Green Veterinary Equine

14/04/2026

Last week we gave a helping hand to one of Thornberry Animal Sanctuary Equine Centre's horses, Barney.

Watch this short video of his treatment to find out more!

30/03/2026

Misty's road to recovery ❤️‍🩹

This cheeky little Welsh pony has had a bit of a rough time of late but we are happy to report she is on the mend thanks to her diligent owner, our ambulatory vets and the fabulous referral team at Rainbow Equine Hospital.

At the start of 2026, Misty developed a sudden onset severe right forelimb lameness that did not improve within the initial rest period she was recommended. In the first instance, our vet Alex nerve blocked her foot (palmar digital nerve block) which did not improve the lameness, meaning we need to look higher up! We often start with nerve blocking the foot as it is a very common cause of forelimb lameness as well being quick and easy to do while out on a yard.

In a follow up visit, as Misty was still not improving, our vet Luke repeated locomotor examination and noticed Misty was very reactive to fetlock flexion and palpation - particularly on the palmar (on the back of the leg) aspect. After a low-4 point nerve block (essentially blocking from the mid cannon, downwards), Misty's lameness was significantly improved (even so much so that she felt well enough to charge towards the grass verge for a quick snack!).

Now that we had determined the area the lameness was coming from, it was then a hunt to find exactly where! Luckily, there were a few clues... alongside resentment to palpation of the fetlock, after clipping the leg it became apparent that the back of the fetlock was markedly swollen and had a very firm prominence across the area that she was painful to touch.

With stableside ultrasound examination it was then determined that Misty's palmar annular ligament (PAL) was abnormal. Alongside general thickening there was also an irregular linear tear with loose superficial fibres. This gives us a diagnosis of PAL desmitis.

After discussion with Misty's owner, it was decided to refer Misty to Rainbow Equine Hospital in Malton, North Yorkshire to undergo MRI examination of the fetlock region and tenoscopic surgery (if required).

Misty's MRI confirmed the PAL desmitis and therefore surgery went ahead as planned. Surprisingly, when the PAL was cut during surgery, it became apparent that Misty also had a longitudinal tear of the lateral head of the DDFT... not visible on ultrasound or MRI until the PAL was cut! This case highlights the importance of tenoscopic examination for some conditions, in which surprises can compromise our initial prognosis.

Thankfully, Misty recovered well from surgery and seem to enjoy her stay at the hospital for the a few days! Nevertheless she is happy to be back in her own stable to carry out her rehabilitation period.

Today we visited Misty, 4 weeks post-operatively to carry out a planned tendon sheath medication as part of her treatment plan. As Misty is a patient that we carefully monitor for laminitis she is not a prime candidate for steroid use - luckily we can now offer a type of biologics called ProStride. This is a combination of PRP (platelet-rich plasma), IRAP (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein) and A*M (alpha 2 macroglobulin) all rolled into one injection. A blood sample is taken from the patient, we run it through 2 specialised biologics tubes and centrifuge the samples to collect a highly concentrated anti-inflammtory, regenerative solution. This solution is then directly injected into the structure that is damaged, to help the tissues to heal.

We wish Misty and her owner all the best luck in the world for the remainder of her rehabilitation period and we will of course always be on hand to help! 🐴

06/03/2026

02/03/2026

It’s not just our larger patients that benefit from a headstand while having their teeth done 🦷 here is little Rhubarb making great use of the mini-stand 😃

13/02/2026

🐴 Double trouble 🐴

Can anybody guess which little mare was just waking up from her sedation… 😅💚

Edna’s stablemate (left) was very forthcoming with her moral support while her best friend underwent an extraction of a dysplastic incisor 🦷

05/02/2026

Harry's road to recovery! 🐴

Last year, Harry presented acutely and severely lame on one of his hindlimbs which required one of our vets to attend as an emergency call out.

Often, these episodes of severe lameness can be very distressing for both horse and owner - luckily there were some clues along the way to help narrow down Harry's lameness! Of course, for all horse owners this is a time that must feel like an eternity while our vets try to figure out what exactly is the cause.

When Harry was examined by one of our large animal vets, Luke, it became clear that Harry's hind fetlock was quite markedly swollen and he was very painful when the fetlock was flexed. There was also no reaction to hoof testers on the hoof (making a foot abscess quite a lot less likely - but not impossible!).

Due to the suspicion of acute soft tissue damage Harry was given intravenous painkillers and commenced box rest while further imaging was arranged. Xrays were first taken of the fetlock to rule out any fractures - thankfully, there weren't any!

Ultrasonography was key to revealing the final clues here... Harry had torn his manica flexoria!

The manica flexoria is a small sleeve-like band of tendon tissue in the horse's leg where the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) wraps round the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) to form a kind of 'tunnel'. It is critical for the smooth gliding of the two tendons past eachother, during movement. Unfortunately, it is often a common place for injury, especially in the hindlimb.

Manica flexoria tears can come in a range of types and therefore degrees of lameness. Some injuries will recover with rest and anti-inflammatories alone, while others require further treatment, such as tenoscopic surgery to debride loose edges of tissue which become problematic further down the line.

Luckily for Harry, rest and gentle introduction back to exercise has been all that was required! We are pleased to report, Harry is doing really well and enjoying being back to his normal cheeky self. 💚

02/02/2026

24/12/2025

🎄Congratulations Deborah Ashby - you're our winner for our Christmas cover photo!

🎅 We'd love you to share a little about the photo, so drop us a comment below to let everyone know what it's all about!

Have a great Christmas everybody!

23/12/2025

🎄 We hope you are all in the Christmas spirit… we need a new cover photo to see us through to the new year!

📷 Comment your festive horsey photos below and we will pick a winner tomorrow, on Christmas Eve! 🎅🏼

15/12/2025

🌟 Quiz; can you guess how old this horse is from the photos below? Let us know in the comments! 🤓

Baby teeth 🦷 Sometimes they can cause a problem!

This sweet little filly needed some help getting rid of hers today - luckily our large animal vet Luke was on the yard to help 🏥

The owner had noticed she had been eating differently over the past few weeks and had some bony swelling near her facial crest on both sides. 🐴

After a dose of light sedation to aid examination, this horse had 3 premolar (cheek teeth) caps removed as well as 2 incisor caps.

Although most young horses will shed caps (deciduous/“milk teeth”/“baby teeth) on their own which owners will often find in feed bowls or on the stable floor, this is not always the case. Sometimes, caps can be retained and cause issues with chewing as well as the structure and development of the adult cheek teeth.

If you have any suspicions of dental pain in your horse or you just want to be on the safe side and have them checked, please contact our reception to get booked in with one of our vets. 🐴 ♥️

17/09/2025

Brace yourself for this one!! 🦷 💉

It’s almost 18 months since we were called out to this lovely gelding who had gotten himself into a bit of a pickle… be warned the following images are quite gory! 🩸

Unfortunately he had somehow managed to fracture and displace two of his lower incisors, which of course left him in some discomfort!! Nevertheless, when our vet Luke arrived to initiate treatment, he was still trying eat and was making a good go of it!! 🐖

After thorough flushing and debridement of the area, X-rays were taken of the lower jaw to determine whether fixation of the displaced incisors was possible - luckily, both incisors were fully intact and had no fractures to the root or crown. 🦷

It was then a tag-team job for Alex and Luke to wire the lower incisors back in their original position after carrying out some local anaesthetic nerve blocks and breaking out the power tools! 🧰

The brace was then left in place for a number of weeks before being removed. We are happy to report that the procedure was a success and this gelding has absolutely no issues eating or with a bit! 🎉