The 2009 yearling sales have begun with Fasig Tipton, Deauville and the Doncaster St Leger sales having already taken place.  Next is the turn of Keeneland, Goffs and Tattersalls Newmarket to play host to thousands of blue-blooded Thoroughbreds.  These yearlings are not only awaiting assessment by potential owners and trainers but they will also be examined in detail by a large number of veterinary surgeons.
In years gone by, the veterinary examination of a yearling comprised of a simple general physical examination that might extend to the use of a stethoscope and an ophthalmoscope.  However, veterinary pre-purchase procedure at the major Thoroughbred yearling sales has now evolved into a lengthy, complicated process that often includes the inspection of a full set of pre-purchase x-rays and a resting endoscopic examination..…More>>

It is a common occurrence – a kick on the chest or a bang from the stalls on the thigh causing damage to a large blood vessel just under the skin, which causes a bleed.  The result is a soft-swelling of variable size that consists of blood – a haematoma.  The temptation is to drain the blood immediately and remove the swelling for aesthetic reasons.  However, this would be the wrong thing to do as the injured vessel could continue to bleed and any hole that was made might allow the vessel to bleed indefinitely.  Therefore, the haematoma should be left for a few days during which the horse must be rested and hopefully in this time the injured vessel will clot.  A small skin incision is then made through which the mixture of blood and blood clots can be drained.  After this small procedure, the cavity should close down and heal over relatively quickly, although it is ‘normal’ practice to gently flush it out daily with, for example, sterile saline to prevent infection.…More>>

The horse’s stifle is the equivalent of the human ‘knee’.  Although equine stifle problems are nothing like as common as human knee problems, when they do occur, they are well capable of stifling the performance of the racehorse…More>>

Greenwood Ellis and Partners have recently made the move to the most impressive veterinary facility I have ever visited.  After reading this article I am sure that all owners of horses on full training fees... More>>

Nuclear scintigraphy or ‘bone scanning’ attempts to take lameness diagnosis one stage further by predicting rather than just diagnosing fractures.  It is an imaging technique that searches for an increase in bone production and thus can sometimes pinpoint the cause of minor lameness problems where conventional imaging techniques, such as x-ray and ultrasound, may fail.... More>>

Equine wind problems are often complex and frustrating and the success rate of laryngeal surgery is alarmingly low.  The reason for this is probably twofold.  Firstly, the horse’s larynx is incredibly delicate and surgery is technically demanding, and secondly, because we cannot see what the horse’s larynx is actually doing when at full gallop, we are often not even certain of the horse’s exact problem.  That is, until now...More>>

On arrival back at Kingsley House, although rather dazed, and slightly grazed, both he and his rider seemed remarkably unharmed.  The colt was walking sound, trotting only very slightly lame behind and had just a few superficial wounds on his left side.... More>>

In the wild, the horse is a flight animal and thus good eyesight is essential in order to spot potential predators. Horses have good vision at day or night and, due to the placement of the eye socket, they can nearly see 360 degrees... More>>

Everyone knows that worming horses is essential and that you should rotate which wormer you use, but there is a lot more to discover about the subject.  Most people who worm horses have little idea about the actual worms that they are trying to prevent... More>>

The horse’s ‘knee’ is a very complex structure that is made up of thirteen bones, three joints and numerous ligaments and tendons – plenty to go wrong! It is the equivalent of the human wrist,  however, in the racehorse it takes a huge amount of stress and hence serves to give me plenty to write about... More>>

For reasons that I shall delve into later, tendon injuries are perhaps the most common serious soft tissue injury in staying flat horses and National Hunt horses and hence they are indeed a tender subject for many of our readers.  When we talk about a ‘tendon injury’ we are usually referring to an injury to the digital flexor tendons between the knee and the fetlock.... More>>

This year’s yearling sales have already begun with Fasig Tipton, Deauville and Doncaster already having been.  Next is the turn of Keeneland, Goffs and Tattersalls Newmarket to lay host to thousands of blue-blood thoroughbreds desperate to have their conformation analysed by trainers, owners and those conformation experts – the bloodstock agents.... More>>

The word ‘colic’ simply refers to pain that originates from within the abdomen but it usually conjures up an image of a horse rolling around in agony prior to requiring death-defying colic surgery.  It is most commonly associated with intestinal disorders but can theoretically be caused by abdominal pain of any origin, and in fact, other disorders such as tying-up are commonly mistaken for colic.... More>>