Preventive care
Coggins (EIA) tests
Equine infectious anemia is caused by a retrovirus very similar to the human immunodeficiency virus. The disease spreads from flies to horses. The USDA regulates the testing of this disease using the Coggins test, which is used to diagnose the disease and is required for health certificates.
Dental care
We recommend annual oral examinations and dental adjustments (“floating” or filing down sharp points and maintaining a balanced surface to the teeth) to help maximize your horse’s digestion and athletic performance. This also supports their body condition as they age. When dental problems occur, we can help with the diagnosis and discuss treatment options for your horse. We also offer radiograph or oral endoscopy diagnostics and conservative treatment/oral extraction options for equine teeth.
Deworming
We can work with you and your barn to develop deworming programs tailored to each horse’s needs and age.
Diet consultation
Proper nutrition is necessary for all horses and often requires special tailoring to each horse to maximize their health and prevent adverse conditions.
Health certificates
In many travel situations, your horse will need a health certificate. We can perform the proper examination and issue you a certificate of health. These certificates will require an up-to-date Coggins test, which can vary depending on purposes, but in general is required every 6-12 months for out-of-state travel. We can help you determine if a new Coggins test is necessary depending on a destination of interest.
Vaccinations
Vaccinations prevent disease from harmful and infectious viruses such as rabies, influenza, and West Nile Virus. A recommended annual core vaccine program includes rabies, eastern and western equine encephalitis viruses, West Nile Virus, and tetanus. We recommend other vaccines based on your horse’s needs or risk of exposure.
Wellness exams
To screen for optimum health and wellness, your horse should have a veterinary examination at least annually. By evaluating factors such as age, performance, breed, health and environment, we base our recommendations on your horse’s individual needs.
Primary and emergency care
Acupuncture
Used for a variety of problems to help a horse recover from an injury or back pain, acupuncture can also be helpful to aid in the maintenance of whole body wellness. Most horses enjoy and relax into the experience of acupuncture. For support while healing from an injury, a series of three treatments is recommended to maximize the benefit for your horse.
Castrations
Gelded (castrated) horses often have an improved quality of life compared to stallions because their management can be comingled with other horses. Castration should be considered for male horses that are not intended for breeding. We perform all of our castrations with the horse under anesthesia and lying down for safety purposes. We also assess for wolf teeth and can extract wolf teeth while they are under anesthesia.
Euthanasia
It is sometimes necessary to consider your horse’s health and quality of life when deciding whether to continue treatment. Our team can aid you in making these heartbreaking decisions. Should you decide euthanasia is the best decision for your horse, we can perform the procedure at your own barn, which is a comfortable and familiar environment to your horse. We can also offer you the assistance of counselors at the hospital’s Argus Institute, who can guide you through all of the considerations of end-of-life decision-making, grieving, and moving forward.
Gastroscopy
Gastric (stomach) ulcers are a very common problem among horses in training or undergoing stress of any kind. This can cause signs like colic, poor appetite, teeth grinding/cinchy-ness or poor performance. A gastroscope uses a small fiber optic tube equipped with a small camera to visualize your horse’s stomach and esophagus to diagnose stomach ulcers. This procedure does not cause pain and is similar to passing a stomach tube when a horse experiences colic signs.
Lameness exams and management
Identifying the source of a horse’s discomfort is essential to maximize their athletic performance and comfort while riding. Our portable diagnostic equipment include digital radiography (X-ray) and ultrasound, and if necessary, we can refer you to the hospital’s equine surgery and lameness service for additional assessment and treatment (including CT, MRI, and surgery).
Inserting medication into a horse’s joint can help the joint heal, can protect the joint, can block pain, and/or can help us determine lameness. In the field, we are able to provide joint injections with steroids, hyaluronic acid, interleukin receptor antagonist protein therapy, stem cells, platelet-rich plasma therapy, and shockwave therapy.
Lump removal
Horses can develop a variety of lumps or bumps, such as sarcoids, which we can diagnose and remove in many cases. If the lump is not in a location that is safe to remove in the field, we can offer local chemotherapy in some situations, or refer you to the hospital team for further treatment options.
Newborn foal examinations
Newborn foals should receive a complete physical examination within the first 24 hours of life to determine overall health, vigor, and attitude. This exam should also include a blood test to determine the IgG antibody absorption from the mare’s colostrum to help reduce the risk of potentially life-threatening diseases during early development.
Pre-purchase examinations
As a potential buyer, you want to know that you are investing in a healthy horse able to perform at the level you intend. We can provide a complete examination including lameness evaluation to assess the health of the horse and discuss any issues that may compromise the ability to meet your expectations. This examination can be as detailed as you desire and include blood work or radiographic evaluation of the horse’s joints.
Radiography examinations
Utilizing state-of-the-art digital radiograph equipment, we can perform radiographic evaluations of the skeletal system including the head, neck, distal extremities for lameness, and dental assessment. This is also available during emergency visits.
Ultrasound examinations
Ultrasound can be used to evaluate tendons, ligaments, and other structures that may contribute to your horse’s lameness. We can also screen the abdominal and thoracic cavities to assess organ and intestinal health. We can use ultrasound to monitor heat cycles or pregnancy in mares. Colic ultrasounds can be used to help determine if surgery is needed. If a horse has a lump, the ultrasound can be used to help characterize what is inside the tissue.
Upper airway endoscopy
Equine performance issues often can be attributed to upper airway disorders. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic tool that uses a small fiber optic tube equipped with a small camera to visualize areas of interest such as the upper airway. This is a safe procedure that is recommended when your horse has respiratory noise during exercise or experiences bloody nasal discharge.
Wound management
In the field, we can perform surgical repair, bandaging, and application of casts to treat many wounds. Wound care can sometimes take a long time for full recovery and we work together with you through the stages of wound healing. Sutures (stitches) can be used for newly acquired lacerations to help protect the wound during healing.
Specialized technology
We have three ambulatory vehicles equipped with diagnostic technologies, including:
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
If you have a horse with an arrhythmia and referral to the hospital’s cardiology service is not an option, a consult can be arranged with ECG to characterize the arrhythmia and develop next step recommendations.
Endoscopy
We offer both gastroscope and upper airway endoscopy, including the ability to enter guttural pouches. These examinations can be performed on a consult basis with a teamed appointment.
Radiography
We are fully equipped with portable digital radiograph units and can assist you in the field with capturing images of regions of interest, including the head, neck, and limbs. We can provide these images on a thumb drive or email on site, and if interested, can submit them to our radiologists in the hospital for further interpretation.
Ultrasound
Our team can perform ultrasound imaging of musculoskeletal system or of the abdomen or thorax. Our boarded internist can provide a consultation on cases including complicated pneumonia, neoplasia, fevers of unknown origin, diarrhea, and hepatic or renal imaging.