Services

Medicine

We provide medical care for problems such as respiratory infections, abscesses, small airway disease, colic, laminitis and endocrine problems.

Fecal floats are now done right at our clinic to test parasite levels and determine the need for deworming. Bloodwork is sent out daily to IDEXX Labs, and we often have next-day results when possible.

Wellness Care & Exams

The goal of wellness visits is to keep your horse in its best condition for performance, whether your discipline is riding, driving, racing or breeding. We can help you design a nutrition, deworming, vaccination and management plan that is tailored to your horse’s needs and your needs.

Wellness exams range from a simple physical exam to a more detailed work-up including dentistry, bloodwork, x-rays and more.

Dentistry

Routine dental care has become an important part of maintaining your horse’s good health. We recommend an annual dental check-up for all horses, minis, donkeys and mules. Some will require “floating” to eliminate sharp enamel points, which can irritate the cheeks and tongue. Others will need more extensive dental equilibration to balance the mouth and enable the horse to chew and use its jaw better. We use a combination of manual (hand-float) dentistry and electrical (power-float) tools to complete the procedure.

Every animal is different. Some will need dental care every 6 months, others only every few years. Several factors are involved, including the age of the horse, its bite (how the teeth meet together) and its use (performance versus pleasure). We can help design a program that best suits your horse’s needs.

Young horses sometimes have wolf teeth, which, depending on their location, size and the horse’s use, may need to be extracted. Young horses also lose their baby teeth, called deciduous teeth, up until about 4½ years old. They should come out naturally (often found in the feed bucket!) but sometimes are retained or impacted — these are called “caps”. Caps should be removed to allow the permanent tooth underneath to erupt normally, and can be detected on a veterinary dental examination.

Many people don’t realize that donkeys and mules need dental care too. They may or may not ever have to wear a bit and bridle, but regular dental assessment and care will ensure that they can eat normally into their older years. Keep in mind that donkeys can live well into their 40s, and will be much healthier with a happy mouth.

Miniature horses are also very prone to dental abnormalities due to the small size of the mouth. They should be treated regularly and assessed beginning early in life (as early as a year of age) to prevent future problems.

Reproduction: Breeding & Foaling

We offer reproductive services on farm, including broodmare and prenatal care, care for newborn foals and breeding with fresh-chilled shipped semen. Our foaling and breeding facility is at the same location as our clinic.

• Full foaling-out services and monitoring of both normal and high-risk pregnancies.
• We encourage clients to bring mares to the clinic for ultrasounds and artificial insemination, so they can be closely monitored for the optimal time of breeding.
• Mares can be bred with shipped fresh-cooled semen or with frozen semen. We have several storage tanks and offer short- and long-term semen storage.
• The breeding and foaling program is completely veterinary supervised, with 24-hour staff on the premises and every foaling stall on camera.
• Group or individual turnout and a custom feed program.
• Foals at the farm are handled daily, halter broke and trained to lead.
• Short- and long-term boarding of broodmares is available.

Lameness

Basic lameness exams may include palpation, flexion, hoof evaluation and testers, and gait assessment. Lameness may be assessed in hand, on the lunge line, or with tack (riding/driving). Further workups may include diagnostic blocks (freezing certain parts of the leg to localize pain) and/or radiographs (x-ray) and ultrasound. We offer digital radiography, which allows us to see the x-rays immediately and tailor a plan for the horse right on the farm.

Sometimes radiographs and ultrasound do not give us the answers we need. We are happy to provide referral to a specialty clinic for MRI or nuclear scintigraphy.

Treatments that we offer on farm include joint injections, and oral and injectable joint and bone medications and supplements. We also offer VSMT (“chiropractic”) and acupuncture. We currently are not using biologics such as PRP and stem cell therapy, but we won’t hesitate to refer to a vet who does, if appropriate.

We believe in working together with the owner, discussing options and budget, in order to find the best treatment plan for the horse for long-term comfort.

Surgery

Minor surgeries can be performed on farm or at our clinic, with the horse under general anesthesia (lying down asleep) or sometimes with simple sedation. Minor surgeries include biopsies, growth removal, wound repair and treatment, and young horse castrations. Castrations can be done as early as 4 months (with the foal still on the mare), depending on the veterinarian.

We perform routine castrations on colts and stallions of all ages. “Routine” castration means that the horse is healthy, up to date on vaccines and deworming, with two descended testicles (that we can feel in the scrotum). All of our castrations are done with the horse under general anesthetic, with the cords sutured to help minimize post-operative complications.

We prefer to castrate older stallions at the clinic, where we can provide 24-hour monitoring for complications. Usually they stay 3–4 days before returning home. In some circumstances, older stallions can be done at home, so long as the appropriate monitoring and environment are available.

Cryosurgery

“Cryo” is a term used to describe freezing an area with liquid nitrogen. This treatment may be used in different ways:

To numb nerves and encourage healing

Freezing numbs the nerves in an area and encourages circulation and scar tissue buildup. This is often used on racehorses to accelerate healing — for example, cryo-ing a splint, a bowed tendon or a suspensory ligament tear. It leaves a white scar and may not be suitable for show/performance horses.

To kill tumour tissue

Cryo can be used to treat non-invasive skin tumours such as sarcoids. The affected area is put through three full freeze-thaw cycles per treatment. Over the next few weeks the tissue dies and is replaced with new, healthy tissue. Horses must be sedated for cryo as it is mildly painful.

There are other options available for tumour treatment, such as injecting the tumour with chemotherapeutic agents or using topical creams. Talk to us if you have any questions!

Endoscopy

An endoscope is a camera on the end of a long, narrow, flexible tube. The tube is passed up the horse’s nose, and then into the trachea (and down into the bronchi). It can also stop at the throat to look at important structures such as the epiglottis, soft palate and arytenoids, or be used to examine the guttural pouches.

Respiratory endoscopy is typically used to assess horses with throat or breathing problems, in order to more appropriately direct treatment. It can be used to diagnose the cause of a bloody nose or bloody nasal discharge. A scope may be suggested if your horse is noisy while exercising, or coughs but doesn’t have any other symptoms.

Emergency Services

We provide emergency services 24 hours a day for our regular clientele. Clients living outside our emergency service range are welcome to bring their horses to our clinic for treatment.

Please call the regular office number, (705) 939-2111, for emergency service. After-hours calls go through our answering service, which will forward the information to the veterinarian on call.

Prepurchase Exams

Prepurchase exams (PPEs) are performed to identify any pre-existing medical or soundness issues in a prospective purchase, and to provide an opinion on how these issues might affect the horse in its future use. Prepurchase exams are done on all types of horses, from backyard trail horses up to high-end performance horses. Remember, the initial cost of the horse is but a small investment compared to the time, energy and money you will put into your horse in the future.

The basic prepurchase exam involves a full physical health exam, soundness assessment, hoof tester response and flexion tests. Additional testing may involve radiographs, endoscopy and/or bloodwork.

Miniature Horses & Donkeys

We regularly do veterinary work on miniature horses, donkeys and mules. It is important to know that minis tend to need specialized dentistry, and donkeys also need regular vaccinations and dental check-ups.

There are lots of donkeys in our practice area, and we believe they should receive the same excellent veterinary care as their horsey friends! We provide veterinary services to the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary in Roseneath, and we are happy to help with any of your donkey questions or concerns.