Spring has Sprung
We hope you've had a reasonable winter and are excited about the season ahead. We've put together some interesting articles below for you to have a read, plus we have some specials and information to mention.
Dressage Wairarapa
Louisa came along to the recent Dressage Wairarapa competition at Solway - they put on the most incredible weather and as always, a friendly and well organised team. We can't recommend them highly enough if you or your business are looking for a sponsorship opportunity.
Horse Condition
We've had a mix of skinny horses and very fat horses get through the winter. The Wairarapa seems to be particularly prone to encysted cyathastomiasis - do get in touch if you want to get onto our worming program, which needs to be tailored to your horse and management style for maximum benefit. The laminitis risk never really went away with the mild winter - if your horse or pony is on the chubby side, check out this website https://www.bluecross.org.uk/fat-horse-slim - it has a fantastic PDF you can download.
Gastroscopy Clinic
We're contemplating running a gastroscopy clinic in the Wairarapa. This is where we pass a long camera down into the stomach to check for gastric ulcers, which can cause a variety of clinical signs from weight loss to behaviour problems. If you would be interested, email us to see if we have the numbers to get going.
Our New Vet
We're delighted to welcome Sanneke Neal along to the team. She graduated as a vet from Massey last year and has fitted seamlessly into the clinic. Smallies keep stealing her as she is amazing but she is keen on the horse work too, so you may see her out and about. She's done some extra dental education up in Cambridge earlier this year and has managed to get some extra kit which Louisa then promptly stole.. oops!
Equine Arthritis
We have managed to negotiate some extremely well priced H.Y. 50 injections. These are Sodium Hyaluronate injections, either given into the joint or into the vein, for various arthritic problems. If you think your horse may benefit from them, get in touch to have a chat. They're so well priced as short dated, and we only have a few horse's worth (subject to availability).
Competition Season Approaches
With the competition season upon us, this is a great time to run through your checklist to start in the best order you can. Appropriate worming, selenium testing, dental checks and vaccinations are a good place to start; also investigate any niggly lamenesses or performance issues. We are happy to have you and your farrier come into our clinic to take advantage of the undercover excellent footing if you want any foot balance x-rays to help make their job as easy as possible too.
Repeat Medications
We have been phasing in our RVM (Restricted Veterinary Medicine) system to make your (and our!) life easier when you are wanting repeat medications. We legally have to have you and your horse 'under our care' in the eyes of the law, and so an RVM is a type of prior authorisation the vet puts on your account for various things. For example, you may get us to come out to do a dental, we may discuss gastric ulcers and so you may want to be able to try Gastropel (Omeprazole) - we can put an RVM which means you call up and get them put aside without having to get another vet visit in the following year. The number of repeats and time frame depends on the individual case and drug involved.
Many happy rides - and may you have a healthy, sane and sound horse!
Published Thursday 12th of September 2019