Articles
Stay informed with our topical articles, all written by our equine vets.
Tooth decay in horses
Similar to humans, horses’ teeth suffer from decay, referred to as ‘caries’. Horses’ upper cheek teeth have infundibulae, cup-shaped invaginations in their grinding surface that are normally filled with a hard material called cementum. Sometimes these infundibulae are incompletely filled during development, leaving a cavity for food to settle in and decay. Over time the […]
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Thinking about breeding your mare?
Pre-Breeding Testing Taking your mare to stud? Depending on which stud you are going to, you may be asked to test for a variety of diseases. The most common disease is contagious equine metritis (CEM). This is a bacterial uterine infection caused by T. equigenitalis, K. pneumoniae or P. aeruginosa. Testing involves takes a swab […]
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Sweet Itch
Sweet itch is a common disease of horses in summer causing them to rub their mane, tail and body. It is caused by a hypersensitive reaction to the saliva of the female Culicoides midge. Affected patients can suffer from frenzied itching of the mane, tail, head, poll and abdominal areas. This results in loss of […]
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Anaesthesia with ‘Womble’
Under a general anaesthetic, concsciousness is lost preventing pain and stress to the horse before, during and after major surgery. Horses that are to undergo surgery under general anaesthesia are admitted to the clinic the day before their procedure. They will be thoroughly assessed to detect any potential risks. This involves examining the heart, lungs and […]
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Preventing gastric ulcers
Squamous ulceration and glandular ulceration are considered separate disease entities and whilst the risk factors for squamous ulceration are well publicised, further research is required for glandular ulcerative disease. By knowing the risk factors for ulcerative disease, we can endeavour to develop prevention strategies. In some horses, it is impossible to ascertain the trigger factor […]
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MRI provides the key to the diagnosis for Toby
Toby, a 7 year-old, Cob cross pony presented to Oakhill with a several week history of mild, right forelimb lameness. Despite a short period of box rest and pain-relief, the lameness did not resolve, and a veterinary opinion was sought. Nikki Platt, our senior lameness veterinary surgeon examined the pony and noted that the pony’s […]
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