Black Diamond Park Equine Vet Clinic

09/09/2026

06/09/2026

Please pay attention to this post. I see 1 to 3 colics every week and fortunately the majority of owners bring their horses in early when symptoms arise and diagnosis, treatment and prognosis is far better. There are, however, the odd cases where people do some unwittingly silly things. Like -
“ I gave 4 days of re**al fluids and horse is still sick” or “I just flushed the choke out by putting a garden hose up its nose “.
Please contact me for discussion before considering any sort of treatment. I am here for evidence based answers and animal welfare.
Cheers
Dr sal

Every once in a while, I hear an old wives’ tale about treating colic that makes me stop and think, “Well… that’s certainly a new one for me.” 😂

There are a LOT of old school remedies for colic that have been passed down through generations of horse people. Some of the ones I’ve heard include:

• Drawing blood and squirting it into the horse’s mouth
• Walking a colicky horse for hours
• Giving wh***ey or other alcohol
• Pouring oil down the horse’s throat
• Giving to***co or ni****ne
• And, apparently, putting various substances into the re**um 🤦‍♀️

I never imagined I’d have to say this, but please do not shove anything in your horse’s a**s, including but not limited to onions, soda, electrolyte drinks, or hoses.

Seriously. Please don’t. 😂

While some of these remedies have interesting historical origins, none should replace an appropriate veterinary examination. Colic can be something as simple as gas or as serious as a strangulating intestinal obstruction, and delaying appropriate treatment can have very serious consequences.

And please don’t assume that because something is an old horseman’s remedy, it is necessarily safe or effective. Veterinary medicine has learned a lot since the days of “walk him until he sweats and give him a shot of wh***ey.”

When your horse colics, call your veterinarian. Let’s leave the old wives’ tales in the history books and keep the hoses where they belong. 😂

28/08/2026

A step closer to finishing the examination area today. About 10 years ago the double crush was installed, then 8 years ago the shed with roof and some concrete floor was laid down. Better lighting went in earlier this year and today the concrete floor was finally finished.
This will make it safer and easier to wheel trolleys around, less trip hazards for people and horses and better drainage when I wash the crush. I will also be able to put in more bench space, drawers and cupboards for storage.
A big thank you to Lachlan from Tulloch Concreting. Great service, communication, followed the brief and made suggestions and timely completion to a high standard. And he is Maryborough based. I feel it is so important to support local businesses because if you don’t, then we lose these services and the local employment that they create.
I apologise for the inconvenience to my clients over the last 3 days as the boys endeavoured to work around some of my cases. As the concrete cures over the next few days, I will have a bit of a break and do some farm work instead.
The next project is the builder to finish the roof where it leaks and replace the wooden vertical posts with steel ones.
Cheers
Dr sal

27/08/2026

I had the pleasure of attending this 4 hour professional development at SCEH last Sunday. It was lovely to see their excellent facilities and to meet Dr Tias, Dr Bridgette and Dr Brianna. They are only 1.5 hours from Maryborough and they welcome the work up diagnostics and detailed timely notes that I can provide such that they can further assist in more difficult cases. I have referred 2 cases there. One was a Sunday afternoon with a dressage horse with partial laceration of a tendon and the other was a colic case at midnight in which I identified some red flags requiring further work up.
As one of the very few equine practices available 24/7 in the Wide Bay / Burnett area I am able to identify those cases requiring referral to support the best outcome for our equine patients.
Cheers
Dr sal

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25/08/2026

I am so excited. Look what arrived yesterday. A huge thank you to those involved in this latest purchase.
This is my new abdominal probe for my Mindray ultrasound machine. This is a game changer for equine thoracic and abdominal medical cases, especially with the number of colic cases that do. You may recall I did a weekend training course on this very equipment in Victoria back in May. This probe can see much deeper into tissue, upto 30 cm, so I can visualise the stomach, spleen, kidneys, liver, heart valves (but that is very tricky) , small intestine, colon and late gestation foetuses.
For instance, I currently have a colic case in my stables who I really needed to rule out a nephrosplenic entrapment. Repeat re**al findings were not clear. But a quick scan of his kidneys with this probe showed clearly no entrapment between spleen and left kidney. Even dr Steve said “wow what a great image”.
I look forward to further use of this equipment, which will benefit so many horses in our district.
Cheers
Dr sal

20/08/2026

August visit from Dr Steve Rayner (equine surgeon) at Black Diamond Park Equine Vet Clinic in Maryborough.

We saw 14 cases, including;
- 1 gastroscope on a horse with mild Colonic impaction, that still wasn’t right.
-4 revisits, including the horse recovering from swamp cancer, a post arthroscope surgery to check on a bone cyst, a follow up ultrasound on a case with collateral ligament strain and a revisit on an unusual gait issue associated with mycotoxins.
-8 sets of X-rays, one with pedal bone fracture on the solar margin, one with mild Bighead, one stifle showing OCD (so booked for arthroscope surgery), one splint bone fracture, one foal with club foot, one young horse with open growth plates and therefore not ready for the breakers and two podiatry X-rays to assist farriers.
-2 puncture wounds with one showing no serious injury to the pedal bone and the other in which a huge wooden stake was removed from the pectoral muscle.

And Dr Sal did a dental on a young 3 yo c**t that had mouth and bit issues (she extracted 6 loose caps or baby teeth!!-remember young horses need dentals as they loose these caps which can create mouth issues).

Many horses are travelling from Bundaberg, Gladstone, Gympie and west of Maryborough as well as local cases.

Steve’s next visit is scheduled for Wednesday the 16th September and he already has 6 cases booked.
Dr Steve’s main role in our district is to support local veterinarians with equipment that most vets don’t have (such as endoscoping and laser therapy) or to perform more tricky procedures requiring more expertise (such as surgeries, complicated lamenesses and post op checkups).

If you are in need of his services, please contact me early (via messenger) to avoid disappointment as he books out quickly.

The Wide Bay is very fortunate to be able to access such a knowledgeable vet with over 35 years experience in equine surgery and also an equine vet who shares my vision for genuinely caring about owners and the welfare of their horse, such that we can provide evidence based answers and a realistic pathway forward.
Cheers
Dr Sally Whalan (BVSc)

17/08/2026

EQUINE REPRODUCTION in WIDE BAY
🐴🐴🐴

If you are looking at breeding your mare this season, now is the time to get organised. Do not wait until Christmas.
Look closely at your mare and ask yourself;
✅ why do you wish to breed her?
✅ what stallion is best suited?
✅ have you got your breeding contract sorted out?
✅ what costs are involved?
✅ what are the pros and cons for live service, chilled or frozen semen AI?
✅ have you thought about pregnancy monitoring and foaling down? What happens with critically ill newborn foals?
✅ do you value a local service in Maryborough that is available 24/7 to the Wide Bay /Burnett area?

I am primarily an equine breeding centre servicing the Wide Bay and Burnett area of Qld. We have scaled back our own stud mares this year and that means there is more room and time for outside mares. However, I will need to cap the numbers, so if you are interested in an experienced local equine vet for pregnancy testing, placental checks, artificial insemination, foaling down, high risk pregnancies, problem mares etc, you are best to get in contact with me early in the season to avoid missing out.
Bring on the foals. I love this part of the year!!🐴🐴🐴
Cheers
Dr sal

14/08/2026

With the first foals of the season hitting the ground it’s a great time to refresh ourselves on the newborn foal milestones.

The first few hours of your newborn foal's life are critical and it is important to be able to identify those foals who may benefit from early veterinary intervention. Normal foals show a reasonably predictive pattern of behaviour after birth, and any deviations from this can be an early indication of a problem.

After birth a foal should:
- Be able to sit on its chest within 5-10 minutes.
- Have a strong suck reflex within 20 minutes.
- Should be able to stand within 1 hour and nurse independently within 2 hours of birth.
- Urinate within 12 hours.
- Begin to pass meconium (first manure) within 12 hours after birth.

Early recognition of abnormal foals allows us to increase the chance of successful treatment and in turn a healthier foal. It is important to seek veterinary care if any of the following are displayed:
- The foal does not follow the above timeline.
- Born prematurely.
- Foal shows altered behaviour such as lethargy or wandering aimlessly.
- Weakness feeding or nursing other parts of the mare or trying to suck on other objects such as walls or fences.
- Foal is straining to urinate or defecate.
- Showing signs of colic.
- Diarrhoea.
- Respiratory distress or struggling to breath.
- Foal becomes lame and/or has swelling of the joints.

It is advised that both the mare and foal be checked by a vet within 24 hours of foaling. A blood sample can be taken at this time to measure the immunity (IgG) levels of the foal. Low levels of IgG means that the foal will need to be given plasma intravenously.

Darling Downs Vets offers field vets that are available to come check your mare and foal post foaling, as well as in hospital intensive care management of unwell foals.