Our dedicated equine only team can offer all routine health care needed to keep your horse, pony or donkey healthy either at your yard or at our Newbiggin or Dalston practices.
Our vets focus almost entirely on equine and we have four equine technicians who take care of in-patients and support the vets.
We are always happy to chat on the phone about any concerns or advise you would like about keeping your animals healthy.
Vaccinating your horse can help to protect them against life threatening diseases, such as tetanus, and performance debilitating diseases, such as Equine Influenza and Equine Herpes virus. Effective treatment of these diseases can be very difficult and vaccines are the only proven method of prevention, so it is important to keep your horse up to date.
The high percentage of horses that are vaccinated in the UK is believed to be responsible for the reduction in numbers of clinical cases of these diseases and for the reduction in numbers of affected horses during outbreaks
Vaccination schedules for horses NOT racing under BHA rules
Horses racing under BHA rules or intended for racing now must follow shorter vaccination intervals as of January 2022, which includes booster vaccinations for equine influenza every 6 months. For further information and to calculate vaccination dates please visit the British Horseracing Authority's vaccination calculator https://vaca.horseracing.software/
Since 2009 it has been a legal requirement for all horses to have a passport. All foals need to get a passport, and this must be done before the foal is 6 months old or before 31st December, whichever is later. Microchipping is part of the passport application process and is done at the same time. Microchipping is a simple, safe and quick procedure. The microchip is inserted into the crest on the left side of the neck via a needle. The microchip contains a unique number for your horse which matches their passport.
From October 2020 all horses must have a microchip, this means that horses born before 2009 should be checked to ensure they have a microchip and it is recorded in their passport.
Our equine team are happy to provide all year round worming advice and support including yard worming plans. Our aim is to prevent un-necessary worming and to help in the fight against the continuing development of anthelmintic (wormer) resistance. We offer onsite faecal worm egg count testing during the Spring, Summer and Autumn which are performed by our qualified SQP’s. Samples can be dropped off at the practice or given to vets whilst they are visiting your horse. Once the sample has been examined a follow up phone call will be made with the results. We have a wide range of anthelmintics stocked in our onsite dispensaries and we will advise you on the use of a suitable product if treatment is required.