Ambulatory

If your horse has become unwell or has become injured, If it’s not feasible for your horse to come into the clinic, one of our vets can come out to see your horse. Our vets are trained to see your horse as a first opinion and can either treat your horse on site or can refer it back to the clinic depending on the severity of the call out. Many first opinion callouts can include:

• Colic
• Lacerations
• Choke
• Sick horse
• Sick foal
• Laminitis
• Acute lameness

Our team can help with follow-up treatments of patients and can provide a wound care plan for your horse which often include regular bandage changes and wound assessment.

Here at GVEH we perform many castrations, as long as your colt has two descended testicles, one of our vets can perform a field castration. While there are always possible complications to any surgery, a field castration is routinely a surgery with minimal complications. Generally the horse is anesthetised and the surgical site is prepared for surgery.

If your horse doesn’t have two visible or palpable testicles, our vet may choose to refer your horse to our hospital to undergo a general anesthetic and have a closed castration performed.

As well as at our clinic, our team can perform a pre purchase exam on roads. As well as a general pre purchase exam (including general health check of eyes, ears, heart, lungs and general lameness) with notice, we can arrange to take portable diagnostic imaging including radiographs and endoscope

Depending on the sale your horse has been nominated to be sold at, our dedicated x-ray team can organise to take the radiographs (36 views for a standard thoroughbred sale), read and report on varying risks and pending your permission, submit your horse’s x-rays to the applicable sales page.  As well as sales x-rays, we can perform survey x-rays (these are performed a few months prior to the sale) and allow our team to identify any existing problems your horse may have and where possible clean up the joint to allow for the best price come sale time. We can also perform an upper respiratory endoscope, this can allow you to identify any disease, issues or complications your horse may have  that may be treatable prior to the sale.

Our trained and experienced vets can use the DRS system to look at a horse’s airway while it is working. At GVEH we have both a Thoroughbred training pad as well as a Standardbred pad. This allows us to investigate and diagnose any breathing disorders that may occur whilst the horse is being worked.

This system is similar to an endoscopy however; the camera and video transmitter/recorder are left attached to the horse (using a specially designed headpiece and the applicable saddle pad). One of our vets will use a monitor to watch the image while it is being fitted to ensure that the image will be correct when we get back to the clinic to review.

Once back at the clinic, our vets will watch over the video and are able to pause and inspect possible problems. From this information, we can make a plan as to if your horse may require surgery.

Assessing a blood profile can be very valuable information about your horse’s wellbeing. As well as profiles for competitive horses, blood tests can be a good tool in assessing a horse’s recovery and general wellbeing, as well as testing for any abnormalities like infection.

Horses that are being exported also need to have their bloods submitted for frequent quarantine purposes. We can provide this service and submit the bloods.

Regular vaccinations can be critical to the care of your horse. We can provide vaccinations for Strangles, Tetanus and Hendra or just give your horse its annual booster for those.

At GVEH we can now offer to put your horse into our database, where we can send you reminders of when your horse is due for any vaccinations. This reminder service is provided at no extra cost to you.

We can perform shock wave therapy to horses on farm.  Shock wave therapy is mainly used for treating suspensory ligament injuries, and soft tissue musculoskeletal pain. This treatment is used in conjunction with rest and rehabilitation. Our vets will need to clip the affected area and apply an ultrasonic gel before treatment. Depending on the horse’s acceptance of the treatment, a mild sedation may also be necessary.

Our on-road repro teams can provide year-round care to stud farms. This can include all breeding work, any unfortunate illness and injury to horses. We have x-ray teams that can do weanling and yearling survey or sales x-rays or if the need arises come out and x-ray any lame horses. In regard to breeding stock our professional team can help you get your mare in foal or assist in working out what is causing her to not become pregnant. Our vets will keep notes of mare history and treatments so that the best plan can be maintained, and your mare’s fertility will be at its peak.

Here at GVEH we can organise one of our vets to come out to your house once a year, to perform a horse health check. With our health checks we have a few different options available each designed to help keep your horse in its best health. Each option is slightly modified, each to is aimed to suit a different category of horse. The first option is for the general horse it covers general health and vaccines. The second option is aimed for the laminitic horse or pony and can also check blood levels for Cushing’s syndrome. The final is aimed at the performance horse. This checks for any abnormalities and is a total wellbeing health check.