Looking after your horse’s basic healthcare needs ensures prevention of health issues and helps pick up potential problems early and before they become major health issues. Routine vaccination, dental care and worm management ensure good basic health.
Health screening is tailored to the life stage of your horse, for example, health checks of a newborn foal are very different of those of the elderly horse or a competition horse. Our vets are very knowledgeable and can guide you in this process.
We recommend having a yearly ‘Annual Health Check’ in December, January or February ahead of the competition season. These checks consist of a heart, lung and abdomen auscultation, dental check with routine floating, general examination of the skin, palpation of the limbs and gait assessment at walk and trot. A worm count can be run in our lab and tailored advice given with regards to your horses individual deworming needs. An ‘all clear’ AHC sets you up for the next spring. If we pick up any issues, these can be further investigated and dealt with before the competition season starts in earnest. Routine blood analysis can be added to the AHC in order to make sure your horse is in top health.
If you are considering breeding your mare, a gynaecological examination can be performed to check her suitability. Samples can be taken as required by the stud or studbook guidelines. This examination can be carried out at your yard if you have suitable stocks, or the mare can be examined safely at our clinic or stud.
All foals must be microchipped and registered within their birth year and every horse is legally obliged to have a passport. We can help and advise you regarding the process.