These three disease complexes have emerged as major health issues facing our patients. In response we have designed an equine wellness plan to address these concerns while providing core vaccinations and EIA (coggins) testing.

Annual Wellness Plan – $250.00

• Coggins Testing – plus PDF copy sent to your email
• Core Vaccines – West Nile, Eastern & Western Encephalitis, Tetanus, and Rabies
• Physical Exam
• Dietary Evaluation
• Fecal Ova and Parasite Screening
• Diagnostic Based Parasite Control Plan
• Lyme Disease Screening

We are excited about the impact that this plan can have on the health of your horses. If you are interested in the wellness plan please give us a call.

Ultrasound imaging is an invaluable tool for assessing soft tissues. Traditionally, equine veterinary ultrasound is used for diagnosing digital flexor tendon injuries and assessing reproductive status. With advanced imaging techniques an ultrasound exam allows us to diagnose and treat many musculoskeletal injuries that would only be found through MRI or scintigraphy.

With advanced ultrasound techniques we can image the following areas:

• Distal front limb – foot, pastern, and fetlock joint
• Middle front limb – palmar fetlock, metacarpus and tendons, carpus, and carpal canal
• Proximal Front limb – forearm, elbow, and shoulder
• Distal hind limb – foot, pastern, fetlock, and metatarsus
• Middle hind limb- hock
• Proximal hind limb – stifle and thigh
• Neck and thoracolumbar area
• Lumbosacral area and pelvis

• Instantly view images with horse owners in the field.
• Treatment plans from emergency situations involving fractures, joint punctures or other trauma can be made instantly, without driving to develop film.
• Copies can be made on CDs, emailed, or viewed online by clients, veterinarians and farriers.
• Necks and backs can be imaged in the field instead of traveling to a referral facility.
• The image quality is superior to film based radiographs.
• Multiple images can be joined using AccuStitch software.

Multiple Spinal Images Joined Using AccuStitch

Lateral View of a Foot

Lateral View of a Hock

IRAP Centrifuge

IRAP is short Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein, and it is a gene therapy to treat and prevent osteoarthritis.

How does it work?

• Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a protein secreted by the immune system to attack infections and damaged cells. IRAP is another protein that occurs naturally in the body, and competes with IL-1 for receptor sites on cartilage cells. IL-1 is an important part of the inflammatory response, but when chronic inflammation exists the balance between IRAP and IL-1 changes to cause degradation of cartilage. Increasing the amount of IRAP present in the joint decreases the ability of IL-1 to bind to these receptor sites and cause cartilage damage.

Why is IRAP better than other treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, traditional joint injections, and oral joint supplements?

• IRAP therapy inhibits one of the major causes of osteoarthritis, where traditional therapies only treat symptoms.

How is IRAP used as a treatment?

• We draw blood from your horse into a syringe with specially treated glass beads that stimulate the production of IRAP. The blood is incubated for twenty four hours, and then placed into a special centrifuge. The centrifuge separates the blood cells and glass beads from the plasma containing IRAP. This plasma is then drawn off and packaged for injection into a joint. This produces four doses of IRAP, which we inject back into a joint once a week for three treatments, saving the fourth dose for a treatment six months later.

If you would like more information about IRAP, you can call or email us and read this article republished by permission of The Chronicle of the Horse. Visit www.chronofhorse.com to subscribe.

How is it used?

• We have had great success treating tendon and ligament injuries along with wounds that due to their size or location have difficulty healing on their own. The material comes in a powdered form which we mix with saline and inject into tendon or ligament injuries, or use a sheeted material that is placed directly on wounds.

Why is this better than just using stall rest and time off for an injured tendon or ligament?

• Normally a tendon or ligament injury heals with scar tissue, which has poor fiber alignment similar to cutting parts of a steel cable then trying to fold them back together again. Because of this lack of fiber alignment the healed injury has lost strength compared to an undamaged fiber alignment. When ACell is injected into the damaged area it promotes healing without the development of scar tissue. This healing creates a better alignment of fiber that results in a stronger heal similar to that of an undamaged tendon.

Will it prevent my horse from re-injuring the same leg or area?

• No, this product helps heal with functional fiber alignment, and if an undamaged tendon or ligament can be injured that has good functional fiber alignment, so too can the area treated with ACell.

How long does it take to heal?

• Every injury is slightly different so healing time depends on the specific injury, but the process does seem to accelerate the healing process compared with just time off.

Will my horse need to be in a stall for a long period of time?

• We develop a controlled exercise plan to help the healing process. ACell creates a stronger and better result when the area is stimulated. Depending on your injury, you may be walking your horse daily, and as the healing progresses adding in trotting sessions. Some of our three day event clients have commented on how much their dressage scores have improved as a result of the controlled exercise plan.

Is ACell better than stem cell treatments?

• In our experience we have seen better and faster healing with ACell than with most stem cell based treatments. The ACell treatment is also less than half the cost of some stem cell treatments, which makes it more accessible as a solution to many injuries.

If you would like more information about ACell, you can call or email us and visit their website.

Our pre-purchase examinations consist of a systematic evaluation of a horse’s physical condition. More than 110 areas of the horse are examined and documented in our pre-purchase examinations.

• Physical Exam- We start by looking at the eyes and listening to the heart and lungs. The entire body of the horse is palpated to look for swelling, old injuries, and other abnormalities.

• Movement Evaluation – We watch the horse at a walk and a trot to check for symmetry of movement. The horse is also examined on a longe line and under tack where we also listen for any signs of respiratory or cardiac issues that may not be present at rest.

• Flexion Tests – Each limb is flexed for a period of time at a standstill and the horse is trotted away from the veterinarian. These are not scientific tests by any means, and serve only as a clue to examine a specific limb or joint more closely for a potential problem.

• Discussion With Buyer – At this point we would discuss our findings with the buyer and determine if any further diagnostic work is needed such as radiographs, ultrasounds, endoscopic examinations, etc.

If you are considering the purchase of a horse a pre-purchase examination can provide a great deal of information to help with the decision. A sample of the report we use for our pre-purchase exams can be found below.

Sample Pre-Purchase Report

Ethmoid Haematoma

Gastroscopy is a visual assessment of the stomach of your horse. Ulceration is a common problem for many competitive horses and medications to treat ulcers can be expensive. With gastroscopy we can determine the severity of the problem, how ulcers respond to treatment, or rule out ulceration as a potential problem.

Stomach Wall

Spring Vaccinations

• Eastern / Western Encephalitis
• Tetanus
• Rabies
• West Nile
• Influenza
• Rhinopneumonitis

Fall Vaccinations

• Eastern / Western Encephalitis
• Influenza
• Rhinopneumonitis

Depending on your location and horse population the following vaccinations may be recommended:

• Steptococcus equi (Strangles) – We only recommend the intranasal version of this vaccine
• Botulinum Toxoid (Botulism)
• Potomac Horse Fever