Whether it’s your Champion barrel horse, your child’s first pony or your senior citizen, the team at York Veterinary Services brings a passion for caring for diagnosing, problem solving, and treating the whole horse.
- Physical Exam and Consultation
- Vaccinations
- Complete Blood Count (CBC) and Chemistry Profile
- Oral Exam/Dental
- Fecal Parasite Analysis and Sand Sedimentation
- Coggins Test
- Soundness Assessment
- Reproduction
- Health Certificates for Travel
- Mobile Ultrasound
A physical exam is one of a veterinarian’s most valuable diagnostic tools and is one of the most important aspects of routine preventative health care for your horse.
A physical exam includes:
- An evaluation of your horse’s vital parameters (temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate)
- Check heart, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract
- Basic ocular (eye) exam
- Assessment of body condition and a weight tape used to estimate their weight
Following the exam, your veterinarian can consult with you on any significant findings noted on the exam and address any questions or concerns you may have.
In addition to proper management, vaccination is generally considered one of the important and cost effective methods of disease prevention. Your veterinarian will consult with you regarding the vaccination needs of each individual horse.
Most common vaccinations include:
- EWT/WN
- Rabies
- Flu/Rhino
- Strangles
This routine CBC is used to identify any signs of anemia, infection, or inflammatory disease. The chemistry profile is an indicator of organ function by measuring enzymes and electrolytes in the blood and comparing them to a standardized range.
Floating can be performed the same day you are having other routine care performed (Coggins testing, Health Certificate, Routine Shots, etc.) If you are having your veterinarian out to the farm to perform any of these other services, simply ask them to include a dental checkup as well. There is no additional charge to check the teeth and a float can be performed if needed.
*If you have a gelding or stallion, schedule your dental check the same day you are having the sheath cleaned.*
The Importance of Equine Dentistry
Your horse should be seen for a dental checkup and float once a year. By performing an equine dentistry exam every year, you keep small problems from escalating into larger, more costly problems while heading off any potential performance issues.
If your horse has developed oral ulcers, chances are he’s letting you know with his behavior. You may notice that his mood has changed or he’s not cooperating you with like normal. This is because he is in pain and it’s making him cranky. Bad teeth can make riding an unpleasant experience for both horse and rider.
Behavior that points to teeth trouble:
- Throwing of head
- Acting up under saddle
- Unusual head movements
- Tilting of head while eating or riding
- Bit discomfort or shying from the bit
- Unable to stay in frame when riding
Difficulty Eating & Nutrition Loss
If a horse has uneven or sharp points on its teeth, the simple task of eating may no longer be so easy.The situation is even worse if the lacerations have become infected. Additionally, a horse’s overall health will generally suffer when teeth become uneven. They lose their ability to properly grind food. A horse’s gut is unable to extract nutrients from food if it is not properly ground, resulting in a lack of nutrition. This leads to overall poor health and reduced performance.
By keeping up to date on equine dentistry and having your horse’s teeth checked and floated (meaning smoothed or filed) once a year, it will help ensure that food is being fully digested and the horse is getting the maximum amount of nutrients from the smallest amount of feed.
Other signs that point to bad teeth:
- Dropping or losing grain
- Undigested grain such as kernels of corn or oats in manure
- Excessive saliva
- Horse soaks/dips food in water
- Chews food on only one side of the mouth
- Unexplained weight loss
- Eating slowly or showing excessive effort to eat
- Dual or dry coat
Due to the development of parasitic resistance, our approach to deworming is now based on fecal egg counts. This allows us to determine an individual horse’s parasite burden and develop a deworming program specifically based on that horse’s needs. Every horse should be dewormed twice yearly.
Keeping your horse’s parasite burden low may decrease the risk of colic, anemia, and respiratory problems which can arise due to migrating larvae. Included as part of the fecal analysis is a sand sedimentation test to identify horses carrying a large amount of sand in their gastrointestinal tract.
A Coggins test is a performed to identify the presence of antibodies in the horse’s blood against the Equine Infectious Anemia virus. This virus is transmitted by biting flies and there is no vaccine or cure for this disease. This test is required for most horse shows and interstate travel. A Coggins test is good for one year.
A muscular/skeletal exam includes limb palpation, evaluation of your horse on a straight line, and full limb flexions. Further diagnostics or treatment of any lameness noted in the exam will be planned if needed.
More information coming soon!
More information coming soon!
More information coming soon!
