Maple Ridge Mobile Veterinary Services

02/26/2025

Come see us!

Our annual Equine Health Clinic is here again! Check out all the new services we've lined up for this year!

Huge thanks to Maple Ridge Mobile Veterinary Services, EarthWorks Mobile Veterinary Services, Scott Wargo, and Bradley’s farrier service for offering their time to make this happen!

Pricing here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LEUzCw2j9Fl93Yv6gztIVAfIuWQlZ7R83iluR5Q4k30/edit?usp=sharing

Contact Jessica for more info.

02/23/2025

February is equine dental month 🦷 Don’t forget about the importance of routine preventative care with sedated oral exams and dental floats 💉 Most horses benefit from annual dental visits. Some (especially performance horses) may even need it every 6-9 months. Need an appointment for your horse(s)? Message us to schedule 🗓️ We travel throughout eastern NC and can also see haul-ins to our farm in Goldsboro. Preventative care is key 🔑

02/19/2025

Colic can be a stressful and scary occurrence for equine owners, and it often requires the attention of an equine veterinarian to detect the cause of the episode and to provide treatment.

One way your horse doctor may try to determine the reason your equine companion is colicking is by performing a re**al examination. Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding the equine re**al exam:

• Re**al exams need to be performed by a skilled professional (your vet) or severe damage can occur to the internal structures.

• Re**al exams typically do not allow a veterinarian to alleviate the reason for colic. Your vet is feeling structures through the re**um not directly on the structures themselves, and therefore cannot pull out an impaction, etc.

• For the safety of the patient and your veterinarian, as well as the nature of the procedure, sedation is often required.

• NEVER perform a re**al exam yourself while waiting for the vet to arrive, as this could result in life threatening tears in the re**um and/or colon.

If you have questions or concerns that your equine companion may be colicking, please contact your veterinarian.

Thank you to the Horse Owner Education Committee for providing this information.

**alExams

02/17/2025

Exciting announcement for your Monday 👏🏼 OsPhos is very helpful for heel pain (navicular syndrome), bone pain, and back pain 💉

02/14/2025

01/26/2025

It is becoming standard practice for most equine veterinarians to prioritize (or only see) active patients (patients that are seen routinely every 6-12 months for general wellness visits). If you own a horse, you *really* need to have a good working relationship with an equine veterinarian. If not, you need to be willing to haul to NC State Vet School, if you cannot find a local vet to see a non-client emergency. We see this EVERY week. We are willing to see non-client emergencies, but we do put our established patients first and prioritize client emergencies. We are taking new patients, if you need a veterinarian and want to get your horse established as a patient. Emergencies happen at the most inconvenient times. Don’t delay in finding your horse a vet and being proactive! 🚨

Though we wish our horse doctors could be there for our equine friends in any emergency, the reality is that our horses' primary veterinarian cannot be available 24/7 and still juggle the needs of their own personal lives, health and happiness.

The most significant pain point for many veterinarians is caring for their clients during regular business hours and then also being on call for emergencies after hours. For single-doctor or small practices, this traditionally has been the case most nights of the week.

However, private veterinary practices and veterinary schools have more recently focused on developing new models for emergency care which ease the strain on individual practitioners. This includes the growth of emergency cooperatives where two or more practices in a geographic area work together to share after-hours care, as well as more emergency-only practices and the use of tele-triage services to address client concerns after normal business hours.

As equine veterinarians reevaluate what after-hours care looks like for their practices, the support of their clients is critical to creating a balance that works for both parties. If your horse doctor talks with you about changes in how after-hours care is delivered, we hope you’ll welcome the adjustments. This evolution of emergency care must take place in order for equine veterinarians to avoid burnout and continue to be at their best to treat all of your equine friends.

01/21/2025

It’s not uncommon to find horses and ponies living well into their 20s and 30s, thanks to continuous advances in nutrition and health care.

Horse owners have a big impact as well and can help their horses thrive in their golden years through proper management practices like those illustrated in the graphic. But remember, although there is much you can do on your own to keep your older horse happy and spry, some conditions associated with aging require medical intervention.

Scheduling regular visits and keeping a good line of communication with your veterinarian will allow you to respond quickly to any ailments or injuries that could cause your horse a serious or prolonged set back. That means less worry for you, and a better quality of life for your old friend!

01/17/2025

NC State Vet School Open House 2024 🐄

We look forward to celebrating our annual Open House on March 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

01/15/2025

In light of this scenario coming up multiple times over the last few weeks, if you are an equine / pet owner, please be advised and prepared 📝 Don’t wait until an emergency hits 🚨

01/10/2025

01/08/2025

Is your horse’s nighttime vision better than your daytime vision?

When comparing equine vision to human vision, the horse has a smaller visible spectrum (see image) which means they see a smaller range of colors than we do. However, horses have a structure in the back of their eye—called the tapetum lucidum—that humans do not have. This enhances vision in low light conditions and allows a horse to see better in the dark than a human does. However, reflections from the tapetum lucidum can also blur images and lead to poor depth perception at night.

Dilation of the pupil allows all species to see better in the dark. This process takes longer in a horse (45 minutes) than it does in humans (25 minutes). So, when a horse is asked to do something in a dark environment, it’s important to allow their vision proper time to fully accommodate.

Overall, the nighttime vision of a horse is better than the nighttime vision of a human. However, the horse’s nighttime vision is NOT better than the daytime vision of a human. Anytime you are asking your horse to function in a dim light situation, give them time to adjust. And if they are fearful, be patient and try to understand how things look from their perspective!
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/03/2025

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.
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Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/01/2025

My shotgun rider for New Year’s Day emergency calls 🚨🐾

12/31/2024

Happy New Year! 🎆 May 2025 bring you and your families many blessings 🙏🏻

End of year note for horse owners, today is the last day to claim rebates for GastroGard, UlcerGard, Equioxx, and Zimecterin Gold.

➡️ If you want to place an order for one of these products, please message us your requests today so we can process your order 12/31.

➡️ If you have purchased these products during 2024 (including Prascend), don’t forget to apply for your rebates. Cash back!

Link for rebates: https://www.boehringeringelheimequinerebates.com/ #/content/currentoffers

Price increase note for all owners: If you want to lock in any 2024 prices, please reach out to place orders today. Manufacturers and labs are increasing their prices over January/February.

12/28/2024

Cats and dogs love the benefits of MagnaWave PEMF therapy 〽️〰️

MagnaWave Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF) therapy is a massage at the cellular level. Every organ in our body produces it’s own bio-electromagnetic field. Using PEMF is a way to enhance those energy fields to stimulate cell metabolism, increase oxygenation, and reduce inflammation, thereby reducing pain and promoting healing.