they didn’t break so often 🫣)
My horses are my world 🌍 💗

A flow chart of how I became a broke bitch.

08/04/2025

Foaling Season

If like me you are on foal watch, then you are monitoring your brood mare closely 🙂

After foaling remember 1 2 3

⭐️ 1 the foal should be standing within 1 hour

⭐️ 2 the foal should be nursing within 2 hours

⭐️ 3 the mare should pass the placenta within 3 hours

It is vital you don’t interfere too much as the initial bonding period immediately after birth has been shown to be essential to the long term health and welfare of the foal but if there is a problem we need to help

If you see anything abnormal call your vet to chat. Using an experienced equine vet for any issues is important

If you want to chat about all things broodmare or foal please give me a call

📞 07483 831763

29/03/2025

Typical vets horse 🫠
Just as the KS was going according to plan Lettie decided to show off her sliding stop in the field in front of me 🙈 I was hoping she hadn’t done anything serious but she has damaged her DDFT 🫣 she has had stem cells injected and is now on her box rest with in hand walking rehab.
Once the limb had healed we can pick up the KS rehab before getting back on. Who enjoys riding in the long summer days anyway 🤪🤣 🦄 🥰

02/03/2025

A beautiful day and perfect for rugs off and some family grooming (mum and daughter) Horses should live together and have turnout 😃 Friends Forage and Freedom EquiVet Mind

24/02/2025

And this is why I am currently studying towards a Masters in Equine Behavioural Medicine 😃 Can’t stop learning 🤩 to improve things for our horses and the professionals that handle them.
Exciting new project in the pipeline
Mind 😉

Several studies and surveys highlight the dangers faced by equine veterinarians - with a study by the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) in 2014 reporting that being a horse vet in the United Kingdom appeared to carry the highest risk of injury of any civilian occupation in the country!

81% of vets have been reported to sustain at least one injury in five years

95% of vets report working with a horse whose behaviour was difficult to handle every month

Over 80% of respondents in one study had been injured directly by a horse during work within the last five years, with many requiring further medical care, time off work, or suffering continued discomfort or loss of function

The most commonly reported unwanted behaviours encountered were horses that were bargy/pushy, would not stand still, were needle shy or were head shy.

52.2% of the worst injuries received during work as an equine veterinarian occurred during the first five years of practice

When asked how they manage unwanted behaviours, most vets reported a reliance on chemical and physical restraint despite a better understanding of equine behaviour previously being recommended in the literature as a way to reduce occupational injuries.

The majority of respondents in one survey reported receiving limited or no training on the subject of equine learning theory.

When asked how well they thought they understood how horses learn and how well they thought they were able to apply this knowledge, just under 80% of practitioners answered moderately, well or very well (Pearson, G., 2017).

Studying Equitation Science is not just beneficial for horses - it can also help safeguard the practitioners that dedicate their lives to working with them.

The ESI 10872NAT Diploma of Equitation Science, is the most comprehensive and unique approach to horse training available today.

With shaping techniques and a focus on ethical animal training and human safety, our diploma provides students with highly practical skills and in-depth knowledge of all aspects of horse handling.

Find out more by visiting our website: https://esi-education.com/courses/diploma/

29/01/2025

It happens to us all -even Equine Vets!
Despite doing very well with her rehabilitation and looking amazing 🤩 when I started to increase the work in the arena Lettie just wasn’t comfortable. She was showing classic signs of pain; less forward off the leg, wanting to canter not trot and being spooky at very little
After consulting with Gillan Tabor who confirmed localised soreness I re radiographed her back and have remedicated T14-16.
We are now building the work back up to see the effect this has had. 🤞 for success

24/12/2024

Happy Christmas 🎄 to you all 🐴 🦄

Looking forward to 2025 🎉

From Orla and Juno 🤩

20/12/2024

Please be aware! It’s illegal and you just don’t know what’s in any medicine you import.
Even if you have the best of intentions for your pet 🐴 🦄 🐱 🐶

💊Veterinary Medicines Directorate Seizes over 13,000 Unauthorised Horse Medicines Being Sold Illegally Online💊

The VMD, working with Border Force UK, has seized AbPrazole and Absucralfate, medication for equine gastric ulcer treatment manufactured by Abler PTY Ltd (a company based in Australia), after they received intelligence that these products were being illegally sold and imported into the UK via an equine Facebook group and via Abler’s website.

The VMD has reminded horse owners and equine vets that:

🐎 it is an offence to advertise unauthorised products online
🐎it is an offence to import unauthorised veterinary medicines into the UK.
🐎 it is an offence to administer unauthorised medicines to your horse, and this will also invalidate your insurance
🐎 the ingredients of unauthorised veterinary medicines may be unknown, and could therefore pose a risk to animals

Animal owners, vets or any member of the public are able to report any suspected breaches of the VMR via our anonymous online reporting form: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-illegal-animal-medicines

04/12/2024

Equine dentals £65 including sedation if needed!

No visit charge for 4 or more horses on the same yard.

Experienced advanced equine dental work. All remedial work including dental extractions and xrays possible.

I cover Devon and Cornwall.
Mainly booking for 2025, odd availability left for 2024.

Three Moors Vet Services - Dental Services - Dr Zoe Marsh BSc(Hons) BVSc Cert AVP(EM) MRCVS - Equine DentistExperienced Equine Veterinary Surgeon available...

07/10/2024

Diagnosed with kissing spine and rehabbing since March. 🤩
A mix of ground work and ridden exercises.
Message me to discuss further and how
I can help your horse gain top line 😃

28/08/2024

Always lovely to receive such kind gifts, sad when it’s a goodbye from wonderful horses and clients
Thank you Linda and Kizzy and I wish you all the best

22/07/2024

Could you all share this for me to find this superstar 🦄 🤩 a new place to be 😃

Ballymerrigan Rocket is looking for a new home to enjoy continuing her education Kind and loves attention. Lovely temperament. Not mareish (was yard favourite) Lives in or out Doesn’t have to be ridden daily to stay sane. Nothing phases her, so easy to do. Takes yo...

30/03/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/mowVV5JQ7WtBMW4N/?mibextid=WC7FNe

24/03/2024

🌟 Laminitis Watch 🌟

With the changes in climate and growing season, laminitis is a year round problem in the UK and needs to be a consideration at all times.
But being in the growing season (spring/summer) can be a high risk time especially with bouts of warm weather and rain.
Laminitis is often a result of an accumulation of number of risk factors rather than just an ‘overweight pony’

High risk equids are warmbloods, native ponies and overweight cobs.
Any horse or pony which has had a previous episode is at a higher risk as even if they appear fully recovered we know damage within the foot capsule causes permanent change.

Concurrent metabolic disease is also a high risk factor, with both Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) and Equine Cushings (PPID) contributing to the risk. EMS is seen in lean ponies with uneven fat distribution (as well as obese ponies) and results in high circulating insulin and altered glucose levels. PPID means circulating steroid levels are increased due to the damage caused by a benign growth in the brain. Both these metabolic changes can lead to changes in the laminae within the hoof capsule.

Management changes
•Weight
Most of the UK’s pony population is overweight, the media images of successful show ponies does nothing to help us realise what a healthy equid looks like. Muscle is not soft like fat-so any areas where you can easily push your finger in (gently!) is more than likely fat. The common places are shoulders and over the rib cage. Ribs should be easily felt and often just visible when the horse is moving. The crest fat is often firmer but still an area where fat is deposited.
Many feed companies have portable weigh bridges so club together with others at your yard and get your ponies weighed. Your vet can also help with condition scoring, a scale used to help you monitor your horses condition long term.

•Exercise
Increased exercise (only when sound and not during active laminitis, most cases need stabling for a minimum of 4weeks to allow the inflammation to settle)
Walking out actively in hand or lunging to increase breathing rate will help aid weight loss. You can use a heart rate monitor to ensure training at the right intensity

•Nutrition
Low calorie and high fibre feed to reduce fat pads and reset the metabolism.
Careful feeding, it is worth avoiding sugar based feeds and most overweight ponies only require a feed balancer not a complete feed. There are some excellent low calorie feed balances available.
Avoid rye grass forage, either grazed or fed preserved as hay or haylage. It is designed as a feed for high yielding dairy cattle and completely inappropriate for most horses and ponies.
Test both grazing land and forage regularly so you know what supplements are actually needed.
Soaking good quality meadow hay for 12 hrs will reduce soluble sugars and help aid weight loss.
Wearing the correct muzzle when out at grass can help reduce intake but isn’t the complete answer

•Farriery
Remedial farriery only with recent xrays as unfortunately no-one has X-ray vision so cannot predict the internal foot changes without it!
For acute episodes frog support can be needed, this can be provided by pads, shoes or an appropriate deep bed depending on the situation and is best assed by your vet and farrier.

•Medications
There are some drugs that can aid weight loss in equids but must only be used in conjunction with blood tests and monitoring. Your vet can discuss what may be appropriate for you in more detail.

•Analgesia
Bute and paracetamol are very useful for pain relief and can be used in combination with other drugs if needed. Again speak to your vet for the correct dose and usage; as it can cause a fatal colitis if used inappropriately.

03/03/2024

🪱🐴Equine worming 🐴🪱

So much information out there is out of date so I have written notes from the most up to date research available 🖋️📄 (kind debate welcomed)

This is a complicated topic made more so with the increasing amount of resistance we are seeing to the current drugs we have available. The move is towards strategic use of the drugs rather than blanket treatment 2-4x a year as used to be recommended.

We know 80% of the parasite population is carried by 20% of horses and these horses are the ones we need to target and treat. Horses with low burdens that are low risk are best treated less often so they can be used to reduce exposure of the parasites to the drugs in the equine population.
It is important to ensure the correct weight dose of drug is given, both checking the weight of the animal and setting the syringe to the correct dose.

I recommend worm egg counts are utilised to identify the population of horses that needs treating. They are beneficial even in young and older horses that are naturally at a higher risk from parasite infection. 🥚 🪱

Timing of worm egg counts is important;
March/June/September/December (if needed)
⭐️Collect samples if possible within 12hrs of defaecation, pick from 5 different faecal balls to a total 15g weight (satsuma)
⭐️Ideally keep cool or refrigerate until processed and drop off to me on the same day
⭐️If a high worm egg count is identified then we recommend a follow up sample is processed 4 weeks later to monitor effectiveness of the drug and resistance levels.

WEC Results (see table for risk classification)
High risk horse >250 epg treat with ivermectin or pyrantel (alternate years)
Low risk horse >500 epg treat with ivermectin or pyrantel (alternate years)

🪱Tapeworm infection used to be thought to be an increased risk factor for spasmodic and small intestine impacting colic but this has been disproven more recently.

🪱Tapeworm and encysted small redworm infection can now be diagnosed with saliva testing (there are many limitations to the tests but it is the best available at this current time) Testing in the Autumn time is the best for both to plan Winter treatment with moxidectin or moxidectin plus praziquantel (covers tapeworm).

Young Horses 🐴
⭐️ 1-5 years old are less immune to parasites so need more care.
⭐️Ideally high level paddock care; remove dung at least twice a week, rotate paddocks and do not use the same grazing every year.
⭐️Regular worm egg counts and use an extra moxidectin dose in the springtime if overwintered on pasture.
⭐️If high risk (many youngstock around) then test biannually for tapeworm.

Foals 🐴
⭐️Due to a naive immune system they require a higher amount of regular treatment from
2-4 months old treat with pyrantel and ivermectin alternately each month.
⭐️Can use double dose of pyrantel or single dose of praziquantel for tapeworm at 6 months
⭐️6-12 months can do worm egg counts every 3 months and treat as needed with a dose of moxidectin winter time.

PM or message me for details of worm egg count testing. You can post samples or drop them off and yards will be reduced cost per sample (>5 horses)

Table from Equine de-worming: a consensus on current best practice 2019 D Rendle at al.

02/01/2024

🤣🫣🐴