Equine Medical Services

You’re invited to visit the new and improved equmed.com

Equine Medical Services is proud to announce the launch of a more user friendly, feature rich website. Scroll down for a tour of the new site. Our popular Foal Due Date Calender has been improved to accommodate all browsers and operating systems. With the new calendar format, simply chose the month of the mare's ...

Introduction to Acupuncture

Dr. Tawna Purcell Acupuncture; the word usually induces a raised eyebrow and skeptical look however the benefits of this treatment modality are numerous. Acupuncture, like all medicine, has been evolving over the last 3000 years and is currently used along with Western Medicine throughout much of the world. It gained the ...

New Foal Exams

Nathan Voris, DVM printer friendly PDF format One of the most important things a proud owner of a new foal can do is have their veterinarian examine the new arrival between 12 and 24 hours after it is born. Of course, the mare and foal should be examined sooner if the owner ...

Ever Heard of HERDA?

Nathan Voris, DVM printer friendly PDF format The acronym HERDA stands for “Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia” and represents a rapidly emerging genetic disease within the Quarter Horse industry. HERDA has a strong familial basis that has been identified in the bloodlines of Poco Bueno (AQHA 3034) and his sire King (AQHA ...

Choke

Hunter Ortis, DVM printer friendly PDF format Choke (equine esophageal obstruction) is a common problem caused by impaction of food material in the esophagus. Unlike human choke, horses are able to breathe during a choking episode because the trachea (windpipe) is not involved. However, this does not mean swift medical attention is ...

No Hoof, No Horse

Paul Schiltz, DVM printer friendly PDF format The sentiment no hoof, no horse is never more obvious then when we see a horse with a hoof infection. Some infections within the hoof are so painful that owners often think their horse must have a broken bone. Thankfully that is rarely the case. Hoof ...

Sarcoids

Nathan Voris, DVM printer friendly PDF format “It’s not a tumor!” I encourage everyone reading this to say the previous sentence aloud, using their best Arnold Schwarzenegger (Kindergarten Cop) accent. I guarantee you will make the person next to you laugh. All joking aside, sarcoids are tumors. In fact, sarcoids are the most ...

Vaccination Update

Tawna Backman Purcell, DVM printer friendly PDF format Choosing which vaccinations to use to provide protection for your horse largely depends on what part of the country you live in as a nationwide protocol doesn’t exist. The AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) publishes a list of guidelines for veterinarians to use ...

Grain Overload

Nathan Voris, DVM printer friendly PDF format It happens several times every year. The phone rings and on the other side of the line is an unhappy client reporting their horse got out of its pen and into the grain bin. Many times, the horse is looking pretty normal, and the client ...

Bit Seats

Heather Landrey, DVM printer friendly PDF format Often people ask, “What is a bit seat?” or “Did you put a bit seat in my horse’s mouth?” Bit seat is an old term used to describe the rounding of the first cheek tooth on the upper and lower arcades, resulting in a small groove ...