Veteran Care Evening - 25th November 2009, Halfway Inn, Nantgaredig

    Well over 100 people joined us for an evening discussing the issues involved in caring for older horses.  We were fortunate to have Nicky Jarvis, the senior vet from Redwings, as a speaker.  Her extensive experience and deep love for older horses was very clear to us all.  Many of the horses Nicky sees have been neglected & she stressed how much easier (and how much more successfully) things such as dental problems or Cushings are to deal with when seen early.  It was lovely to hear that many of Redwings residents live happily into their 30s and some even longer.

    Emma Case, an equine nutritionist from Baileys Horse Feeds, gave us a detailed presentation about feeding and the special issues relating to the older horse.  It is good to know that Baileys (in common with most of the major feed companies) offer a free advice service to horse owners, provided by very highly qualified staff.  This personal service is well worth using if you have a specific issue with your oldie.  Emma gave the example of an underweight horse with Cushings as the sort of complex case which benefits from a detailed review of feeding and management alongside veterinary management.  She is happy to review the feeding of any horse, even if you don’t currently have any worries, a good way to reassure yourself that you are doing your best for your horse.

    Our final speaker was Kirsty Sturman from Intervet Schering Plough, our main sponsors for the evening.  She explained the challenges of selecting joint supplements and the scientific evidence for their use.  Unfortunately because these supplements are not subject to the same testing as drugs there are many products on the market which have no evidence that they actually do any good to your horse.  She explained that some products when tested have no active ingredients at all, despite the implied claims on the labelling!

    All three speakers talked about avoiding “an expensive poo-pile” – check that your horse can digest what you feed and that any supplements are actually useful for this particular horse.  For example, nuts are a better choice than mix for a horse with dental problems because mixes need to be chewed well to start the digestion process, whereas that process is already started with nuts through the manufacturing process.

   “More” is not always “better” – some things can be harmful if fed to excess and many other things are simply passed straight though the body if the horse is already receiving enough.  From the feedback forms it is clear that many people are giving some form of supplement, but few of them are ones with any scientific or veterinary support.  Many of the other supplements are likely to be totally unnecessary if your hay or haylage is good or you are feeding significant quantities of hard feed.  It is worth considering arranging analysis of your forage for this reason – ask the feed companies for details. The feed company nutritionists have studied equine nutrition to degree level and so are well qualified to advise you.

    You are also always welcome to discuss the choice of whether to use a particular supplement with your vet – remember vets have spent many years studying these issues so probably know more that the average salesperson in a feed shop!  At the Clinic we only stock supplements for which we have seen convincing scientific evidence and the vets will be glad to advise whether they are a worthwhile investment for your horse. We would prefer you didn’t spend money unnecessarily!

    We have just launched our Veteran Healthcare Scheme and details of the scheme were provided to all who attended the evening. This is designed to be a cost-effective way of monitoring your horse’s health & helping you to care for them in the best way possible. Further information is available here or by phoning/emailing the Clinic.

    We were delighted to welcome the team from Lluest Horse & Pony Trust to the evening. We have been working with Lluest for a considerable time and are very grateful to all of you who gave them your support, either though direct donations to them or by buying raffle tickets. The raffle raised £241 which is being divided between Lluest and Redwings.

    Our sincere thanks must go to all who made the evening possible.  Raffle prizes were donated by: The Four Seasons (a months membership), Horse magazine (annual subscription), Black Mountain Animal Feeds (vouchers, bag of feed),  KBIS insurance, PetPlan Equine insurance, and many more. The venue costs were met by Intervet Schering Plough and KBIS insurance.