Index

African Horse Sickness – an insect-borne disease of Equidae with a high mortality rate. The disease has spread north from southern and equatorial Africa to North Africa and the southern Mediterranean More...

Artificial insemination in mares North Park Veterinary Group has for the last 3 seasons been working in association with Newton Stud both on their own mares and visiting mares to provide artificial More...

The word colic induces fear and apprehension into horse owners. Most people know of a horse that has had to be euthanased because of colic and many assume this is a common occurrence. It is not! 90+% of More...

The baked earth of 2006 increased my lameness cases. It’s not surprising really if you think logically ; the ground we are riding on is more akin to concrete than turf and whether just playing in the field More...

Have we really made a difference? What does each bit of kit do? There seems to be all manner of wondrous equipment available today to both help diagnose the problem and treat the condition but how much More...

To my mind there is no conclusive proof that global warming exists as we have had historical dramatic climatic events before man was producing pollution. However I do believe in conservation and sensible More...

Equine Infectious Anaemia Virus (‘EIA’ or Swamp Fever) has been found in Devon in September 2010. What is ‘Swamp Fever’? This virus only affects equines although More...

Encysted small redworms (cyathostomes)  I suspect that due to the odd climate we have been experiencing over the winter with above average ambient temperatures this condition is increasing. More...

In order to conserve our current efficient equine wormers we need to act responsibly. ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT DOSAGE. If in doubt get a weigh tape. There are currently 3 basic classes of equine wormers More...

To be able to carry out first aid on your horse or pony can make all the diffference to successful recovery of your animal. Here are a few tips on how to deal with common acidents and illnesses. First More...

Flies – nuisance or danger? Flies are a fact of life – It is not desirable to eliminate them as they do have an important role in cleaning up waste but control is advisable in order to minimise the distress More...

We castrate young male horses for many reasons but the commonest are:- unsuitability for breeding or to improve temperament thereby making management of the gelding easier in that he will be much less More...

It all looks like ‘Mud Fever’ to me! Skin, whether equine or other species, has only a few methods of reaction against damage, hence many conditions can appear at first sight to look extremely similar. ‘Mud More...

Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA) - Swamp Fever  A clinical case of Equine Infectious Anaemia (Swamp Fever) has occurred in West Devon just south of Black Torrington. The Romanian Cob had More...

‘Common things are common’ my old Professor said and he was right. Pus is the most common form of foot lameness but it is not a simple problem and the cause varies along with the clinical presentation. More...

Sarcoids are locally growing skin cancers that occur in the horse. They are variable in appearance, location and rate of growth. They seldom affect a horse's usefulness, unless they are in a position likely More...

Another frequent cause of lost racing and premature retirement is injury to the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon. Tendons have a crimp pattern in their fibrous collagen anatomy which only allows a stretch More...

Bill was a heavy hunter and 29 years old. His time had come one wet summer morning whilst at pasture with his 3 companions. At 07.30 he was trotting around but by 09.00 he was down and couldn’t get up. More...

Horses get Equine Influenza and this virus has no risk of human transmission. There have been limited reports of Horse to Dog transmission but these are very rare. There are 2 major types of Equine Flu More...

We all expect modern wormers to kill off all worms immediately. However if we delve into the mysteries of pharmacology and parasitology to find out what it’s really all about; we come out better educated More...

Horses are flight animals, when they panic they run away from the danger. In doing so they commonly bump into things which cut, tear and gouge at the skin. Foals have thin skin as do finer horses like More...