Pool House Equine Cl inic

We are delighted to be able to an-nounce that the practice has submitted a planning application to Lichfield Dis-trict Council to build a new Equine Hos-pital and Equine Care Centre at our Crown Inn Farm site. The new facility will be sited on the current lorry park and will treble the available facilities to include: Four new examination areas, a second operating theatre with associat-ed preparation room (specifically for sterile orthopaedic surgery) along with a dedicated ‘colic’ theatre, a third operat-ing theatre for standing and dental sur-

gery, intensive care stabling, a climate controlled pharmacy, a client waiting area and meeting room, office space, lecture room and seminar facilities,

overnight rest facilities for on call staff, toilets, laundry and wash room facilities and an onsite laboratory. The aim is to continue to build Pool House Equine Clinic into a regional cen-tre of excellence for Equine Veterinary Care.

The computer generated images give some indication of the scale of the pro-ject which we hope to complete within the next two years. We will be making regular updates during the build to keep everyone up to speed regarding this ex-citing development and we are all very excited about being able to offer this kind of equine hospital to our patients.

Issue 21

NE W EQUIN E HOSPITAL

January 2017

We hope you all had a truly fantas-tic Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year. We hope the turkey, mince pies and mulled wine went down well - if you are feeling a little over indulged check out our health kick ideas below!! Eland Lodge held their renown Christmas festivities in early December with Santa arriv-ing leading his very own unicorn, and as usual there were lots of lovely stalls to peruse. The pony fancy dress had lots of entries and it was a spectacle brightening up a cold day. We are constantly updating our new computer system and are now rolling out vaccination reminders by text and email. When you next call us, please check your details are up to date or drop us an email at equineadmin@poolhousevets.co.uk with your name, address, mobile number, email , horses names and where they are kept. We would also like to invite you to send in a photo of your horse so we can add it to your horse’s individual account screen. It will then be nice for us to see your horse when you ring in about them. We have recently launched our new website, which will be con-stantly updated and amended. It has a fantastic informational sec-tion on all sorts of ailments, treat-ments and procedures. Do let us know if there’s anything else you would like to see on there.

N E W S L E T T E R

N E W Y E A R H E A L T H K I C K

Why not start the New Year with a few health kick tips to get you on track for riding and performing to your best this coming season. 1. Think of yourself as an athlete, take your own diet, nutrition and exercise seriously – riding and looking after horses is tough and physically demanding. We concentrate on ensuring our hors-es have a well balanced diet with all the supple-ments and nutrition they could wish for but after all it’s a 50:50 partnership so look after yourself.

2. Drink plenty of water, it is crucial for performance, without enough dehydra-tion can happen causing slower reac-tions and inability to think straight. It

also helps recovery time and combats tiredness. 3. Eat little and often, busy lifestyles balancing work, horses and families means meals are some-times skipped and high sugar, high fat snacks are gobbled! To avoid peaks and troughs in blood sugars, which can cause mood swings and fatigue, try and graze on low fat low sugar foods throughout the day.

4. Avoid processed foods as far as possible. The convenience factor means we’re unlikely to avoid ready meals alto-gether, but cutting down and eating more foods as close to their natural state as possible will give you a boost. 5. Exercise to meet your needs, as a rule equestri-

ans don’t need to be gym fit, they need to be riding fit. The right exer-cise can help strengthen key areas and improve endurance and flexi-bility whilst minimizing injury. Try a

session with a personal trainer to work out your weaker areas and build the correct exercise plan. 6. Get some sleep!! Easier said than done with early competition day starts and juggling family and work life, but your mind needs to switch off and your body needs to rest to recover and repair itself. Try and aim for at least 6-8 hours per night. Good luck with this or any other new year resolu-tions you might have made!!!

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R

Crown Inn Farm

Rykneld Street

Fradley

Lichfield

Pool House Equine Clinic

insulin resistant horses and ponies. During sunny weather grass makes and stores sugars (photosynthesis), at night when grass is able to grow these sugars are used up (respiration), but when environ-mental conditions such as low temperature, sugar levels can continue to accumulate in the grass as it is not growing. So therefore a frost, which usually occurs after a sunny day with clear skies enabling photosyn-thesis, indicates high sugar content in the grass. To be highly cautious the grass should not be grazed until night temperature has been above 6 degrees or the weather has been distinctly overcast, ensur-ing the sugars have been used up by the grass. The high levels of sugars in the grass are directly available in the digestive tract. The horse then digests in two ways. Sim-ple digestion - once the food has been eaten it is digested by enzymes in the first part of the digestive tract. The nutrients are then absorbed from the digestive tract. Hind gut fer-mentation - excess sugars and complex carbohydrates, which require longer to digest, move into the large bowel for fermen-tation. Normally the bacteria ferment away slowly and horse absorbs the products from the bowel for use as an energy source. Excessive sugars arriv-ing in the hind gut trigger lami-nitis when the absorbed sugars lead to hyperinsulinaemia es-pecially in susceptible individu-als. To help minimise the risk of

Laminitis is an extremely painful condition of the feet in which there is inflamma-tion and weakening of the sensitive tissues (laminae) that bond the pedal bone (the main bone within the hoof) to the hoof wall and it can affect any horse, pony, donkey or their hybrids.

The weight of the horse pushing down on these weakened tissues can cause the pedal bone to separate from the hoof wall and rotate or drop towards the sole. In severe cases the pedal bone may pene-trate through the sole of the foot. This condition is al-ways an emergency and you must contact us imme-diately if you think your horse might be suffering from laminitis. Prevention of laminitis is essential whenever possible as once a horse has suf-fered from it, they are at increased risk of developing it again. In winter, frosty grass can lead to an increased risk of laminitis and should be paid attention to particularly in

laminitis assess your horse’s body condi-

tion score / weight. Over weight animals are more susceptible to the disease. Assess the diet they are on and if it is required for the level of work they are in, high grain / concentrate diets can also lead to lamini-tis. You can have your horse easily tested for cush-ings and equine metabolic syndrome – both of which show a higher risk of getting laminitis and finally ensure you don’t turn out on to frosty grass! If you are unsure or would like advice please don’t hes-itate to contact us.

F R O S T Y G R A S S - L A M I N I T I S

Phone: 01283 799700

Fax: 01283 799707

Email: equine@poolhousevets.co.uk

Putting your horse first

Can you find the hidden words that all relate to a saddle…….

Girth Stirrups Calf skin Buffalo Leather Gusset Numnah Saddle cloth Keeper Stirrup leathers Panel Saddle flap Pommel Cantle Knee roll Skirt Seat Tree Gullet Twist Sweat flap Billets Buckle guard Thigh roll Stirrup bar D rings

It’s that time of year where most competitions are held indoors, and with that comes the chaotic warm up arena!! Here are a few things you may think or notice when entering these somewhat hazardous areas! What happened to left-to-left?!? Thought this was horse riding bible material, but most must have skipped this page and just choose to ride at you and sometimes use you and your steed as an emergency stop barrier! Am I allowed to change rein? Mainly seen in the show jump-ing world, but the right rein nearly always shines through as the ‘only’ rein to be seen on! Obviously if you then decide to circle or try to work on the other rein you can receive some im-pressive scowls. Where is my helper? Panic sets in when you can’t see your helper for last minute advice or to put the fences up/down. Usu-ally the helper is trying to nego-tiate the ‘wall of death’ crossing in to the central warm up area – or frequenting the onsite café for tea and cheesy chips! Please stop hogging that prac-tice fence! There’s always one wannabe Olympic rider with more bling than Beyoncé, that spends an unwarranted amount of time hogging a fence, and putting it up to at least 1.40m to then go and jump a 90cm class! Oh my word it’s Andrew Nichol-son (or a another famous rider). That feeling when you’re potter-ing around on your trusty steed, trying to remember everything your trainer said in your last lesson, when into the warm up comes a well-known equestrian and makes everything look effortless and easy. You decide rather than seeing a misser and burying your horse in the bot-tom of a fence to just walk round trying not to stare at them!!

W A R M U P W O E S

Special Offers

Equipalazone - £77.66 box

Danilon - £74.86 box

Ventipulmin - £57.67 tub

Prascend - £180.00 box

Clenil Inhaler - £36.23

Sedalin Gel - £20.12 tube

Joint Supplement - £49.84

Hoof Supplement - £42.70

Gastroguard - £288.00 box

Equest Pramox 700kg—£18.00

Equest—£12.52

Equitape—£10.76

Noromectin—£7.00 These are available if paid for at time of

collection and are on prescription.

Payment by cash, card or cheque.

Orders taken over phone collection from

Crown Inn or Pool House Hospital

Fosseway by prior arrangement.

W O R D S E A R C H - T H E S A D D L E