Clinical

Physiotherapy for neck pain in the horse

Physiotherapy helps restore movement and function when an individual is affected by injury, illness or disability (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), 2020), with treatments structured around...

Cheek teeth diastemata

There are two different types of diastemata classified. The first is a ‘valve’ type, where the gap at the occlusal surface is narrower than that at the level of the gum. This type is more likely to...

Neonatal maladjustment syndrome in foals

Historically, the syndrome has been attributed to hypoxic–ischaemic injury at foaling and the condition is seen in foals that have experienced a prolonged delivery as a result of dystocia or premature...

Immune-mediated disorders of the equine eye: part 1 – the cornea

The immune-mediated keratopathies (IMMKs) are a group of poorly defined, non-ulcerative, inflammatory disorders of the cornea, where the aetiopathogenesis involves an abnormal, typically upregulated...

Platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of equine orthopaedic disease

Platelets consist of alpha granules, which contain a multitude of growth factors and cytokines that are released at sites of vascular injury to direct and promote healing (Pochini et al, 2016). Growth...

Know your patient: an introduction to the nursing care of donkeys

In the UK, there are 1.3 million horses and annually £4.3 billion of equine consumer spending (British Equine Trade Association National Equestrian Survey, 2011) but there is no comparable ‘donkey...

Equine training aids: can they really improve performance?

To be able to evaluate the impact of a training aid on a horse, we first need to define what constitutes a training aid and to understand the principles of training and rehabilitation, which underpin...

Assessing quality of life in older horses

Quality of life assessment is well established in human medicine, with a large number of published generic and disease-specific measurement scales (Bowling, 2001). For example, different QoL...

CPD article: Arthropathy of the temporomandibular joint: a diagnostic challenge

The equine temporomandibular joint is a synovial incongruent condylar articulation of the zygomatic process of the squamous temporal bone and the condylar process of the mandible. A biconcave,...

CPD article: Radiographic interpretation of the navicular bone: a review

The navicular bone, or distal sesamoid bone, is located on the palmar aspect of the distal interphalangeal joint suspended by the collateral sesamoidean ligament, which attaches to the distal abaxial...

CPD article: Quality improvement, checklists and systems of work: why do we need them?

Clinical governance is a requirement of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Code of Professional Conduct for veterinary nurses and veterinary surgeons (RCVS 2012). Scally and Donaldson...

CPD article: Equine gastrointestinal parasite infections

Infections with small strongyles is common, with horses becoming infected on pasture through the uptake of infective third-stage larvae (L3). The larvae then develop in the intestinal mucosa before...