What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 1pm

http://www.summerleaze-vets.co.uk/

Summerleaze Equine Vets, Summerleaze Farm, Axminster (2026)

23/10/2026

COLIC WARNING
Unfortunately with the change in weather the risk of your horse or donkey developing colic increases, so it is important to remain vigilant and to ring us as soon as you are concerned your horse might have colic. It’s not always possible to prevent a horse having colic but the sooner we can respond to one, the better the outcome.

Signs that your horse may have colic can include:
🐴Rolling
🐴looking at their flank
🐴kicking up at their abdomen
🐴lying down
🐴pawing at the ground
🐴not wanting to eat
🐴 biting their abdomen
🐴 restlessness
🐴breathing rapidly at rest
🐴 having a high heart rate at rest

In order to prevent colics you can:
🐴make sure your horse always has access to plenty of fresh water.
🐴soak hard feed that requires soaking
🐴ensure your horse has regular dentals
🐴ensure your horse is up to date with worming
🐴 ensure your horse always gets to move around each day either by turning them out, exercising them or walking them in hand
🐴reduce exposure to possible toxins such as acorns

For more information on colic please take a look at our video discussing colic

https://youtu.be/GWgqomNY8ds

And our previous newsletter on colic:

https://www.summerleaze-vets.co.uk/documents/equine-aug21.pdf?fbclid=IwAR22cRIvoOiKJseon8Fl-ieMfESjKq1UWrmkOCFA5hAfUIcsBsO71959hz8

If you are ever worried your horse has colic please call us on 01297304007

23/10/2026

Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal, providing them with 350 degrees of vision.

They see in dichromatic or two colour vision (where as people see in three colour vision. As a result horses can’t distinguish red but can see greens and blues. This makes them similar to humans with red-green colourblindness. They are far better than humans at seeing in the dark and dim conditions as they have a greater proportion of rods to cones. But they struggle to change to sudden differences in light such as going from outside on a bright sunny to a dark stable or trailer, demonstrating the importance of patience when introducing horses to new environments.

About a third of domestic horses are nearsighted, but wild horses are more likely to be long sighted.
Horses are heavily reliant on their eyes so it is incredibly important to respond to any eye problems promptly.

A very common problem that occurs with horses is that damage the surface of their eye resulting in an ulcer. To diagnose an ulcer we use a fluorescein dye that stains the ulcer green. These typically only require antibiotic drops and pain relief but can also require plasma and in rare circumstances can also need surgical debridement.

For horses who don’t let you use eye drops, we can place sub palpebral lavages which is basically a long tube that goes through the eyelid enabling liquids to be sent to the eye from a short distance away. The eye drops used for inflammatory conditions in the eye often contain steriods, if these are used in an with an ulcer they can prevent the eye healing and made the ulceration far worse, hence it is always important to talk to a vet before using eye drops in a horse.

If your horse’s eye is painful it may show one or more of the following symptoms:
🐴closed eye
🐴partially closed eye
🐴discharge from the eye
🐴cloudiness within the eye
🐴blinking more
🐴swollen eyelid
🐴red around the eye
🐴rubbing eye
🐴eyelashes pointing downwards
🐴head-shy

If your horse has a painful eye it is important to ring us on 01297304007 as soon as possible.

22/10/2026

Worm egg counts

We strongly encourage using worm egg counts and tapeworm tests to help us reduce the risk of creating more resistance to wormers and to reduce the impact on the environment of wormers.

To take a sample for a worm egg count we advise:
🐴Taking a sample as fresh as possible and getting it to us ideally the same day.
🐴Having a secure container to place the sample in (small plastic sealable bag is perfect).
🐴 The sample does not need to be big, we are only going to use 3g of it so a representative sample of several bits of faeces making up to a large heaped tea spoon is perfect.
🐴Clearly labelling the samples if dropping off more than one at a time.
🐴Don’t do a worm egg count immediately after worming but instead we advise 4 a year unless there is a concern about resistance, in which case we may advise doing a worm egg count two weeks post worming.

For more information on worming and our worming package please see:

https://www.summerleaze-vets.co.uk/documents/worming.pdf

22/10/2026

With the climate changing unfortunately it means our horses and donkeys are likely to be exposed to new diseases.
For more information please see the attached or go to:

https://www.summerleaze-vets.co.uk/documents/new-challenges.pdf

21/10/2026

Equine Sarcoids

Did you know that sarcoids account for more than 40% of all equine cancers?

Sarcoids are skin tumours that can occur anywhere on horses, ponies and donkeys. Although they are locally invasive and don’t spread to other organs, they can grow, become ulcerated and cause discomfort if left untreated.

What causes sarcoids?

Sarcoids are associated with the bovine papillomavirus (BPV). However, not every horse exposed to the virus develops sarcoids, as genetic susceptibility also plays an important role. Even after successful treatment, sarcoids can recur.

What do sarcoids look like?

There are several types, including:

• Verrucose: Flat, scaly lesions that may resemble scars or ringworm.
• Nodular:Well-defined lumps that may be covered by normal skin or become ulcerated.
• Fibroblastic: More aggressive, fast-growing tumours that may have an irregular appearance and become ulcerated.
• Mixed: A combination of different sarcoid types.
• Malignant: Rare, highly aggressive sarcoids that can spread locally through lymphatic vessels.

How are sarcoids treated?

Treatment depends on the type, size and location of the sarcoid. Options may include:

🔹 Laser surgery
🔹 Mitomycin injections
🔹 Banding, sometimes alongside other treatments
🔹 Chemotherapy creams
🔹 Immunotherapy, including BCG or Zylexis vaccines

Should sarcoids be ignored?

No! Sarcoids can grow, become painful or ulcerated, interfere with tack and affect your horse’s welfare. They may also be damaged by rubbing or everyday activities, potentially making them worse.

It’s important to seek veterinary advice as soon as you notice a suspicious skin lesion. Treatment needs careful planning, as the wrong approach can make some sarcoids more aggressive. Biopsy is not always recommended because it may aggravate the lesion.

Early veterinary assessment is key to choosing the most appropriate treatment for your horse.

Thank you to Little Green Stables for use of their images of Reggie undergoing laser surgery.

20/10/2026

Last week our wonderful vets Alice and Alex volunteered at one of the BEVA trust and British Horse Society’s castration clinics in Cardiff. These clinics have helped a total of 2704 horses across the country over the last 9 years.
These clinics have been generously sponsored by Zoetis, Bransby horses, Blue Cross, Redwings, World Horse Welfare and the RSPCA.

20/10/2026

Choke is a relatively common condition that occurs when food or a foreign body blocks the horse's oesophagus. Choke may be partial or complete. It can be caused by a wide variety of scenarios from a greedy horse swallowing hay without chewing, a horse eating too soon after being sedated, food that requires soaking being eaten unsoaked to a horse not chewing correctly due to dental issues.

A horse with choke can start retching and may produce fluid or slime from their nose. They can become distressed and may look as though they are colicing or excessively coughing. Some horses may go down with choke where they are trying to dislodge what is caught. If the condition has gone unnoticed, the horse may become dehydrated and severely depressed.

Choke can look very scary but it is important to stay calm and ring for help. Never try passing a tube down a horse’s throat yourself as the oesophagus is a very delicate structure that is easily damaged. Although it is a rare complication the oesophagus can rupture hence choke should be taken seriously.

A vet can treat choke in several ways either medically with various drugs to relax the muscle spasm of the oesophagus around the foreign body, pass a nasogastric tube to dislodge the object, use a tube to pass fluid down to loosen the object or pass an endoscope to visualize the blockage and then remove it.

After a horse has had choke, depending on the duration and how the horse presented, the vet may choose to put the horse on anti inflammatories to reduce the risk of reoccurrence and potentially antibiotics to reduce the risk of a secondary aspirational pneumonia.

Horses that get choke repeatedly can have an underlying issue so it is important to let your vet know if they are having episodes of choke even if they are self resolving. It may be that we need to endoscope them to identify if there is a blockage or damage to their oesphagus.

Making sure that any feeds that require soaking are soaked sufficiently, ensuring access at all times to clean water and regular dentals can help reduce the risk of choke.

19/10/2026

Confused about who can do your horse or donkey’s teeth?

Who can call themselves an equine dentist?

🐴 You, me, anyone…. Unfortunately it’s not a protected title so there are people which no training out there acting as unqualified Equine Dental Technicians.

What can unqualified “EDTs” do? (Cat 1 Procedures)

🐴 Rasp teeth with hand floats
🐴 Examine mouths
Remember this is someone who may not have had any training at all!

What can qualified (BAEDT/WWAED) EDTs do? (Cat 2 Procedures)

🐴 Cat 1 procedures (above)
🐴 Use power tools to rasp teeth
🐴 Remove loose teeth (incisors/cheek teeth) with negligible periodontal ligaments
🐴 Extract erupted, non-displaced wolf teeth under direct and continuous veterinary supervision

What can vets do?

🐴 Any dental procedures that are within their own area of competence
🐴 A vet is required to dispense any form of medication for the horse to be sedated. This does not mean the vet has to be present, for example a vet nurse could sedate a horse for an equine dentist as long as they were under the vet’s guidance.

What can our staff at Summerleaze do?

Here at Summerleaze dentistry is very much a shared passion as a result:

🐴 All of our vets and Emelie (one of our nurses) are very competent at equine dentistry and each are fully equipped with their own dental kits. On any work day there is a high chance we are all doing multiple dentals.
🐴 Our vets regularly perform wolf teeth extractions on yards and sometimes molar and incisor extractions in the practice.
🐴 Stuart as an advanced practitioner in Equine Dentistry also does referral dentistry at the practice including restorations, extractions and diastema widening and bridging. All of our vets participate in the after care of these cases.
🐴 Emelie, one of our nurses is a qualified EDT, she can sedate under the advice of a vet so is also on the road regularly performing dentals and running dental clinics. Her next clinic at the practice is on 16th December.

Still confused?

Check out www.beva.org.uk/useful-info/Vets/Guidance/Equinedentalprocedures or speak to us for advice on your horse’s dental health.

18/10/2026

Uveitis in horses and donkeys

🐴 What is uveitis?
Inflammation inside the eye that is painful and potentially sight-threatening. It may occur as a single episode or become recurrent and progressive over time. It is sometimes referred to as moon blindness.

Appaloosas are estimated to be 8 times more likely to get Equine Recurrent Uveitis and nearly 4 times more likely to go blind from it compared to other horses due to the gene LP that causes the spotted coat.

🐴 Clinical signs
Squinting or keeping the eye closed
Excessive tearing or discharge
Redness around the eye
Cloudy or bluish appearance to the eye
Sensitivity to light
Behavioral changes due to ocular pain

🐴 Diagnosis
Complete ophthalmic examination by a veterinarian
Fluorescein staining to rule out corneal ulcers
Evaluation of internal eye structures
Measurement of intraocular pressure
Review of history, especially previous or recurrent eye disease

🐴 Treatment
Topical and/or systemic anti-inflammatory medications
Pain relief and pupil-dilating eye drops
Antibiotics if secondary infection is suspected
Identification and management of any underlying cause
Long-term treatment plans for recurrent cases

🐴 Prognosis
Good with early recognition and prompt, aggressive treatment
Guarded in recurrent or chronic uveitis
Delayed or inadequate treatment can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, or permanent vision loss

🐴 Enucleation
In severe, end-stage, or non-responsive cases where the eye is blind and persistently painful, surgical removal of the eye (enucleation) may be recommended
Enucleation eliminates pain and many horses and donkeys adapt very well, returning to a comfortable and good quality of life

17/10/2026

Unfortunately strangles is one of those diseases that is not likely to disappear. It is one of the most common equine contagious diseases diagnosed worldwide, caused by the bacterium Streptococcus equi. It is endemic in the UK.

Strangles is not a notifiable disease, but yards with confirmed outbreaks are advised to implement strict biosecurity precautions, and to notify neighbouring premises.

Clinical Signs
Clinical signs are not usually seen until 3-14 days after infection.

Clinical signs include:
• Depression and dullness
• Loss of appetite
• High temperature
• Marked ‘snotty’ nasal discharge
• Development of a cough
• Swelling of the lymph nodes (glands) under the jaw or on the head or neck which can lead to abscess formation at a later stage.

Horses can start to spread the disease before the clinical signs appear.

Atypical strangles may cause just a mild respiratory infection but no abscesses develop.

In approximately 10% of cases, infected horses become carriers even though they have recovered. These horses become persistently infected when abscess material forms in the guttural pouches. The bacteria can survive here for months or even years and therefore these horses can continue to spread the disease. This is treatable but requires flushing out their guttural pouches and placing antibiotics into their guttural pouches. These carriers can be detected by scoping the horse’s guttural pouches.

Spread of Infection
Strangles is very contagious but the bacteria causing the disease is relatively easy to kill. The disease is spread by direct or indirect contact only, it is not an airborne disease.

Indirect spread requires the bacteria to end up directly on an item and then that item come into close contact with another horse. Changing clothes and washing hands is enough to prevent cross contamination after dealing with an infected horse.
Please note, Strangles is not airborne but can be passed in nasal droplets to a distance of approximately 10m.
The vaccine is two vaccinations 4 weeks apart followed by 6 monthly vaccinations. Please ring us on 01297304007 if you are interested in learning more.

Summerleaze Equine Vets

23/10/2026

23/10/2026

22/10/2026

22/10/2026

21/10/2026

20/10/2026

20/10/2026

19/10/2026

18/10/2026

17/10/2026

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 1pm