The Equine Sports Medicine Clinic

21/08/2025

𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗣𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧

While on a clinic some time ago, and again at a competition yesterday, I noticed a rider carrying their phone in their rear (right) pocket while riding.

This should be avoided at all levels.

Placing a phone in the rear pocket is likely too:

1) Significantly affect the function of the rider’s seat
2) Compromise the effectiveness of the rider’s seat aid
3) Induce/create rider asymmetry
4) Lead to uneven loading of the saddle and horse
5) Compromise rider-horse interaction

Although carrying a phone while riding can be useful for safety and other purposes (apps), alternative locations should be considered.

Image of a rider sitting on a pressure mat with their phone in their right back pocket.

Note: sharing as an observation. We have not shown this experimentally (yet).

05/08/2025

🌟 Another Successful Foaling Season Wrapped Up! 🌟

We’re proud to celebrate another fantastic foaling season with 10 healthy foals safely on the ground! 🐣🐴

It's been a privilege to care for each one and witness the arrival of these special new lives. Thank you to all our wonderful clients for your trust and support this season.

Here’s to 10 strong starts and bright futures ahead for these gorgeous youngsters ✨

Very very limited availability for next season 🙈

21/06/2025

Sharing this good advice! It’s perfectly safe travelling and competing our horses in this glorious weather so long as we manage them correctly - make sure fans in vehicles are working, have plenty of water for drinking and cooling, think about clipping too. Let them drink their fill of cold water after exercise too, they won’t colic, in my experience the horses most at risk of reheating after cooling out are those that didn’t drink straightaway!!

🔥𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲

Your horse doesn’t cool down by drying off - they cool by evaporation.

Scraping water off or trapping heat under a sweat rug undermines cooling and puts your horse’s health at risk. This isn’t opinion — it’s basic thermoregulation.

Sweat scrapers and sweat rugs are outdated dogma. And yet, disappointingly, some large equine clinics are still promoting their use today.

In 34°C heat, that advice is not just wrong — it’s dangerous.

Follow the science. Choose vets who understand equine physiology, not just tradition.

✅ Soak.
✅ Shade.
✅ Repeat.
❌ No scraping.
❌ No rugs.

01/06/2025

A gentle reminder once again! Fair’s fair!!!

Out-Of-Hours and Emergency Cover

Please be advised that if you expect me to provide emergency cover for your horses then I expect to be providing their routine care and vaccinations during normal working hours. If you choose to use another provider for routine work, for whatever reason, then you will be expected to use them for emergency cover too.

If you value my opinion and experience for the difficult or emergency cases then please do me the courtesy of using me for routine work. All horses should have an annual vaccination for flu and tetanus, so if I haven’t seen you for at least a vaccine in the previous year you’re probably not registered for out-of-hours or emergency purposes.

19/05/2025

That’s our first frozen semen AI pregnancy confirmed this morning!

02/05/2025

Our own Espresso (Coffee Bean) - by Escanto PS (Escamillo x Fuerstenball) ex Romee Ludine (Merlot x Flemmingh)- enjoying the sun on his back this morning! Deckstation Schockemöhle Stallion AI Services (GB)

02/05/2025

Beautiful Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve c**t foal, born to happy clients last Saturday night, and Big Star mama enjoying some Dr Green in the sun this week!

02/05/2025

Wholeheartedly agree with all these sentiments - we should not be using the blood test as a screening test for strangles pre-movement - it is simply not sensitive or specific enough to be useful outside of an outbreak (think how you judged a positive Covid LFT if you were asymptomatic vs if you were coughing).
So if you want to screen for strangles to move yards please don’t ask me to take a blood test - it won’t identify a carrier, and there’s a good chance a moderate positive will just have me going back again to scope it - instead do the job properly, and ask me to go and do a guttural pouch scope and wash for PCR. This is the definitive test, anything else is just giving you a false sense of security!!

𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

In our final day of posts before strangles awareness week, we wanted to share our lessons from managing a strangles outbreak across more than 400 horses.

During the outbreak, 𝘿𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙣 and 𝗗𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 observed that low serology titres didn’t reliably predict which horses were true carriers of Streptococcus equi. equi. While serology helped us understand that they had a herd-level exposure problem, it didn’t help identify which individual horses were perpetuating disease.

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15994

Identifying asymptomatic carriers remains a vital part of strangles eradication in a group of horses, but serology will give you a false sense of security. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 :

𝟭 - 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 - 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴

𝟮 - 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀
𝟯 - 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁.

4 - 𝗩𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.

23/04/2025

Well, the mares are certainly holding onto their babies this year! First two born within a couple of nights of each other — both perfect little foals with correct presentations and absolutely lovely Mamas. How cute!? Congratulations to respective owners — it’s always such a privilege to be involved in these special moments.

Welcome to the world, ‘Beanie’ and ‘Nova’ — you’re already stealing hearts!🌍🩷

We've got a busy few weeks ahead with more due to foal soon. Fingers crossed for more safe arrivals and happy, healthy foals and of course, Mares. It’s the most magical time of year on the yard, and we’re soaking up every moment!

14/03/2025

Apprentice puppy!! New PR department!

08/02/2025

Red bag is an emergency, and foal needs delivering ASAP! Another reason why foaling mares need supervision by persons prepared to intervene immediately!

Here is some very timely and important information courtesy of the horse doctors at Pine Ridge Equine Hospital:

As we are in the midst of foaling season, let’s talk about what is normal and abnormal. The placenta is made up of two major parts: the red bag (chorioallantois) and the white bag (amnion). The red bag attaches to the uterine wall, which allows the exchange of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus. In a normal delivery the amnion is visible and characterized by a white appearance. A red bag delivery is characterized by a red velvety appearance.

A red bag delivery is considered an EMERGENCY as it signifies premature separation of the placenta leading to a lack of oxygen to the fetus so **you need to intervene immediately.** The red placental membrane should be opened carefully to release fluid, the foal should be delivered/pulled with your assistance and then stimulated to breathe. Foals may develop problems associated with lack of oxygen even though they appear normal at birth.

If your mare is having or had a red bag delivery, you need to call your horse doctor ASAP!

06/02/2025

Interesting and informative day spent at Stallion AI Services with intention to introduce frozen semen artificial insemination to our repertoire to complement the foaling livery and chilled semen AI we already offer, and to be included on BEVA - The British Equine Veterinary Association list of approved AI practices.