Conley & Koontz Equine Hospital, Inc.

02/14/2025

02/12/2025

Dr. Bollman will be at the Sweethearts & Barrels show this weekend in Cloverdale. Feel free to reach out to her for any veterinary needs during the show! 269-924-5140

02/11/2025

Valpo area! Dr. Bollman will be in your area next week (February 18th). Give us a call to schedule: 877-499-9909

02/09/2025

We're just here for the commercials 🐴

02/05/2025

Actual photo of our front desk trying to manage 6 doctors scheduled appointments and trying to fit in emergency calls.🤣

When you call our office during the day with an urgent concern you can expect the following:

1. We will help you determine whether your horse needs to be seen that day, or if they can be scheduled out to the next available appointment.

2. We will do our best to get your horse seen as soon as possible. The doctor you see will be dependent on everyone's current location when you call, and it may not be your preferred provider. Keep in mind that it may be fastest to be seen at the clinic!

3. Adjusting schedules to accommodate emergencies is certainly an expectation of equine practice, but it does mean that other clients may need to be seen later than expected or be rescheduled, and that our staff and doctors may end up working later than normal to finish the scheduled day. As a result, there may be a same day urgent care charge incurred (similar to human medicine).

4. Just like in the human ER, cases will be triaged and seen in the order of severity. This means that a colic likely will be seen before your horse that hasn't been eating for a few days, even if you called first.

We know that emergencies are scary, but we ask that you trust we will provide the best care in the most appropriate time frame possible. We also ask that if you are on the "an emergency was added, we will be late" end of the phone call, that you remember we'd flip the schedule around to accommodate a problem on your farm too! Please be kind to the voice on the phone - they are literally trying to herd cats!

01/31/2025

We finally made it to the 9728th day of January! Just a quick reminder that if you haven't completed a 2025 Financial Policy, please be sure to check your email or reach out to the office. Updated policies are required to be on file prior to rendering services.

01/30/2025

Valpo area! Dr. Rothenbuhler will be in your area next week (February 6th). Give us a call to get on the schedule: 877-499-9909

01/29/2025

True or False?: Twisted guts happen when colicy horses roll.

The thought that a horse (especially a colicy one) that rolls will twist their gut is FALSE.

The truth is that a colicy horse that refuses to stay standing and wants to roll incessantly probably already has their gut in the wrong place, and they need to be evaluated by a veterinarian ASAP.

Colic is not linear - there are many different specific causes of colic, some worse than others. The only thing that is going to make a colic worse is a delay of medical care - not rolling!

01/27/2025

What makes us smile on a Monday?

A handsome horse t**h on a trailer heading home after a long ICU visit!

Happy jailbreak Luca ❤️

01/24/2025

Are you ready for an emergency road trip?

Not the cheez-it and diet coke, blaring the radio, and top down-wind in your hair kind of road trip 😝

The "your horse has an emergency and needs to hauled" kind of road trip 😞

There are many situations when having a trailer, or access to one, can make a difference in emergency care availability for your horse.

*You don't have a vet close enough to travel to your farm.
*The fastest way to get seen is to haul to the clinic, for a variety of reasons.
*Certain equipment can't be brought to the farm, or won't work in certain weather.
*Your farm is not currently set up with a place to work on a horse safely, in a clean and dry space.
*Your horse's condition would best be handled at a hospital facility, whether due to needing more people, equipment, stocks, serious illness, surgery, or a variety of other reasons.

So while you're putting your first aid kit together, make sure you dig out your trailer, have a truck available for hauling, have a friend or other contact to Uber you, and teach your horse how to trailer.

If you have questions or need a phone number to keep in your back pocket, let us know - we have a list of folks that have offered to help haul in emergencies!

**I do know there are some emergencies that cannot be put on a trailer (down horse for example). For these cases, it is imperative that you have a good working relationship with a vet that offers emergency farm calls to your location BEFORE you find yourself in a pickle.**

01/22/2025

How are veterinary emergencies like laundry?

No one wants to deal with it, but it's only going to get worse if ignored.

MOST emergencies are not going to get better with just tincture of time. In fact, MANY emergencies will get worse with time. Clinical signs are not often a good reflection of changes happening on the cellular level. For example, the degree of pain of a colicy horse may not worsen, but the blood supply to the GI tract is slowly becoming compromised. The foal with diarrhea is still nursing, but his protein is dropping drastically.

Delaying veterinary care may mean the difference between moderate level care and ICU, or (worse) fixable and not fixable. If your horse is in an emergency situation, call your veterinarian SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. At least start the phone conversation, and they can help you decide if it needs to be seen now or can wait.

Throw a load of laundry in while you wait for them to call you back.

01/20/2025

No one wants an emergency, but everyone should be prepared for one. Knowing who to call or where to go when your horse is in trouble should be planned out BEFORE a problem arises.

We are happy to provide emergency services to our clients as well as new clients, 24/7/365. Ambulatory services are available on a case by case basis, and hauling to our hospital in Columbia City is always an option for those that cannot be seen on the farm, or would be better served in house.

More advanced emergency services, such as colic surgery or medical hospitalization, are available if your veterinarian advises referral.

If you have questions about our emergency services, please do not hesitate to contact us! Drop us a message or call the office at 877-499-9909.

01/17/2025

We’ve got babies on the brain!

This morning we held our annual “Dystocia Drill” where we met as an entire staff to review all of our protocols for the management of dystocias, c-sections, and foal resuscitation.

Much thanks to Minnie for volunteering to be our Madigan Squeeze demonstration patient!

We hope you don’t need us, but we are ready if you do 🐴

01/03/2025

Recently while attending the American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, our doctors listened to a presentation on the use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for the management of exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) and equine asthma. Although the studies are still on-going, they showed effectiveness for the management of two difficult respiratory conditions in the horse.
In the study presented, 76% of barrel horses with EIPH improved at least 1 grade and 46% improved 2 grades on BAL red blood cell scores after ESWT. While performing the study there was a discovery that ESWT also reduced airway inflammation and showed improvement with equine asthma. They discovered that horses undergoing ESWT for two treatments 2 weeks apart improved both conditions. Based on these studies, it is believed that ESWT is a safe and effective modality that can be used for the treatment of EIPH in barrel horses as part of a comprehensive approach that may include furosemide and/or asthma therapies.
If you would like to discuss the use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for the management of exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage or equine asthma, reach out to one of our veterinarians.

01/03/2025

💥💥Heads up Valparaiso area💥💥

Dr. Rothenbuhler will be out that way on Thursday, January 9th by appointment.

Please call the office at 877-499-9909 to schedule!