Grand Strand Equine Veterinary Services

08/16/2024

We have ANOTHER case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in our area. This will continue to get worse with all the flooding we have after Debby. Again please make sure they are vaccinated by a veterinarian every 6 months. Vaccines not given by a veterinarian are not guaranteed by the manufacture and this is not a disease you want to risk it.

08/15/2024

Join the Clemson Extension Office for an educational program. Register here; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/equine-management-workshop-tickets-976752401727?aff=oddtdtcreator

08/12/2024

We have cases of preventable mosquito transmitted diseases in our area. The amount of standing water we currently have is expected to increase these numbers. Please vaccinate your horse, they need to be vaccinated every 6 months. If you are unsure if your horse is current please ask and we will make sure. Also remember that if you get your vaccine not from a veterinarian and your horse gets sick and/or dies the vaccine company will not help you.

08/05/2024

We are experiencing an outage with the office phones and internet. Please call (843) 907-4649 to reach the office. Thank you!

04/01/2024

Call the wonderful ladies in the office to get on the schedule, 843-350-8450 🌼

03/22/2024

Thanks to this little machine we can run f***l egg counts in our office. Come by and drop a sample off.

03/22/2024

We are so excited to have more events in our area. Please see the following letter for producers to make sure that they have emergency coverage for their events. Also, please tag event producers who need this information. We sent out a few emails but did not have everyone’s contact information. Thank you and we look forward to many successful equine events this year.

To Event Producers,

Grand Strand Equine guarantees emergency services exclusively to clients that maintain a current annual wellness exam. Emergency services are not guaranteed to persons whose horses have not received an annual wellness exam from Grand Strand Equine within the last 12 months. Grand Strand Equine will guarantee emergency services to all participants of an event for the cost of $300 per day. If we do not have an availability agreement, emergency services will not be available to your competitors even if your barn or other competitors are current clients. Emergency services will be guaranteed from 12:00 am to 11:59pm on each day covered. A Veterinarian will not be on property during the event unless they are called out to an emergency.

If you would like to make arrangements for these services please email the office at [email protected]. Please include contact information (name and phone number) for the primary contact of the event, as well as the location and dates that you would like coverage for. Payment must be arranged and completed before coverage will be guaranteed. After arrangements have been made, you will be provided a flyer with contact information to give to competitors.

If you have any questions please let us know.

Grand Strand Equine
843-340-8450
[email protected]

03/20/2024

March is F***l Health Month! Discover how f***l egg count (FEC) tests play a crucial role in managing your horse's environment and developing a targeted deworming plan.

Check out this article to learn more about how parasite management is constantly changing:

https://www.zoetisequine.com/blog-articles/stay-ahead-of-parasites-with-targeted-deworming

03/19/2024

If you are looking for something to do this weekend.

03/17/2024

Tip #7 Practice biosecurity measures when taking your horse to places that have other horses such as shows, exhibitions and trail rides. Disinfect stalls before use, separate horses that aren’t from the same barn, bring all of your own equipment and perform twice daily temperature checks. Call us for other biosecurity measures while traveling.

03/16/2024

Tip #6 New horses entering boarding facilities should show proof of vaccinations and have a current certificate of veterinary inspection (CVI). They should also be quarantined from the rest of the horses for 2 – 3 weeks and have their temperatures checked every 12 hours for the duration of the quarantine period. Also monitor horses who are coming back from being off property. Call us for other barn biosecurity measures.

03/15/2024

Tip #5 Horses can contract equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) by ingesting food or water contaminated with opossum f***s. Help keep opossums away by eliminating potential food sources such as accessible pet food and fruit that has fallen from trees. Call us for other barn biosecurity measures.

03/14/2024

Tip #4 Disease-carrying mosquitoes not only annoy your horses, but they can also infect them with diseases such as West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Western Equine Encephalitis. When possible, avoid early morning and early evening grazing when mosquitoes are most active. Help protect your horses against these diseases by staying current on vaccinations. There have already been cases of mosquito transmitted disease this year. Call us for other barn biosecurity measures.

03/13/2024

Tip 3 Keep tack, grooming equipment, water buckets, lead ropes and sheets/blankets cleaned and disinfected. Although tack cannot technically be disinfected, letting it dry in the sun following cleaning can help kill some pathogens. Call us for other barn biosecurity measures.

03/12/2024

Tip #2 Equine infectious diseases such as strangles and equine influenza are highly contagious and are spread directly from horse to horse or from contact with contaminated shared items such as tack, grooming supplies, buckets and water sources. If you suspect a horse is ill, call us immediately.

03/11/2024

This week we will be reviewing biosecurity. Follow us for more tips.
Creating the cleanest environment possible in and around your barn can help reduce the number of disease-carrying pests. Stay current with your vaccination schedule and call us for other barn biosecurity measures.

03/08/2024

Grand Strand Equine is working on a list of people who are willing and able to haul other people’s horses. We have times when horses need to be trailered for vet care and the owner doesn’t have access to a trailer. If you are interested either comment on this post or email us, [email protected] to get added to the list. Please leave your name and good phone number for you.

03/02/2024

01/21/2024

Facts as cool as it is outside this morning 🥶 🥶🥶

FUN FACT FRIDAY! Are you familiar with the many adaptations that help your horse stay warm during the cold winter months?

🌾 Hindgut digestion of hay produces the most heat, acting as a small furnace inside of the horse. This is why free choice, good quality hay is so important in the winter.

💪 Horses have a huge muscle mass and muscle activity produces heat. This includes running and playing and even shivering if their body temperature starts to drop. It is important to remember that these activities also will result in a bigger caloric demand so free choice hay and in some cases, grain, is often needed.

🧥 To blanket or not to blanket is a constant debate but either way, as it starts to get cold your horse will grow a thicker coat. If you decide to leave your horse unblanketed you may notice that they look “fluffy”. This is due to a phenomenon called piloerection where the hair stands up to better trap air within. Two layers of the coat also help with warmth. The inner layer is softer and has air pockets to create an insulating layer. The outer layer is coarse and has oils that keep moisture from penetrating the insulating layer and keep the horse warm.

⚖️ Wild horses go into the winter heavier than ideal and the fat serves as an extra layer of insulation. However, if a horse is going to be kept heavily blanketed and in a barn during the cold weather months this is unnecessary and can lead to obesity related issues.

🦵Their distal limbs (below the knees and hocks) are made of mostly bones and tendons, tissues that are resistant to the cold temperatures.

🦶The hooves have an alternative route of blood circulation through larger vessels that can be used in low temperatures. This is why horses can stand in snow without detrimental effects.

👃A horse’s nose has a robust blood supply and is rounded so that it is less susceptible to frostbite than a human’s nose.
•
Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/18/2024

We are so excited this arrived today!!
What’s your best guess on what’s in the box??

Update!! It’s a centrifuge to process Prostride (PRP and IRAP). Adding to our arsenal of joint injection and soft tissue treatment options.

01/09/2024

We are currently closed due to the weather. If you have an emergency please call 843-340-9461 and leave a message for the on call veterinarian. We hope everyone and their animals stay safe.

We will still be open for emergencies. If you have an appointment we will be calling you in the morning. Stay safe.

01/08/2024

We will still be open for emergencies. If you have an appointment we will be calling you in the morning. Stay safe.

01/05/2024

Yearly Grand Strand Equine Client Letter for 2024

A copy will be coming to your email shortly for you to sign, keep an eye out for it.

Dear Valued Client,

Thank you for being a client of Grand Strand Equine (GSE). We are honored that you have entrusted GSE to be a part of your horse(s) care. We are a two doctor equine exclusive practice. Our regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. We also offer emergency services 24/7 every day of the year for current clients. Our office is located at 990 SC Highway 66 in Conway and is open during business hours. We are celebrating our tenth year anniversary this year and will be celebrating by building our haul-in facility on our land in Conway.

Below are some guidelines that will help to clarify GSE’s policies:

Wellness Exams
All horses must have a wellness exam once a year. These healthy exams help us to establish the baseline for your horse, identify any potential problems sooner, and legally establish a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship. These exams are not done if we see your horse in an emergency situation or when they are sick. Medication will be dispensed for that specific problem at the time of examination. If your horse does not have a wellness exam within the last 12 months we will not be able to dispense medications or give advice until one is completed. The cost for an exam performed during your wellness visits such as Coggins or vaccines is $55.00, a discount of the normal exam price of $80.25.

Current Client
A current client is defined as a client who has a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship. The American Veterinary Medical Association defines this as each horse having received a wellness exam within the last 12 months. Current clients are given priority when scheduling and are guaranteed emergency services. If you are not a current client emergency services may not be offered, and will be billed at the non-client rate if the veterinarian is able to see your horse.

Emergency
Emergency services are guaranteed to current clients. Emergency services are provided to others at the discretion of the practice and will need to prepay a $600 deposit. Please call as soon as you think you have an emergency. Emergency services are provided 24/7 every day of the year. Daytime emergencies may incur an emergency fee during normal business hours. We are not open on the weekends or holidays and any calls on the weekends or holidays will be treated as an emergency. If you have an emergency please call, don’t text, 843-340-9461, and please leave a message. Following this policy will guarantee your call goes to the veterinarian on call.

Referrals
We greatly appreciate the positive word-of-mouth advertising and referrals to our practice. Please encourage friends that would like to use our services to get in touch with our office to schedule a wellness visit as soon as possible. We know that emergencies are unexpected, and as stated current clients are given priority in emergency situations.

Medication Administration
We understand that we have owners in our practice who have varying comfort levels with giving injectable medications to their horse(s). If your horse requires injectable medications and you would like us to administer the medications it will be subject to a lower farm call fee and a medication administration fee. This does not apply to medications given during routine or sick visits but to visits where we travel to the farm specifically to administer a medication.

Online Pharmacy
Our online pharmacy can be found at: https://grandstrandequine.myvetstoreonline.pharmacy/shop. The medications found in our online pharmacy are guaranteed to be the same quality as the medications we sell in our office and not diverted products. We encourage clients that have a horse on daily medications to set-up auto-ship with this service. This will ensure your horse stays current on medications and you are purchasing medications at a lower price then from our office. Medications in our office are marked up at a higher rate than what is available at our pharmacy online. If your horse is on a recurrent compounded product we will help set up your horse with a prescription through the proper compounding pharmacy. This prescription will require payment from the owner and will ship to the address you provide. We will no longer be approving outside prescriptions. If you would like to use a different pharmacy we would be happy to get you a physical written prescription that will be available for pick up or mail. Outside prescriptions will be subject to a $35 record review and administration fee.

Quarantine Recommendations for New Purchases
We recommend that new horses brought into your private barn or any boarding facility be quarantined for 14 to 21 days, even if they have had a pre-purchase exam. There are several diseases that can be highly contagious and cause an outbreak in the population of horses they may expose if not properly quarantined. Even if a pre-purchase exam has taken place it does not guarantee that the horse will not develop clinical signs after that exam that were not previously present. We have had a few cases this year of varying illnesses, and feel it necessary to remind everyone of recommended quarantine times for new horses entering a new environment.

Payment
Payment is expected at the time of service. We are not able to bill clients. We accept all major credit cards, checks, cash, and care credit. If you would prefer we can keep a credit card on file and run it after your visits. If you are not going to be at the appointment please make sure payment is arranged beforehand.

Late Policy
Owners are expected to be ready at their appointment time. If you are late you may be subject to a late fee. Please make sure you have your horse(s) caught and pulled up before their appointment. If your horse is dirty please groom them to allow us to examine and treat them. While we do our best to be on time to appointments we can always give you a call when we are on our way if requested.

Appointment Scheduling
Please call the office at 843-340-8450 to make appointments. When you are calling please let us know all the horses that need to be seen, what services they need, and any medications you will need. Gathering all of this information allows us to allocate enough time, ensure we have the supplies needed, correct quantity, and medications needing to be dispensed. If you need to add services after your appointment has been made please call us as soon as possible as we may need to extend your appointment or reschedule to a time where we can accomplish all services requested. If you add on services at the time of your appointment we will do our best to accommodate you, but in some cases we may need to schedule a follow-up appointment to get everything done.

Same Day Appointments
All client requested or medically necessary same day appointments may incur an urgent fee. We understand that your horse may be showing symptoms of being sick or injured that may not require an emergency vist but still need to be seen sooner than the regular schedule would allow. These appointments require us to rearrange our veterinarian’s schedule in order to accommodate this visit.

Farrier Sedation Appointments
We know that several patients need sedation for their farrier visits to make sure everyone is safe. This can be a one time need or ongoing. The cost for this service will be a farm call, sedation, and professional time ($33.51/15 min). If you would like to try oral sedation we will be happy to discuss options like Dormosedan gel with you.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in executing our policies. These policies provide the elevated level of service and quality veterinary care that you depend on from Grand Strand Equine. As many of you may be aware there is a shortage of equine veterinarians across the country. While we are excited that Clemson will have a veterinary school opening soon, graduates will not be in practice for another six years. We would love to add another veterinarian to our practice, but at this point there are more job openings than veterinarians willing to fill them. We look forward to continuing to build a lasting relationship with you and your horse(s). Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions on how we can better serve you by giving us a call at (843) 340-8450 or e-mail us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Dr. Heather, Dr. Elizabeth & the Staff of GSE

01/03/2024

Is getting the cheapest bag of feed at the store the best deal?

Not always. Looking only at the price to feed a 1000lb horse, at a maintenance rate of senior feed the more expensive bag may save you money as you need to feed less. If you are trying to be cost conscious consider the cost of each meal, not the price of the bag. We are not considering the quality of feed in this example but that is important.
*The prices were all pulled on the same day but those prices may have changed since then.

12/26/2023

We think our horses have great lives and are not stressed but what we consider a small thing can be a big stress to them. Just like in humans, undiagnosed and untreated chronic pain can be stressful for horses, and may potentially lead to gastric ulcers. Contact us if you suspect your horse is suffering from lameness or equine gastric ulcer syndrome.

12/24/2023

Happy Holidays! We hope you and your four-legged friends are staying warm and enjoying some extra quality time in the barn this holiday season.

12/22/2023

We think our horses have great lives and are not stressed but what we consider a small thing can be a big stress to them. Though sometimes medically necessary or weather related, spending excessive time in a stall can be stressful for your horse, and may potentially lead to gastric ulcers. When possible, ensure your horse can spend adequate time in turnout. Contact us for ways to help keep your horse both stress and ulcer free.

12/20/2023

We think our horses have great lives and are not stressed but what we consider a small thing can be a big stress to them. Switching to a new grain or hay can be stressful for your horse, and may potentially lead to gastric ulcers. When possible, gradually introduce the new feed to ease the transition. Contact us for ways to help keep your horse both stress and ulcer free.