Month: September 2016

With Autumn round the corner and trees clearly displaying their seeds now is the time to identify and deal with the risks of any sycamore trees on or near your horse’s grazing advise vets at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA). Sycamore seeds are toxic and can cause the fatal disease Seasonal Pasture Myopathy (SPM) […]

ISPCA Inspector David Walsh was recently alerted by a member of the public to a pony stuck in a river. Upon arrival at the scene, Inspector Walsh found a small black pony that had clearly been in the water some time as it was shivering and exhausted from unsuccessful attempts to get out of the […]

It’s been a sunny, lazy summer in the field for my good self. Between napping and maintaining a steady grass-to-mouth ratio, I have become well-padded, and somewhat complacent. Thus the woman has had quite a gentle run of it – although it’s only fair as she really doesn’t cope well in the heat – I’ve […]

Equine Gastric Ulceration Syndrome (EGUS) can affect any type of horse or foal in any environment. If your horse is displaying any unusual signs such as poor appetite, body condition and performance, changes in attitude or acute, recurrent colic it’s important to speak to your vet immediately, advises Zoetis vet Dr Wendy Talbot. Equine Gastric […]

With the hunting season nearly upon us, thinking about your horse’s fitness is extremely important. A fit and well- conditioned horse will have reduced chance of injury and a higher chance of looking and feeling great at the end of the season. Experts recommend that a period of eight weeks is needed in order for […]

During this year’s National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) 38% of horses were recorded as suffering from health problems and of these a third (32.9%) were categorised as lame. Consistent with previous surveys lameness was shown to be more likely to be caused by conditions such as osteoarthritis in the limb rather than problems in the […]

A 3 year old sporthorse filly was presented at Greenmount Veterinary Clinic. She had developed 6 sarcoids within 3 months of developing the first sarcoid. The mare had become dull and due to the location of the sarcoids could not be broken in. The owner was very distressed at the severity of the lesion particularly […]

Sarcoids are by far the most common skin cancer in horses with some reporting them to account for 90% (results spanning from 36-90%) of all skin neoplasms in horses.  They affect all equids and all breeds with no age or sex predisposition. There are numerous published or anecdotally reported treatments which reflects the variable efficacy […]

Proficiency in equine dentistry is becoming a standard requirement in practice and there has been significant progression in knowledge and techniques in recent years. To support the continuing advancements in this field the Equine Veterinary Journal has released a research collection of dentistry articles http://bit.ly/2bBDuMW. Co-edited by Paddy Dixon and Vicki Nicholls the collection is […]

Core strength… if you haven’t heard whisperings of it, read something about it, or been told you need to improve it, you must live a life of blissful isolation (or have very polite friends), as it’s been something of a buzz term recently. Our rider fitness expert Aislinn McKenna looks at what exactly is “core […]