You may have heard of Equine Metabolic Syndrome or 'EMS' before, it has only really been recognised as a syndrome for the past ten years although horses have been suffering with it for a lot longer, as the way we keep horses has changed over time. We also have a much better understanding of laminitis now and EMS is known to be one of the most common causes of laminitis.
Do you want the best standard of healthcare for your horse throughout the year with the option to pay monthly for it?
Here at Ridings Equine Vets we want to be part of your horses lives in the good times and not just the emergencies! We believe that if we can be involved in your horses preventative health care throughout the year we are better prepared to help whenever you have concerns.
Tumeric has become very popular over recent years and I have seen it used as a food supplement and as a skin ointment for horses. A study into horse owner experiences of tumeric¹ found that the most common reason owners fed turmeric was for arthritis and lameness. Following the launch of a recent horse feed with turmeric as an ingredient I thought it would be useful to give an overview of turmeric and help to give you some more information so you can decide for yourself whether to feed it to your horse
Recently we've seen a few cases of horses with nasal discharge and we thought it would be a good idea to post about one of the conditions we associate with nasal discharge.
When a horse starts to show signs of colic things can quickly become stressful for all involved, whether you have noticed colic in your own horse, your friend’s horse or you are a livery yard owner and you have noticed a livery horse start to show signs of discomfort. A plan is needed to be in place so that decisions can be made quickly, and the horse has the best chance of a successful outcome.
Kissing spines (known as overlapping or impinging dorsal spinous processes) involves the bones along the spine from the withers to the point of the hip. With Kissing spine these bones have a smaller gap between them or are touching causing pain. It is often diagnosed after back pain is noticed either when the saddle is placed on the back, under ridden work or when the back is palpated.
2019 has seen the biggest outbreak of equine influenza for a long time and cases continue to rise, more so during the summer due to the mixing of horses at competitions and organised events. Cases of strangles are also on the rise as the latest figures from the Animal Health Trust (AHT) show.
First off - what is it - it is a condition of horses incisors being recognised much more frequently in horses, can cause significant pain and is often only picked up after we see a horse for a dental. It is seen most frequently in...
2019 has been a very bad year for laminitis, there has hardly been a day go by where one of the team hasn’t been diagnosing and treating at least one case, some weeks many more.
I have always strongly advocated taking radiographs of the feet of horses suspected of or diagnosed with laminitis, the sooner in the disease process the better. Here are my reasons why:
Unfortunately the current flu outbreak accelerated during June affecting horses up and down the country with cases identified in West Yorkshire. Transmission of equine flu occurs through either respiratory or indirect means such as clothing or equipment which means it can spread rapidly through a yard passing from horse to horse.
With all the recent focus on equine flu I thought I should add some information on tetanus.
Equine tetanus is considered much more important to vaccinate against and is a protection we would strongly advise all horses to have. Tetanus is frequently a fatal disease of horses that they do not catch from another horse, but get can get from contaminated wounds - including surgical wounds like castration, nail punctures of the hoof or tooth removal.
Dare I say the sun seems to be making an appearance this weekend, as the weather warms up it's worth keeping in mind we aren't the only ones that will be getting hot and bothered. I'm so pleased that our horses are finally getting to have more time outside with the sun on their backs so I've put together a few tips for keeping our horses hydrated and happy over summer. The photo is Denver who was very happy when he got to have a naked roll when I took his rug off on Monday! Jess Timmins x
