Equine Clinic

Our purpose built clinic is the perfect environment to bring your horse for a full diagnostic work up. The clinic has been designed and built by our team to improve our workflow, patient care and client experience.

There are several benefits to the clinic- firstly the clinic is purpose built to provide a fully functional, safe and clean environment where we can investigate and treat a range of problems. We have an amazing team of qualified nurses and nursing assistants to ensure your horse’s every need is attended during their stay. The nurses and nursing assistants also play a vital role in assisting vets while they perform diagnostics and the necessary treatment on your horse. Having the horses on site for a short period of time (often 1-2 days) allows us time to investigate and treat your horse before sending them home with a diagnosis and a plan going forward. We find this is the most efficient way of investigating a range of conditions, especially lameness problems which otherwise may require multiple visits on yard to perform the necessary diagnostics and treatments which not only costs more but also delays getting to the bottom of the problem. Sometimes horses present for one investigation and after an initial examination end up requiring a separate diagnostic procedure- the huge benefit of the clinic is all the equipment we might need is there and ready to be used.

Additionally we offer flexible drop off and pick up times to fit around your busy schedule and are happy to attend to your horse and keep you updated over the phone every step of the way. Of course, there is the onsite café and shop should you be available and want to stay around while we examine your horse. If transport is a concern we have this covered too- we provide a very cost effective transport service where we will collect and return your horse in a 3.5tonne lorry- please ask for more details and availability.

Take a tour of the equine clinic at Somerford Park

What to expect

Every member of our team is dedicated to ensuring your horse, pony or donkey receive the very best care during their stay.

On arrival at the clinic, you will check in with our receptionist, where your passport will be checked and the relevant paperwork and consent forms completed. Our nursing team, which includes a number of qualified equine veterinary nurses, will be on hand to help unload and settle your horse into our stables.

At the start of your appointment your case vet will talk to you regarding your horse’s history, problems, and carry out a full examination. Any findings will be discussed and where necessary, further investigations may be recommended. Following these a diagnosis and possible treatment options will be thoroughly discussed and we aim to tailor this to you and your horses individual needs. We will ensure you have sufficient time and information to make informed decisions about the best treatment for your horse.

We appreciate leaving your horse in a clinic is a worrying time for anyone. If your horse does need to stay with us for a period of time, or overnight, our clinical and reception team will ensure they are well looked after and that you are kept up to date with how they are doing on a regular basis.

If, due to other commitments you are unable to be with your horse whilst at the clinic, we can arrange for you to drop them off early in the morning and pick up after hours and ensure you are kept up to date with progress during the day.

We can also provide your horse with transport to and from the clinic, in a 3.5 ton horsebox, driven by one of our nursing team if needed. This takes the stress of hiring/ borrowing a box away from you and ensures your horse is in the best possible hands door to door.

Our Clinic Services

Surgery & Anaesthesia

Many of our operations are carried out by our Claire Phillips, our Clinical Director, and where appropriate other visiting surgeons with specialism in their chosen area. Nic Harries and Rachel Hurley are responsible for the General Anaesthesia and monitoring of our patients. We also have a number of visiting specialists where specific expertise is necessary. This includes:

Surgery for joint infections
Back surgery such as Dorsal Spinal Processes
Suspensory surgery
Keyhole Joint Surgery
Castrations
Laser Sarcoid Surgery
A range of common soft tissue surgeries

Advanced dentistry and referrals

Mark Tabachnik and Nic Harries are both qualified Equine Dental Technicians. As such, we are perfectly placed to provide your horse with all their dental healthcare requirements, from routine rasping to more complex corrections and extractions. We also deal with referrals from vets and other equine dental technicians. We have an oral endoscope and regularly treat special cases such as diastemas and fillings.

Fillings
Diastema widening
Extractions
MTE

Reproduction services

We offer a wide range of reproduction services; pre-breeding examinations; mare management; artificial insemination; pregnancy diagnosis; in-foal mare management; detection of reduced fertility in the mare and post foaling checks.

We offer a wide range of reproductive services both at the clinic and at your yard. Somerford Park is a BEVA approved Artificial Insemination (AI) clinic for frozen semen.

Lameness Evaluation

In most cases it is preferable/ essential to bring your horse into the clinic to carry out a full lameness investigation when the reason for the lameness is not immediately obvious, eg. Abscess. However, if this is absolutely not possible, we can discuss how best to approach this at your yard.

Claire, Nic and Anna are our senior orthopaedic team and have all undertaken additional qualifications to become Advanced Practitioners in equine orthopaedics. They are available for lameness investigations in clinic and support our other vets working up cases in clinic or on farm

A full lameness investigation would involve:

Physical examination
X rays
Gait assessment - walk and trot on hard surface, lunged/ ridden on a variety of different surfaces
Ultrasound Scans
Joint / Nerve blocks - this involves using local anaesthesia to localise the source of pain
Imaging - we have radiography and ultrasonography machines available to provide high grade images for assessment by our specialist team
Treatment - our experienced team will recommend the best and most appropriate treatment options for your horse and are able to offer a range of options that can be tailored to your and your horses individual needs

Therapeutic Treatment

As part of the ongoing treatment and to aid the recovery of a horse particularly after certain orthopaedic procedures we will carry out a series of therapeutic treatments – including shockwave, H-wave, Indiba and ultrasound therapy.

All of these, excluding Indiba which is a clinic only therapy, can be done either at the clinic or on farm. The therapeutic ultrasound equipment can be hired out to allow you to complete this treatment yourself following appropriate instruction. Find out more about the treatment options here.

Video Endoscopy and Gastroscopy

Our endoscope and gastroscope equipment are portable allowing them to be used on yard and in clinic. As this procedure requires 2 personnel there is an additional visit charge when we carry out these procedures out on yard. Many clients opt to bring their horse into the clinic to avoid this cost which also has the added option of us being able to perform the starvation part for the gastroscopy if the horse stays the night before with us. We often find this is less stressful for the horse as they are away from their normal environment and routine. These can be used to assess:

Breathing difficulties/issues – 1.3m video endoscope to image upper respiratory tract, larynx and trachea
3m Gastroscope - Used to image the oesophagus, stomach and very first part of the small intestines

Video / images can be seen on the laptop and stored to aid diagnosis.

Worming

Worming your horse is an essential part of maintaining its health. Many owners use regular worming throughout the year to control the levels of worms in their horse’s gut. We offer a variety of worm control options, checks and worming. The cost of a worm check is about £10 and groups of 10 or more will receive a 10% discount.

We also have a strategic worming plan, that for an annual fee will provide you with everything you need to correctly manage your horses’ monitoring and treatment for worms, including Worm Egg Count kits, annual wormer, and tape work saliva test, as well as unlimited advice from our Veterinary Nurses/ SQP.

Please contact the office on 01260 280800 and speak to Louise Pailor for more information on this.

Specialist Clinics

From time to time specialist clinics are held at our clinic and on yard.

These will be advertised via social media and our newsletter and will take place at relevant times throughout the year.

Gastroscopy clinic
Performance Clinic
Winter MOT clinic

Payments

There are a number of ways to pay for your visit / monthly invoice:

Payment can be made online via the website
Credit card/ Debit card/ Applepay (sorry we do not take AMEX) over the telephone or face to face
Cash

Invoices are processed twice monthly and payment is requested within 14 days. Failure to settle your account within the required time period will result in administrative surcharges.

Insurance

If, following discussion with your vet, you decide to make an insurance claim, we can help you with this. It is your responsibility to be familiar with the details of your horse’s cover in your policy, any exclusions etc.

We will talk you through the claims process and ensure that your insurance company receives all the relevant information from us in a timely manner, keeping you informed at all times of where your claim is up to.

All you need to do is open the claim with your insurers, complete and sign the relevant form and give this to us, pay your excess and the £20 administration fee and leave the rest to us.

Pre-Purchase Examinations

We are able to undertake 2 stage and 5 stage Pre-Purchase Examinations with or without radiographs in clinic. The facilities at Somerford Park Farm and within our clinic provide the perfect setting to ensure a thorough assessment of your potential purchase which will leave you well informed to make your decision.

Our vets are very experienced in Pre-Performance Examinations and will discuss any findings on a risk basis and assist you in making an informed decision regarding purchase. Where necessary we can provide a rider for the ridden assessment. Please see our Pre-Purchase Examination information sheet for more information.

We are also happy to discuss your requirements over the phone.