Why the Horse Health Programme is a good idea for horse owners

Meet our newest blogger Martha: Martha is an Ambulatory Vet at one of our great practices, B&W Equine Vets!

First of all let me introduce myself, my name is Martha and I’ve worked for B&W Equine Vets for three and a half years. I originally came here as an intern, and worked for 18 months in the hospital. I am now an ambulatory vet for the practice (out on the road!) and I get to meet some brilliant horses and their owners. I think it’s really important that as vets we work with our clients to help keep their horses healthy and happy, and a big part of this is preventative health care.

We are now offering our ‘Horse Health Programme’ which is a great and cost effective way to cover all your horses’ veterinary needs. For just £13.99 a month, your horse can benefit from an annual flu and tetanus vaccination, an annual health check, dental work (including sedation if required) and quarterly worm egg counts. We also include a Tapeworm saliva test for owners in autumn, which is really important as a traditional worm egg count doesn’t pick up tapeworm eggs. If left untreated, tapeworms can be a cause of colic. Sadly this can be quite distressing for horse and owner, so by monitoring a horse’s tapeworm levels and treating in the autumn if required (the appropriate wormer is also part of the Horse Health Programme membership) you can get peace of mind that your horse’s parasite levels are all well controlled.

I understand that worming can get quite confusing, and so your vet will always be happy to sit down and go through a worming plan with you. This can be especially helpful on larger yards, and we are very happy to write out worming plans for people to follow for the year, taking into account worm egg counts and tapeworm testing.

Going back to the benefits of the Horse Health Programme, you also get 10% off any other treatment your horse might need, and 20% off lifetime medication like Equipalazone (Bute) or Prascend for horses suffering from Cushing’s. Sadly I see an awful lot of laminitic older ponies, who often have PPID (Cushing’s disease) as well. Managing these ponies can be really difficult, and expensive! The Horse Health Programme helps owners to keep their ponies comfortable and happy, at an affordable price.

An annual health check gives us as vets an opportunity to give our patients a thorough check over allowing us to notice any changes in the horse’s eyes, heart, lungs or limbs at an early stage. We will also watch a horse moving, and can discuss any lameness issues that may arise.