At 22:29:41 on 16.06.09, HorseVet wrote:
This is where you can ask me a question about your horses welfare and I will do my best to help or point you in the right direction.

At 07:22:43 on 17.06.09, Tabi wrote:
Hi i have a three year old gelding who is a welsh d x new forest. he dislocated his coffin bone in his offside hind last june and in sept after plaster casts loads of bandages and x rays etc etc they said he was all healed and that he should be able to be ridden. He slipped over in the field about 7 weeks ago and redisloacted it but this time its a wait and see game as his leg didn't take to kindly to having a plaster cast on last time and he got sores where he was growing. Is there anything i can do to improve his condition? Right now the vets are saying he will stay as he is but if he gets worse he will have to be put down. I'd rather have him as a lawn mower then lose him. His part of the herd.

At 08:00:16 on 17.06.09, gemzielee wrote:
Hi, im just after a wee bit of advice. I have a 3 1/2 week old foal. And was just wondering what the best way to care for her would be. She is very strong and healthy and seems to be doing really well in general. But i don't have any idea what i should be doing with her or when. We were not expecting her so had no time to find out any information before hand. Also the mother is now very boney along her top line, and im having trpouble building her back up.

At 14:54:59 on 17.06.09, HorseVet wrote:
Hi Tabi I can't say I've come across a dislocated coffin bone before. It might be worth asking our resident farrier his thoughts in terms of what might be able to be done from that perspective to keep things as stable as possible and at the right angle for everything to heal as well as possible. Long term stability is obviously a concern as you don't really want to repeat this every few months. Given the history I would think the outlook has to be considered as a guarded prognosis. Best wishes HorseVet

At 15:06:48 on 17.06.09, HorseVet wrote:
Hi Gemzielee Congratulations on your foal! My advice would be to get a couple of foal-rearing books and get reading! I don't know any specific titles but there are bound to be good ones around. There are likely to be internet support groups too. I'm sure she's very cute but be wary of letting her get away with bad behaviour from the start. She's small now (relatively!) but if she learns to bite and barge now you'll have a much bigger problem correcting that in the future. Some of the most ignorant and badly behaved horses I see are home-bred and spoilt from foals. It doesn't do them any kindness to let them get away from it. Regular handling is good - includes lifting feet etc in readiness for your farrier even if you stay barefoot and just trim. It's not fair on farriers to have to wrestle to pick up feet for the first time when that background work should already have been done. With regard to your mare she will need plenty of feed to supply sufficient nutrients to support milk production or else she will "milk off her back" as you are finding. Are her teeth good - she will need them to be able to maximise getting everything she can from what you feed her. Also consider doing a worm egg count to see if she needs worming. Best wishes HorseVet

At 21:43:04 on 18.06.09, MyFunkyHorse wrote:
My Funky is looking ribby at the moment, he's pretty fit and is in regular work I've up'd his feed and hay at night he's stabled in the evenings, he seems happy in himself, but I dont see how he can look skinny!? he's very shiney and bright. Any advice. He's been wormed too I'm getting his teeth done in a few weeks as part as his 6month check.

At 23:02:59 on 18.06.09, HorseVet wrote:
Hi. My Funky may well need teeth doing and that might be the answer. Unfortunately I come across far too many horses where teeth are supposedly done but in fact they might as well have not bothered. It is a big problem for owners who trust people to do the job properly. Very few can - I trust probably only 5 or 6 dentists that I know and I cover the whole of the UK! I would still suggest getting a worm egg count done and a blood test for tapeworms - many chemical wormers have resistance now that means you must do worm egg counts in order to make sure your worming program is effective IMHO. Best wishes Roger
http://www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk

At 08:43:36 on 24.06.09, Flicka wrote:
I quite agree with HorseVet about finding a good dentist. I am an Equine Touch practitioner and am often coming across horses whose teeth I feel are the cause of poll or back problems. The client often says, oh but I've had the teeth done recently. When I have persuaded them to see a dentist who I really trust it's often transpired that they had major dental problems and once sorted I can then go on to clear the poll and back pain. I was called out to see a young horse about six months ago who wasn't putting on weight and the vets couldn't find a reason for it. The owner thought he might have muscular soreness which could be the cause of it. After I worked with him he started to put on weight. Just a thought. Also as I work with a lot of ex-racehorses I often see signs that they may have stomach ulcers. You often find that horses are quite irritable, nippy, and can be girthy when they have them. Having had irritable bowel in the past- I know how they feel!! However in this case you say your horse seems very happy. Over to Horsevet at he is more of an expert in this area than me!!

At 09:19:19 on 24.06.09, Equine Dental Tech wrote:
It's possible that there could be a problem with the teeth, if you are having the teeth done in the near future, ask if you can feel in the mouth before and after treatment, be sure to check the furthest back tooth on top and bottom. Don't be too squeemish about putting your hand in there, it's important to do, plus it will guarantee that you get the best job that they can do. btw how old is Funky?
http://www.equine-well-being.eu

At 16:57:30 on 06.07.09, pinesidedenver wrote:
Looking for some advice: My 17yr old Hanovarian x Arab is currently on box rest at present due to an injury to his offside hind. 2 weeks ago he came in from the field with a rather large cut on this leg approx 3" in diameter and fairly deep, could fit in 2 fingers and when examined by the vet she could fit the forceps in quite far and put them up into a pocket in the inside of his leg towards his stifle joint. The wound could not be sutured due to its position so I have been cleaning/dressing it daily with saline was weeping a lot, although the wound appears to be healing it s going to leave a nice scar and at present protudes quite a lot and wondered about the healing process and whether it will need debriding at all. He was on a course of anti-biotics which he has completed now, also though I have noticed that his sheath is very swollen and he has 2 large hard like swellings under his belly. I thought to myself perhaps his sheath was just needing cleaned as it did this once before last year and after cleaning the swelling went down. I have cleaned his sheath and it not made any difference. Could this be a possible aquired infection from the wound on his leg which surely if that was the case the anti-biotics would clear it up, or could it be something more sinister. Im very worried I hope you can help. He is also quite overweight and as not been worked at present wanted to know what I should or should not be feeding him, at present he gets hayledge (full haynet at night and sml haynet during day). Thanks