General Medicine
This is the medicine you are more familiar with. We take a thorough history, asking you about appetite, any changes, what is your concern today. During the exam, we look at your horse’s eyes, mucous membrane color, check hydration status, take the temperature, listen to his heart, assess the teeth.
We use this exam as a baseline for any disease or lameness that is a concern. Ater the exam, we start a list of possible problems that can cause any abnormalities found on the exam or that you have detailed in the history. After the exam, we can run further diagnostic tests to confirm or Rule Out any diseases.
Diagnostic Tests
- Blood work to assess organ function and immune function.
- Radiographs (X-Rays) to assess any changes in the joints and soft tissues around the joints.
- Ultrasound is used to assess soft tissue structures such as ligaments, tendons, look for foreign bodies in abscesses, TMJ pain.
Therapy Options
We offer many different therapy options for care. Therapies include:
- Outpatient treatments: We treat the horse on a farm call or you haul in and haul home the same day, after treatment.
- Hospitalization: You horse stays with us for treatment. This is needed when the treatment requires IV fluids and daily medications.
Recommended Vaccinations
Horses are at risk to many preventable diseases. We recommend a group of CORE vaccinations. Core vaccinations are those that every horse should have. We have met horses that have truly horrible vaccination reactions. These horses then are managed in different ways.
Core Vaccinations: These are given yearly to booster the horse’s immunity
- Tetanus
- Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis (EEE & WEE)
- West Nile Virus
- Rabies
There are other vaccines available. These are given depending on the lifestyle of a particular horse. Horses that travel often for showing or competition have different needs than those that are more homebodies
- Equine Influenza: Given every 4-6 months
- Rhinopneumonitis (EVH): Given every 4 months during times of stress or competition
- Strangles: Every 6-12 months
- Potomac Horse Fever: Every 6-12 months
- Most horses only need the vaccines in the core grouping.
Diet and Nutritional Consultation
Nutrition is VITAL to a horse’s well being. You can’t turn around without someone telling you they KNOW how to feed a horse. We are here to provide you with the knowledge and support you need to feed your horse optimally.
We are available for:
- Complete diet consultation
- Hay testing: why do it, where to have it done and what to do with the information
- Help with supplementation
- Feed allergies: Testing and ration development
