I'm a horse vet- ask me anything.

[stripeyronnie]

I'm a vet and exclusively deal with horses (and the odd donkey)- ask me anything!

1. Feeding supplements that have no evidence eg turmeric- to give enough curcumin to which is the anti inflammatory component of turmeric you would need to feed a bucket a day.
2. Allowing feet to go 10+ weeks without trimming or worse, reshoeing.
3. Obesity- 80% of the horses I see are overweight- this affects everything, especially lameness.

There is a significant shortage of equine vets- it's really hard to recruit anyone with experience. We just wouldn't have enough bodies on the ground to allow someone to be off every other week.

I'm so sorry to hear about your horse. I truly believe horse owners go through the same stages of grief that they do when they lose a person. There is no timeline, but you will go through disbelief/ anger/ sadness. It will get better. People always struggle more when there is no lead up- so sudden illness and accidents are always so much worse for the people to deal with.

I am so with you on this! My daughter was told by her friend it was cruel not to rug her New Forest, luckily she answered back 'who goes and rugs all the ones in the wild then?'

There should be a good working relationship between vets and farriers, it would be a rare day that I don't speak to one. We should be bouncing cases backwards and forwards- laminitis, foot abscesses, canker- all need a farrier at the centre of their care with a vet coming in for the drugs and diagnosis parts. Sadly some farriers don't work well with vets, others I would consider good friends. That relationship is the difference between a good and a bad outcome for some cases as both parties need to be prepared to listen, compromise and accept the other knows things they don't.
Dental work- that age old question. A qualified EDT should be doing a good job on any horses mouth. Many horse 'dentists' are not qualified- you should always check they are BAEDT. I wouldn't let anyone else near a horses mouth. The biggest issue I see with dentists is doing a beautiful job at the front and not touching the back- because in an unsedated horse with its head in the air you could not reach without a ladder!

I know this is a stupid question but why aren’t horses put to sleep like cats and dogs? Is it simply because of their size or something else?

i don’t know enough to understand why a humane killer is used rather than overdose of anaesthesia.

thank you

The vast majority of horses I will put to sleep will be by injection- which is an overdose of anaesthetic- sadly because of their size they have to fall down and we can't control that beyond trying to stop their head hitting the ground. What I always say to people is they are unaware before they hit the ground- I truly believe this- their eyes glaze over just before they go down. It is the worst part of my job and I sometimes cry in the car after but try to hold it together in front of the client.
There is an option to have them shot, most of the time this is done because it is cheaper to dispose of the body. A horse is expensive to cremate and if they are injected this is the only option. If they are shot they can go to the zoo/ pet food. I don't have a gun licence so I would need to arrange someone else to do this but with my client base it is rarely requested.

Do you have your own horse?

I wanted to be an equine vet from the age of 7-17 and now work in finance, really wish I’d pursued it!

What are your thoughts on the racing industry in relation to horse welfare?

No I don't- a few reasons.

1. I couldn't afford the type of set up I would want- I am very very fussy about fencing, year round turnout, grass quality (poor, not fertilised)
2. As I couldn't keep them at home I would need to be a livery yard and my experience of that has been that clients do not respect boundaries- I would essentially be at work all the time.
3. One way I have found so survive in this industry which can be pretty toxic is to have my personal life largely removed from all things equine.

How do you cope with owners who don't follow guidance leading to the horse suffering? Eg with weight and laminitis or not following post procedure protocols. I couldn't be a vet because I think I'd end up on jail or at least on a disciplinary. Do you need a stiff gin or have a punchbag

I have some concerns, however overall racehorses are some the best looked after horses in the country. Their injuries are well publicised- there is a lot of research going into how to predict catastrophic fractures before they occur- that in my opinion would be the turning point the racing industry needs. I have largely moved away from racing work now- I prefer the well loved pet (or performance) horse model as I just get too emotionally involved.

I'm pretty blunt. I see myself as the animals advocate- sometimes they need someone to speak for them. If I think their welfare is compromised due to something someone is doing I will say, and follow it up. It doesn't always make you very popular and can result in horrible campaigns against you on social media. As a result I don't really do social media.

Thank you for answering my question @stripeyronnie. Your compassion and advocacy for horses shines through in your responses.

my next question is - what are the three things you wish the general public would learn about horses?

The first is that many of the issues we see in horses are man made- so if you stop trotting your horses on roads, stabling them so much, giving them huge hard feeds with small amounts of fibre, and expecting them to cope on their own then we would resolve so many issues.
The second is that we hear the phrase 'they won't kick you'- daily- they might not kick you, the owner, but you aren't sticking your hand up their backside or putting a needle in their leg. I never ever listen to this- I make my own judgement.
The third is vettings- there is no such thing as a 'clean vetting' - I have done several hundred and one every single one I have found a list of issues- but many of them won't affect the horses ability to do its job. People that wait for a clean bill of health will be waiting a very long time.

I watch a lot of YouTube videos of animals being born as my sons are fascinated by birth, and I love watching horse births.

There always seems to be some conflict though as to whether the owners should intervene to help, or whether the mare should just be left to birth alone.

What are your thoughts on this and what would make you ever want to intervene?

And this may be a silly question, but are there any circumstances where a horse would have a c-section, either a planned one or in an emergency situation?

Leave them alone, but watch from a distance, there are very few foalings that need intervention but those that do need it fast, usually before the vet can get there- so we usually are talking you through it on the phone. I hate turning up to a foaling and seeing the owner, their neighbour, the neighbours kids and the rest of the village out to watch. Minimal people, silence, darkness- that's what mares are looking for and will often hold onto their foals until they get it.
Caesareans have a very low success rate in horses but can be successful if you live a mile or two away from an equine hospital that has a surgeon on site in the middle of the night, eg in Newmarket. Often only the mare or foal will survive- rarely both. Luckily they are rarely needed.

I just realised you asked me about the general public- which may or may not be the same as the horse owning public.
General public- don't ever feed a horse over a fence. Carrots are like sweets for horses and are often the reason why a horse will have issues like laminitis.
They are dangerous- there's no getting around it- even the nicest riding school pony can behave unpredictability- if you can't accept that risk don't bother with riding lessons!
If you see an awful accident that the vet is dealing with in a public place- please don't stand and gawp- the horse deserves dignity as much as any human- just walk on by.

Thank you for this.

What are your thoughts on riding schools? My Daughter has weekly group lessons at a school, she has a different horse each week. They genuinely seem like a great school but actually, what makes a great school in your professional opinion?

A good riding school will limit how many hours the horses work each day so they are not going stale, they should also be doing different things and not just following the leader. All riding schools have to be inspected so they will all pass a minimum welfare standard. My biggest concern about riding schools is often the use of young children as unpaid labour (but then parents use them as free childcare and just dump them there over the holidays!)

Thanks OP.

I'm near Newmarket (RIP AHT) and understand that historically we can trace much advancement in veterinary medicine directly to £££ from the racing industry, and not only for horses but small animals too (for example, improved survival rates when the animal spends the night at the vet before planned surgeries).

Why on earth does my elderly (TB type - 29 years old) pony who lives out, unrugged, with companions, get a rabid lice infestation every winter, but the others, who he is in contact with, do not?? Drives me mad. And I have no idea where the bloody lice are coming from! Certainly not the others he shares the fields with - I go over them with (literally!) a fine tooth comb, and nothing. He is crawling with them. I Deosect at the first sign, which works a treat, and damned if i can find any on his super sleek summer coat but, come winter, back they come! Vet shrugs and says it's common but where on earth do they come from?

For a number of areas, specifically in orthopaedics, we are leading the field not just in veterinary medicine, but also human medicine- for example we have been using stem cells for years! It always intrigues me that when you have an orthopaedic injury you don't get a specific diagnosis until much further down the line when physio/ rest/ pain relief hasn't helped. In horses we will get a diagnosis usually within a couple of weeks of injury. The money surrounding racing is the main reason for the advances in equine orthopaedics. And yes the AHT is a sad loss....

Thanks OP, this is fascinating.

What is your opinion on natural hoof care Vs shoeing?

Do you have any thoughts on equine assisted therapy?

You need to test him for Cushings- it makes them significantly more susceptible.