Routine Wellness Examinations

Our practice provides routine wellness examinations at the time of vaccination, which include a full physical examination of your horse, pony or donkey, including evaluation of their eyes, heart, lungs, and teeth. Preventative healthcare is an important part of any horse’s wellness – whether they are young or old, at pasture or used for pleasure or competition. Routine wellness examinations are an opportunity for our veterinarians to detect problems early, allowing for more efficient and often less invasive treatments, as well as a forum in which to discuss a horse’s diet, management, and performance. We normally perform these examinations every 6 or 12 months, but they can also be useful at other times, such as when taking ownership of a new horse, bringing a horse back into work, or changing the type or level of work a horse is in. 

During a wellness examination, we will:

• Perform a ‘nose to tail’ examination of your horse
• Listen to your horse’s heart and lungs to check for murmurs, arrhythmias, and abnormal lung noise
• Perform an ophthalmic examination to check eye health and vision
• Look for outward signs of musculoskeletal disease
• Check your horse’s teeth to see if they are due for floating and for signs of dental disease
• Evaluate your horse’s body condition score 
• Advise on worming and faecal testing protocols

We may also offer: 

• Routine bloodwork or specific bloodwork based on our clinical findings e.g. for laminitic risk (Cushing’s disease (PPID), equine metabolic syndrome), allergy testing, internal organ function tests, vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
• Nutritional consultations for weight loss or gain
• Hay analysis