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!

So many of my friends feed multi vitamins and balancers. My 20 yo TB x ID is only fed hay/ fibre/ grass and is only lightly hacked at weekends now.

Should I be feeding vitamins like everyone tells me I should? Btw, she's got a beautiful shiny coat and seems well etc.

I recommend a balancer to all my laminitics as they are not getting grass and we are soaking their hay so leaching out most of the nutrients. Beyond this- no, they should be getting everything they need in their diet.

@stripeyronnie Thank you for a brilliant thread. Is there any particular balancer you would recommend for a laminitic?

My favourite is one from a company called Hestevard called Bozmerix balancer- it contains boswellia too which helps with their comfort levels. It's expensive though so if that isn't an option I just send them to their tack shop for an unmolassed balancer.

Brilliant thread, thank you

Fab AMA!

I’d like to ask whether you think any of the ‘old wives tales’ type remedies work? Other owners at our yard recommend all sorts of weird and wonderful remedies sometimes.

Also, how much do you believe a horse bonds with its owner and how in synch they are with each other? My daughter has Tourette’s and also has absence seizures. Her pony always seems to be able to tell between a tic and an actual instruction - DD had a clicking tic for a while and even when lunging, her pony would ignore the tic. She also seems to know when DD is having an absent seizure - to the casual observer, it’s quite hard to tell when she’s having one and they’re over within seconds, but without fail her pony will stop and stand perfectly still. Several times, when grooming or something like that, I’ve also witnessed pony appearing to position her body around DD as if she’s protecting her/can catch her if she falls. I wonder how much of it is us making assumptions/anthropomorphising and how much she is actually capable of.

Thanks!

I love this thread ! I currently am under the hoof of my son's retired 43 year old pony , and a Redwings guardian for another who they say has to be a companion only . Despite keeping her on very poor restricted grazing on a track , and bringing her in every night , plus walking her in hand , she still is overweight by more than I would like . Is there anything else I can do to get her to drop some weight ? She lives off thin air , no treats , is never rugged , and lunging is not an option. Come winter of course she will drop off , but that doesn't help her now.

Old wives remedies- pig oil and sulphur definitely helps mites! But it stinks! I can't think of any others that I would recommend.
I do think horses and all animals have a 'six sense' if you can call it that- we know that dogs can absolutely detect when people are about to seizure- it wouldn't surprise me if horses could too!

43! What a legend. I guess it would depend how overweight they were- a bit chubby I don't mind at this age as they do tend to drop more over the winter- you have limited options about what else you could try except perhaps a grazing muzzle? Anything else will have detrimental effects for other reasons- eg I wouldn't recommend restricting grazing and movement further due to stiffening up. I would probably be quite relaxed about this one unless they are very fat!

The oldies at work are all on https://www.silvermoor.com/product/silvermoor-veteran/ and it seems very palatable! And a good amount of sugar beet (without molasses)

Are you able to explain this? It was years ago but I still wonder about it when I walk past the field.

I was on a walk with my son and noticed a horse with what appeared to be black membranes hanging out of her rear end. She kept raising her tail and seemed uncomfortable. I thought she might be foaling but I’m fairly sure black isn’t a good sign? I tried to find someone to tell and ended up speaking with the farmer across the road but they weren’t interested. I never did see a foal in that field so assume it didn’t end well.

Problem that it is ryegrass

Do you mean like lumps? If so it would be sarcoidosis

Sorry, autocorrect. Sarcoids. Not sarcoidosis.

I can't comment on that specific case (as looking at a photo and commenting gets too close to a diagnosis for me to be comfortable with as I'm not your vet) but membranes are often discoloured from being dragged through the mud, if they are retained they can become discoloured and dark but the mare would usually become unwell quite quickly.

They do a Timothy one too.

Recommended that one because they all eat it very happily 😊

My horses are trimmed about twice a year. I've been barefoot for 15+ years and would never EVER ask a vets opinion about feet. Everything important and useful that I've learnt has been via Nic at Rockley farm.

Dectomax has zero effect on mine. Mites are the bane of my life and my cobs. I've used flea collars in the past and everything else but not heard specifically of bravecto. Will look it up. Mine live out year round, so bedding etc not to blame.

Anyone else thinking of that one Rick and Morty episode? :)

What are new advances in the field you're looking forward to and feel would really benefit the practice?

@omgsally I am glad you are not my client!

Good question. I think within a decade or two most practices will have easy access to standing MRI and it will come down in price to be more accessible to most. I think ultrasound will be used for everything- I am now using it to assess wounds, backs, eyes and things I wouldn't have even considered scanning a decade ago. As technology advances the images you can get are phenomenal, even on a portable machine. So basically- diagnostic imaging advances.

Apologies all! When i mentioned bravecto collars earlier- I meant seresto - these bloody small animal products all have such similar names!

This is bit off topic, sorry.

DS came home from a horse care course and declared he wanted to be a vet. According to the school he can achieve the academic side but the only vet I know is a girl I went to school with many moons ago and I recall she had to prove her willingness but hundreds of hours of experience before applying to uni. Is this still the case (or was it ever)? With all the safeguarding etc do vets ever have work experience kids?

We’re not in exam years yet but I want to help him as much as I can.

Good for him- I am always delighted to see people apply- it's a wonderful profession.
It's still very competitive- about 40 applicants per place last time I heard. Work experience is what stands you out from the crowd- vets will take school students in a small animal setting normally. Other things to do are lambing, milk cows, work in a kennel or cattery, work in a riding school, go to an abattoir, go to a pig or chicken farm to get experience of intensive management. The wider the variety of experience the more he will stand out!

Ah ok, wider experience is a great tip. And also is nice to hear someone encouraging new blood (unlike a lot of professions).

I don’t know where he’s getting it, anything “squidgy” makes me faint and dh hates high pressure. On the course they learnt about feeding, grooming etc and he was fascinated. His first step was reading all the James Herriot books!