THREE COUNTIES EQUINE HOSPITAL SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2013 Practice News The practice seems to be particularly keen on running at the moment. Crystal completed a 10km run in May, Kim the Worcester half marathon, and Claire Gilbert and Becky Wall can be seen pounding the tarmac daily in the area. Caroline has qualified on her horse Marmite for the Summer Regional Dressage Championships at Somerford Park, Cheshire in July. She is also training (not on Marmite!) for a chilly September 5km open water swim in Buttermere, Lake District, for Cancer Research UK. Watch out in July’s “Horse Magazine” for an article by TCEH vet David Blakey, about a particularly gruesome wound that healed successfully. This summer, we are sad to be losing vet Claire Williams. Claire has been an invaluable member of the Hospital team over the last few years, and will be sorely missed here, and is sure to excel at her new practice. Congratulations to Chrissie Young and Andy Richardson, who you may remember both from their time at TCEH. They got married at the end of May, with many TCEH staff joining in the celebrations. Champ keeps on chomping. Some of you may have seen from Facebook that Champ, belonging to nurse Harriet Russell, had emergency colic surgery in March. He has recovered brilliantly since, and at the end of May was turned out for the first time! All going well, he will be in top shape for the hunting season.

Talk About Laminitis. Great strides have been made our understanding of laminitis in the last few years, especially in its association with hormonal disorders, such as Equine Cushing’s Disease and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. With good grass springing up (now the weather has improved!), it often acts as the trigger for ponies and horses with either condition to develop laminitis.

The Talk About Laminitis website (www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk) has a lot of useful information. If you are concerned about your older equine, vouchers are available until the end of June for free blood tests to detect Cushing’s.

Tips for the summer

• Does your horse or pony seem particularly good at removing their grazing muzzle? Try plaiting the top of the mane and forelock over the top of the head piece.

• If your horse has a pink nose prone to sunburn, applying sun cream daily will be a big help. Just remember to test a small area to make sure your horse doesn’t react to the sun cream first.

If you have any tips to put in the Autumn Newsletter, post them to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/threecountiesequinehospitalllp)

If your tip is chosen you will win a ‘First Aid Kit’

 

HOW TO: BODY CONDITION SCORE YOUR HORSE Why?

Body condition scoring (BCS) is one way of objectively assessing how much body fat your horse or pony has. It helps, if performed seasonally or monthly, to assess how your horse changes over the year, and will help you prevent your horse getting under or over weight. It will be especially important coming into the spring and summer as the grass improves.

How?

1 – Poor (Extremely emaciated) – no fatty tissue. Vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are easily visible.

2 – Very thin (Emaciated) - slight tissue cover over bones; vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are visible.

3 – Thin - slight fat cover over body. Individual vertebrae and ribs are no longer visibly discernible. Withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin.

4 – Moderately thin - ridge of spine and outline of ribs are visible, tail head may be visible depending on the breed. Withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin.

5 – Moderate - spine and ribs cannot be seen however ribs can be felt. Tail head is spongy, and withers, shoulders, and neck are rounded and smooth.

6 – Moderately fleshy - slight crease down spine. Ribs and tail head feel “spongy”, with fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders/

7 – Fleshy - crease down spine, and ribs have fat filling between them. Tail head spongy and fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders.

8 – Fat – easily apparent crease down spine with ribs difficult to feel. Soft fat surrounding tail head. Fat deposits along withers, behind shoulders, and on inner thighs. Neck is large.

9 – Extremely fat - obvious crease down spine with patchy fat on ribs. Bulging fat on tail head, withers, behind shoulders and on neck. Fat fills in flank and on inner thigh

Ideally, your horse or pony should be between 4 and 6, depending on what you do with them – a brood mare may want to be a 6, a fit athlete a 4 or 5

It should take 8 weeks to change 1 body condition score safely

Larger photos and more information are available via our facebook page:

www.facebook.com/threecountiesequinehospitalllp

How to get in touch

Three Counties Equine Hospital LLP Stratford Bridge, Ripple, Tewkesbury, Glos, GL20 6HE

Main number: 01684 592099

Fax: 01684 592181

Accounts: 01684 591260

Web: www.tceh.co.uk

Email: info@tceh.co.uk