Monadnock Equine Veterinary Services

01/14/2025

08/28/2024

As you may have seen on the news, human cases of EEE have been reported in NH, VT, MA, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, and the case in NH was fatal. There have also been 4 equine cases of West Nile Virus reported in Pennsylvania in the last week, and many cases of EEE in horses in NY. Since we will likely have mosquitoes well into October, we are encouraging anyone whose horses were vaccinated prior to May to get boosters. EEE is almost always fatal in horses, and WNV is far more likely to cause symptoms and death in horses than in does in humans.

07/19/2024

Another call today from a client with a sick horse and no thermometer. Please, please, please make sure you have one in your barn. A digital thermometer from any drug store will work just fine. Always helpful to know the horse’s temp before they get bute or banamine!

07/02/2024

In June 1994, I left California to move back home to New Hampshire. I officially opened Monadnock Equine Veterinary Services on July 1, 1994. Later this month we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary, and I am inviting clients and friends to join us. Please come by for an evening of fun, food, and fireworks on July 20, 2024, from 5 PM until 9 (or whenever) at my home at 464 Old Chesham RD in Marlborough. Please let us know if you are going to attend so we can plan. Leave a response in the comments , message me, email us at [email protected], or text the office at 603-876-4820. Whether you want to stop by for five minutes to say hello, or hang out with us for hours, we would love to see you there.

04/25/2024

Wednesday started out with a bang. A client’s horse had fallen through the floor of his stall, and ended up under the floor in the adjacent crawl space. Luckily for all of us, the horse was a rock star and didn’t panic,
which allowed me to crawl in with him and sedate him. The New Ipswich and Keene fire departments did awesome work pulling off the floor over the horse and building a ramp to get him out. The horse got through it with only minor injuries.

04/18/2024

I wonder if most horse owners realize that equine power dentistry is veterinary medicine. There are certainly non-veterinarians who charge to power float teeth, but they are violating the NH veterinary practice act when they do so. There is no NH licensure for “equine dentists.” There are no degree requirements, no continuing ed requirements, and there is no professional board overseeing the practice. Obviously, vets have to have all of the above. A horse’s oral health is intrinsic to his overall health, performance, and well-being, and as such it is an integral part of the care we provide. Even more concerning is the administration of prescription sedatives such as xylazine and detomidine by non-licensed individuals. These are prescription drugs, to be given only by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian. The practice act does allow hand floating by non-veterinarians. I know some owners prefer not to have their horses power floated ( a topic for another discussion), and it is OK for them to use a lay person, but only a veterinarian can legally give or prescribe sedatives or other medications, pull teeth, and float with power tools.

03/23/2024

Ran Vitamin E levels on several horses on this supplement and they were all low. The label says it’s natural, but the vitamin E in the ingredients is dl alpha tocopherol. The “dl” is the giveaway. Dl alpha tocopherol is synthetic. Natural Vitamin E is RRR alpha tocopherol or d alpha tocopherol.

02/21/2024

March is right around the corner! Unfortunately we will not be doing the free exams with spring vaccinations this year due to time constraints, but we ARE offering a 10% discount on spring shots for the month of March. Please call the office at (603)876-4820 to make an appointment. Book early; space is limited and fills up quickly!

01/10/2024

Thanks for all of your kind comments and support. To reiterate one point of my last post - make sure you have a relationship with a vet that provides emergency care BEFORE you have an emergency. I realize I’m preaching to the choir, as most of you reading this are clients of ours, but for someone new to horses or new to an area, I can’t stress this enough. It’s also a good idea to have a plan for transporting your horse to a hospital should the need arise. If you don’t have a trailer, have someone lined up to trailer for you if you can’t get a vet out or if your horse needs to be referred.

Emergencies are always stressful, but knowing in advance that you can get your horse the help he needs will make the situation a lot easier.

01/03/2024

We recently got a bad review on gooogle because we wouldn’t do a call outside of our service area. The review went into how badly the horse was hurt and how awful we were for not seeing it, though none of those details were conveyed to my office when the owner called.

I’m not posting this to complain (well ok, maybe a little), but to clarify our policy on emergencies. We provide 24 hour emergency coverage to established clients, which we define as a client whose horse(s) we have seen for non-emergency care within the last year. Calling us once a year for an emergency does not count! We see non-client emergencies at our discretion, and only if they are in our call area. As most of you know, we cover a lot of territory, and we can’t stretch any thinner.

Since most equine vets have a similar policy, it is imperative for horse owners to establish a relationship with an equine vet in their area who provides emergency coverage!