Millington Equine

08/28/2025

🚨 Attention horse owners! 🚨

Over the past two weeks, Dr. Berman and Dr. Trawick have identified and treated many cases of habronemiasis, aka summer sores, in our area. These sores are common in the Southeastern U.S., but they also crop up in this region during the summer months. They are caused by the larvae of Habronema nematodes, which are transmitted into wounds or open skin by flies (gross — we know). The larvae can cause a localized inflammatory reaction in the skin, leading to granulation tissue, which we call proud flesh.

In most cases, the wounds and larvae can be treated (potentially through veterinary debridement, depending on the case) without causing major, long-term damage to the health of the equine. However, the healing process and the potential for secondary infection can be a headache for horse owners.

Luckily, there are many ways you can help prevent summer sores:
🩹 Protect small wounds from fly contact. AluShield (silver spray) is not sufficient. Covering wounds with bandages or topical ointments is preferable, as they can form a better barrier against the larvae.
🪰 Get ahead on manure control to curb fly populations.
🔍 Regularly inspect your equine for proud flesh or wounds that are not healing as expected. Topical steroids and systemic oral deworming are potential treatment pathways for managing summer sores, but they should be done under veterinary guidance.

We are hopeful that the fall weather will conclude the fly and summer sore season.

08/26/2025

Bow wow! 🐶 Wishing all of the precious pooches out there a happy National Dog Day, from our favorite canines to yours!

08/12/2025

Honestly, we can all relate to this face when it’s time for a trip to the dentist. Luckily, our resident tooth fairy, Dr. Emily, makes everything from routine floats to simple extractions a breeze for our patients. If only our own dentists were this good!

08/06/2025

We love getting to see our patients in action! Dr. T got to watch Victoria Hatt and Patrona from Rock Hill Farm at the Boyd Martin clinic at Falls Creek Farm this morning. This ever-expressive mare was declared to be "wild after the jumps," bringing a smile to all of our faces. Fabulous job, Victoria! ⭐

07/29/2025

Rye — who’s not a horse but still very cute — is just about as over this heat and humidity as we are. We’re hoping all the humans out there and their four-legged friends are staying cool and hydrated during these sweltering days. 🥵

07/27/2025

Mark your calendars! 📅 The American Association of Equine Practitioners is hosting a Mythbusters webinar examining some of the most common equine vet med myths and misconceptions. If you're a horse owner, you won't want to miss out!
This no-cost webinar requires pre-registration; you can also watch the recording if you are unable to attend virtually.

Link to register is below ⬇️

07/25/2025

As breeding season winds down, many of our broodmare patients are reaching exciting milestones. This little embryo is now several months along in the surrogate mare - growing strong and steady!

The donor mare is a barn favorite, especially among the kiddos, so we gave them a chance to learn about the process and shower her with some extra love. They even understood why she had to skip the show during flush week. After all, helping bring a baby horse into the world is just as exciting!

07/22/2025

Are you ready for an equine vet emergency?

Besides being calm, the best thing you can be is prepared. Dr. Berman recommends keeping these essentials stocked in your first-aid kit at all times. It's important to restock your kit as needed and keep it in a location that's visible and easily accessible.

One of the important items missing is Banamine paste, an NSAID often administered for colic and pain. It should be given under the direction of your vet.

Is there another must-have you keep in your kit that's not shown here? Let us know in the comments!

07/15/2025

Happy National "I Love Horses Day" (though, horse people know full well that's an every kind of day thing). In honor of this very special day, we'd like you to meet one of Dr. Trawick's beloved equines: Peach! Her registered name, Phila, means "love." Born out of Dr. Trawick’s beloved mare, Kona, Peach was both a joyful surprise and a huge learning experience for her human mother in how to raise a baby horse.

Dr. Trawick had flushed her mare for an embryo and didn’t follow up with the usual hormone treatment to bring the mare back into heat. As it turns out, Peach is the result of a sneaky, late ovulation that made its way into the uterus after the flush. In other words, she was meant to be!

Although she's three years old, she will be called "Baby Peach" forever. She’s a registered Holsteiner bred for jumping, but she’s so bold and brave that she might have a future in eventing. She started her training last fall and is now back home to grow up a bit more.

Peach is known around the barn for her signature side-eye, quiet trouble-making antics, and “bull in a china shop” energy. She’s extremely food-motivated, is a dramatic sleeper, and keeps everyone laughing with her larger-than-life personality.

Mr. Dr. Trawick knows she’s basically part of the family, and not exactly for sale. We love her to pieces, and if you ever meet her, you’ll understand why.

07/11/2025

TGIF! Looking for a weekend podcast to queue up? We’ve got a great one.

In honor of National Farriers Week, check out the April 15th episode of the Platinum Performance Podcast titled "Mission: Hoof." Dr. Matt Durham and journeyman farrier Lee Olsen of Olsen Equine dive into some of the most common hoof issues, like abscesses and white line disease, and shed light on the farrier’s vital role in equine health.

Listen to it here, and let us know your thoughts: https://open.spotify.com/episode/55dF7pasg8cNvbwgylhWBl?si=ee66d97cc4354582

07/08/2025

Check out this interesting case study! These radiographs show photos of the same hind foot, taken about 15 months apart.

This patient has a long history of a toe-dragging gait, intermittent lumbar discomfort, and eventually signs of lumbar plexopathy. At the start of his journey, he wore steel shoes behind and struggled to lift his hind legs.
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Initial radiographs were taken due to concerns about negative plantar angles; however, we found a flat-to-slightly positive angle and a notable "bull-nose" hoof shape. Despite various supportive shoeing techniques (onion shoes, wedges, 3D pads), his foot conformation didn’t really change, and shoeing became increasingly difficult due to his inability to lift and hold his hind legs.

Over the following months, he was left barefoot in his hind and lived in an in-and-out turnout arrangement. We tried stifle/SI injections, shockwave treatment (no help), and acupuncture (some help). The biggest improvement came after peri-vertebral lumbar injections and follow-up functional electric stimulation, which resulted in the most improvement we had seen in both core comfort and hind limb use thus far.

This case was an example of a classic “chicken or the egg.” Did the feet improve in appearance because he was barefoot? Or did they improve because the patient’s hind end use improved altogether, which altered his weight-bearing capability? The short answer? We don’t really know! Regardless, we’re happy to get this guy on the mend and see him making meaningful progress.

02/17/2025

We commonly see signs of sleep deprivation in our senior patients who struggle to get up and down comfortably. The term "narcolepsy" gets thrown around but it is more appropriate to consider the ways we are not meeting our horse's physical and social needs to allow them quality rest!

Dr. Joe Bertone reviewed features and categories of equine sleep deprivation based on more than 1,000 cases he’s seen since 1998.