News & Resources

Veterinary Dental Health Month

• February is Veterinary Dental Health Month. Join us in improving your horse’s overall welfare by starting with a dental examination. • The AAEP recommends yearly examinations for horses between 5 and 20 years of age and twice yearly for all others. • Dental examinations should include sedation and use of a speculum to ensure that your horse’s full mouth can be examined. Read more here about what to expect during your horse’s dental examination. (https://aaep.org/horsehealth/dental-examination) • Schedule your dental examination in February for Half Off. Dental examinations include sedation, oral exam and recommendations for care or treatment. • Does not include call charge. • Aftercare such as teeth floating may be performed at the time of examination at you […]

How Often Should You Have Your Horse’s Teeth Floated?

Equine Dental Examinations vs.Teeth Floating I am sure you have all heard various recommendations about teeth floating.  Everything from “I never float my horses teeth” to “it needs to be done for optimum performance and health” to “every 6 months for horses less than 5 years of age and over 17.”  So what is it? Never? Every 6 months?  Let’s discuss. We know that we have changed the lives and diets of horses dramatically.  They no longer eat scrub grass from the rocky ground.  Natural selection does not determine breeding and we often select for characteristics with no regard for effect on dentition.  But the one thing that is still the same is the teeth of the horse still have an incredibly long root that allows […]

Keeping Toes Warm in Winter

Winter equine activities can be miserable when your toes are cold.  We did a little research looking for advice on how best to battle this cold weather nuisance.  Our veterinarians will often use disposable foot warmers in their boots to provide protection on long days in frigid temperatures.  Most advise letting the packets warm up before placing them in their boots to get the maximum benefit from them.  Other helpful tips for keeping those digits comfy include: A proper pair of boots rated for our climate.  This means they should be rated for temperatures in the teens since our average low in our coldest month of January is 17 degrees Fahrenheit. (USClimateData.com).  Consider purchasing your boots a little roomy to be sure they are not too tight […]

Client Education Seminar

Fall 2019 As horse owners we have all dealt with lameness problems and understand how frustrating they can become. Horses are like any athlete, they perform and exercise and sometimes become sore. The first problem is that before we can even get started in trying to help them is that we must figure out what is bothering them. The best lameness examinations start with obtaining an accurate history on the horse. This is followed by a complete physical examination looking closely at the horses conformation as well differences in body symmetry. Finally, the lameness examination, where your horse is walked and trotted and perhaps even ridden to try to decipher what is hurting. Flexion tests, nerve and joint blocks are […]

Bone Scans

Nuclear Scintigraphy is commonly called a bone scan.  Bone scans are very sensitive ways to image orthopedic conditions in the horse.  The technique uses a biologically safe radioisotope combined with a compound used by bone to target areas where there are bony changes or where the bone is actively forming, such in areas of injury or fracture. This compound, known as a radiopharmaceutical, is injected into the bloodstream of the horse and then a special camera, called a gamma camera, is used to image the musculoskeletal system. Abnormal areas, called lesions (or areas of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake) are seen as “hot” or “cold” spots on the images.  These images can be viewed on a monitor or printed on paper.  Bone scans are especially useful in helping […]