Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Services

09/28/2026

🍂 **Fall Weather & Your Horse’s Hydration** 💧

Cooler evenings and warm days can make it easy to overlook hydration. It is essential to provide clean, fresh water and monitor your horse’s water intake. To encourage adequate water consumption, it is important that horses receive enough salt.

🧂 Salt supports five important functions:

💧 Hydration: Sodium helps pull water into the bloodstream and maintain fluid balance during heat and exercise.

🧠 Nerve function: Sodium and chloride transmit electrical signals along nerves.

💪 Muscle contraction: Sodium helps trigger the processes that allow muscles to contract.

🥣 Digestion: Chloride is a key component of stomach acid (HCl), supporting protein digestion.

⚖️ Acid-base balance: Sodium and chloride help maintain normal blood pH, especially after sweating.

Salt Block vs. Loose Salt🧂

Horses generally prefer loose salt and will often voluntarily regulate their intake. Loose salt can provide a more reliable daily intake, while salt blocks are a convenient pasture backup.

Daily salt needs vary with size, workload, diet, and environment, with needs increasing after sweating and during warmer weather.

💧 Check your horse’s hydration by looking at their gums—they should be moist and pink, with a capillary refill time of less than 2 seconds.

🐴 At Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Services, prevention is key!

09/06/2026

Monsoons bring welcome relief from the Arizona heat, but they also bring increased moisture—and more biting insects.** 🦟🌧️

The combination of humidity, standing water, and warmer conditions can create an ideal environment for mosquitoes, Culicoides (no-see-ums and midges), flies, and other biting insects. These pests can cause irritation and discomfort and may also increase the risk of insect-borne diseases.

As we move through monsoon season, take a few extra steps to protect your horse:

• Eliminate insect breeding areas by removing standing water around the barn, cleaning water buckets every 2–3 days, and regularly removing manure
• Provide air currents with fans, especially in stalls and areas where horses spend time
• Compost manure to help reduce fly breeding
• Use fly sheets and masks when appropriate
• Stable horses when insects are most active
• Apply insect repellents during peak insect activity
• Check your horse regularly for bites, skin irritation, swelling, or other changes
• Make sure vaccinations and preventive care are current

Stable flies, horn flies, and deer flies are generally active during the day, while mosquitoes and Culicoides are most active around dawn and dusk.

If you notice signs of Insect Bite Hypersensitivity (IBH), reach out for help relieving your horse's discomfort. Signs may include intense itching, hives, crusting, and hair loss. IBH is an allergic reaction to proteins in the saliva of biting insects and can significantly affect your horse's comfort and quality of life.

A little prevention can go a long way toward keeping your horse comfortable and healthy during monsoon season. 🌵🐴

Contact Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Service to schedule your horse's physical examination and discuss treatment and prevention options.
ocotilloequine.com
Call 602-689-4123

09/01/2026

Do you have a Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) to help ensure appropriate preventive and emergency care can be provided?

Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Services is accepting new patients!

When you establish your horse as a patient with us, you can expect regular veterinary care, including annual wellness examinations, recommended follow-up, diagnostics, treatments, and emergency coverage.

We collaborate with trusted veterinary partners at EquIMed, Phoenix Equine, and AFL Veterinary Services to help provide after-hours care. Having an established relationship with us allows appropriate medical records to be shared, so the veterinarian on call is up to date on your horse’s specific medical needs.

If you have an urgent or non-urgent concern, call or text us at 602-689-4123 so we can help provide your horse with the best care possible.

Learn more about us at ocotilloequine.com

08/25/2026

Equine Dental Care Is Essential for Overall Health & Performance 🐴

At Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Service, prevention is key. Regular dental examinations and floating help maintain your horse’s comfort, nutrition, and overall health—and can help prevent painful dental problems before they affect performance.

Don’t wait for the signs of dental disease to appear. Schedule your horse’s annual dental examination and float today.

📞 Call or text 602-689-4123
📧 Email [email protected]
🐎 Preventive care starts with a healthy mouth.

Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Service
Where equine care is rooted in prevention, trust, and compassion at every stage of life.

ocotilloequine.com

To learn more about equine dentistry check out this link from AAEP:
https://aaep.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AAEP-HOE_Introduction-to-Equine-Dentistry.pdf

08/21/2026

08/13/2026

🐴 Now Welcoming New Equine Patients! 🐴

Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Services provides compassionate, personalized, high-quality veterinary care. Exceptional care starts by listening to the horse and the owner. Whether your horse needs routine preventive care or you have a medical concern, we’re here to help keep your horse healthy, happy, and performing their best.

Our services include:

• Routine wellness & preventive care- dental floats, annual bloodwork, f***l analysis, radiographs to support farrier care, nutrition consultations
• Reproductive management for mares
• Evaluation, diagnostics & treatment of medical concerns
• Emergency coverage

We believe in getting to know you and your horse and providing thoughtful, high-quality care tailored to their individual needs.

📍 Proudly serving Cave Creek, Carefree, New River, Desert Hills, Rio Verde, North Scottsdale, and surrounding areas.

🐎 Ready to establish care?

Visit ocotilloequine.com or call/text us today at 602-689-4123 to schedule your appointment.

Compassionate care. High-quality medicine. Healthy, happy horses.

Our Services Include We are proud to service our community in Cave Creek and surrounding areas Preventative Care Diagnostic Imaging Emergency Care Reproductive Services See Our Services Contact Us Our Mission Ocotillo Equine Veterinary Services strengthens the bond between horses and their owners th...

08/04/2026

American Association of Equine Practitioners is a great resource for continuing education. Did you know what TPR stands for?

Do you know your horse’s baseline? 🤔

Knowing what’s normal for your horse’s vital signs is one of the best tools you have for spotting early signs of distress or illness!

Practicing taking your horse’s TPR (Temperature, Pulse, Respiration) regularly helps you know their personal baseline so you can quickly spot when something is off. If your horse seems unusually dull or anxious and their numbers fall outside these typical ranges, it’s time to call your equine veterinarian:

🌡️ Temperature: 99.0°F – 101.5°F
❤️ Heart Rate: 28 – 40 beats/min
😮‍💨 Respiration Rate: 12 – 16 breaths/min

Note: Hot weather and high humidity can cause minor shifts in these numbers. Chat with your veterinarian about what’s normal for your specific horse and environmental conditions, and ask them to double-check your technique at your next visit!

💡 Special thanks to the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee for sharing these essential health guidelines.

07/31/2026

✨ Prevention is the key to a healthy, happy horse. ✨

To help your horse live comfortably and perform at their very best, staying ahead of potential issues is essential. I believe in preventing problems before they start—not chasing them after they happen.

Our Preventative Care Package is designed to keep your horse feeling and moving their best through proactive, consistent care.

Call or Email us today to learn more about our Preventative Care Package and how it can benefit your horse!

[email protected]
602-689-4123

07/29/2026

One of the most important things that a horse owner can do is know their horse's NORMAL!
Take time to observe your horse's normal daily habits throughout the day eating, drinking, resting, playing, the amount of manure passed, etc.
Once you know your horse's normal you will be able to catch the early sign(s) that there maybe a problem and prevent it from becoming more.