Desert Spring Veterinary Services

09/08/2025

08/28/2025

08/27/2025

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PROUD FLESH? 🔎

Wounds on the bodies and limbs of our equine companions are exceptionally common. In particular, wounds on lower limbs can be especially difficult to manage. There is little extra skin in these areas, making large wounds difficult to close via suturing.

In addition, wounds on the lower legs are contaminated easily with bacteria since they are closer to the ground, bedding, and manure. The constant movement of an animal's legs as it walks, turns, and bears weight can also greatly impair healing, especially if the wound occurs over a joint. All of these factors can often halt the normal progression of the healing process and result in a chronic wound.

Persistent inflammation, along with infection, is a major contributor to exuberant granulation tissue (or proud flesh) formation in a wound. Proud flesh is not conducive to wound healing as it prevents the wound from epithelializing (the process of the skin cells covering the wound), and sometimes it can become so large that it appears to be a tumor, usually obliterating the original wound.

Prevention of proud flesh involves good wound management. For the best healing, wounds should be identified and treated quickly and properly — especially on the lower limbs. Consult your veterinarian about any wounds that appear deep or extensive, that lie over important structures (like joints and tendons), or that already show signs of proud flesh development. Rather than waste time and money in trials and errors that could delay your equid's healing, ask your veterinarian what products are best for your situation.

08/18/2025

Wow!

08/13/2025

08/01/2025

The term "fat leg" is pretty self-explanatory, but do you know the difference between stocking up and cellulitis?

Many horses will "stock up" with subcutaneous edema (fluid swelling) in two or more legs (usually the hind limbs). Stocking up generally results from a significant decrease in exercise and usually resolves as the horse starts exercising again.

Lymphangitis (or vasculitis, big leg disease, staph infection, or cellulitis), however, is a bacterial infection and a dramatically different condition. While its causes may vary, it’s easy to spot once it sets in. The swelling will be extreme, hot, very painful to the touch, and the horse will be depressed due to the fever and discomfort.

If you think your equine friend has cellulitis or even if you're not sure, we encourage you to seek professional help promptly. Your equine practitioner will make the best treatment recommendations, both to reduce swelling and to address any sort of bacterial infection that might be active or that could occur due to the edema in the soft tissue.

08/01/2025

While it’s a common equine emergency, esophageal obstruction (“choke”) can look alarming, especially if you've never seen it before. Unlike in human medicine, where choking refers to a tracheal (or windpipe) obstruction, choke in horses refers to an obstruction of the esophagus (the muscular tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach).

Most commonly, choking occurs when horses eat concentrated feed too quickly without chewing appropriately, which results in a firm bolus lodged in the animal's esophagus. However, esophageal obstruction can also occur with hay or straw, hard treats, carrots, or nonfood objects. Poor dentition, which leads to inadequate chewing, is also a frequent cause of choke.

While common, choke can have serious consequences. So, be sure to call your veterinarian as soon as you notice signs of choke. A bad choke is fairly obvious to both veterinarians and horse owners, but a mild choke could be confused with an upper respiratory tract infection or colic.

08/01/2025

🚨With reports of a 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 in a horse from Garrard County, it's an important reminder to horse owners that yearly rabies vaccination is imperative. Rabies is always fatal; it's a neurologic disease that also has considerable public health significance. 🚨

The American Association of Equine Practitioners includes rabies in their list of Core Vaccines, meaning that every horse should receive the vaccine, no matter where they are located in the United States, what breed they are, or what they are used for — ALL horses are susceptible to this disease.

Rabies can present as
⚠️ Colic
⚠️ Neurologic issues
⚠️ Lameness
⚠️ Depression
⚠️ Aggression

It's important to note that rabies is transmissible to humans simply through the saliva of the infected horse.

Learn more about rabies at the AAEP website: https://aaep.org/resource/rabies-vaccination-guidelines/

07/31/2025

Edited to show the third human toe is the equilivant to the horse foot. Also the horse splint bones are thought to be the equivalent of toes 2 and 4 in the human.

What a clever way to illustrate the foot of man and lower leg of the horse.

Drawing taken from “The horse its treatment in health and disease, 1909”.

They have similarities in the bone structure however the biomechanical are quite different.

I love it when I hear folks compare horses feet to human feet and I untangle in my head, what they describe, to see if what they are saying is actually correct. Flipper feet (long toes), stones in shoes (protruding bars) etc.

My journey of biomechanics is in its infancy but it’s a truly amazing topic. I had a great 2 hour conversation with a farrier from the US today, Jeremy V. He explained such a lot to me and helped me understand more about the biomechanics.

When you consider the fetlock on the horse and the cannon bone as one of the directions of force (perpendicular) then there is the pastern line of force at at angle, it’s quite complicated. At stance it’s ok. Start the limb moving then woah……🤯🤯🤯🤯.

05/23/2025

We will be CLOSED for Memorial Day! Be safe out there and God Bless!

04/25/2025

🌸🌺 LOOK 👀!!! Just in time for show, rodeo, ALL them Summer fun Activities!! Platinum DJ!! 🌼🌸

NOT 1🫣, NOT 2😳, but …… 😱3 ALL IN ONE!!! 🎉
Wellness, Digestive & Joint support

Come on down to the clinic and get yours today! 🥳

04/15/2025

🌸Spring is here🌸

With the warm weather comes bugs 🐛
It’s that time to deworm and vaccinate your horses 🐴

💥Our spring special will end June 1st💥

Can you guess what kind of bug is on this horses stomach lining?🤔