Category: Horse Health
On the back of our new ‘Ask The Vet’ series, we had a question in from Colin in Co. Meath. A question that is particularly relevant for this time of year, with the grass FINALLY starting to grow! I recently bought a pony for my young daughter, he is an absolute gent and a great […]
Apologies, but our ‘ask the vet’ series is currently closed 🙂 Veterinary medicine is progressing fast. New therapies, new drugs and new treatments are being unveiled at an increasingly rapid rate and while this is great news for our horses, their health and their soundness, it can be confusing for us horse owners. But have […]
New research highlighting the effectiveness of grazing muzzles as a tool to help with weight management has also shown that longer grass can be more difficult for muzzled ponies to graze, and can cause frustration-related behaviour in some individuals. Grazing muzzles have already been shown to reduce the pasture intake of ponies by around 80% […]
To allow targeted, effective worming, horses need to be sorted into groups in accordance with their level of risk of clinical disease. It is also imperative that pasture contamination is kept to a minimum through good management. High risk horses: High density grazing New horses introduced to the group often Horses under 3 years in […]
An effective worm control programme should form an essential part of every horse owner’s health care program. But the wide range of branded wormers on the market, with their different drug components and differing recommended dosing programmes can make it hard for us to understand exactly which wormers we should use at different times of the year. How […]
Presentation A 3-year-old thoroughbred presented to clinic with a history of progressive weight loss over a short period of time despite a big increase in feed. She had been in preparation for the sales and within a couple of weeks her health started to deteriorate. The filly started to show intermittent episodes of mild colic […]
Is your horse overweight, underweight, or just about right? Weight loss is a common cause of worry for horse owners. However, significant weight gain should be of similar concern and we are finding all too many horses carrying far too much weight. An over weight horse will have extra stress and strain placed on its joints, […]
This is a 20-year-old pony that was presented at Greenmount Equine Hospital with a history of weight loss but no decrease in appetite, abnormal hair growth and a few episodes of laminitis. Could you guess what condition this pony suffers from? Could you list 4 common clinical signs of this condition? Can it be diagnosed […]
Laminitis is a devastating disease of the hoof that can result in the end of the horse’s athletic career, or worse still euthanasia. It is one of the most common causes of death in the horse – second only to colic. In this article, our veterinary expert Nikki Walshe from Greenmount Equine Hospital outlines the […]
Following on from our previous article on ‘soundness‘, our equine rehabilitation specialist Catherine McCourt discusses 4 more ways to know if your horse isn’t sound. Unusual stable behaviours If your horse stops hanging his head over the stable door and is instead standing at the back of the stable with his head in the corner, then chances […]