Stables Equine Practice Providing outstanding veterinary care in the heart of Somerset

Our standard office hours are 9am-5pm. We also offer a 24/7 service for emergencies, our on call vet can be contacted by calling them on the number saved on our main office number, or by calling the pager. Out of hours charges apply at weekends and outside of normal office hours, but we may be able to give advice if appropriate, to save you an out of hours call out.

Most horses are seen at their homes where they are familiar with the surroundings. All the vets carry a full range of equipment and drugs to examine and treat the majority of problems “on the yard”. We have always aimed to have the best mobile diagnostic equipment, so many diagnostic procedures can be carried out “on the yard”, for example, X-rays ultrasonography and endoscopy. Some procedures and investigations are better suited to the clinic environment, but an initial assessment can usually be made at home and the options discussed.

We don’t offer zone visits, but we do offer FREE visits when we see three or more horses at one yard. There are no restrictions as to which weekday we visit and no time limit- therefore you choose WHEN, you chose WHAT we’re seeing and you chose which vet! Giving you the freedom to choose and not be limited by zone day restrictions.

The normal practice area extends from the Bristol Channel in the West, to Warminster in the East, North to Bath & Bristol and South to Wincanton and Somerton. For pre-purchase vetting or special examinations we will travel anywhere but time and travel expenses will apply. Alternatively you can bring your horse into our Conkerfield Clinic, if you are outside the area we cover.

In a word Yes! What should you vaccinate against? Tetanus is ubiquitous, infects wounds and penetrating injuries and will kill. Vaccination is very effective and need only be boosted every other year.

Equine Influenza can be a very nasty respiratory disease. It is probably under diagnosed due to the fact that much of the horse population is vaccinated and we only see mild cases and it doesn’t spread in a vaccinated population. All good reason for the population to be vaccinated. Outbreaks in unvaccinated populations are catastrophic with deaths and very rapid spread, not just within yards but via airborne transmission over 100s of metres. A single unvaccinated animal within a vaccinated population is at low risk, but the more horses that are unprotected the greater the risk to every horse, hence the requirement for competition horses to be vaccinated. Unless there is good reason not to vaccinate for flu, all horses should be vaccinated for their own protection and the protection of the horse population in general.

Equine Herpes Viruses 'EHV' is responsible for the majority of cases of “a virus” in horses, i.e. Loss of performance, lethargy, coughing etc. Horses that regularly suffer in this way will usually benefit from vaccination against EHV and competition yards which vaccinate all their horses see a definite benefit, with fewer training days lost. Breeding mares that are going to foal at a stud should also be vaccinated to prevent “abortion storms” caused by EHV. See our vaccination service for more information.

All the vets carry full mouth speculi and tooth rasps and perform routine dental examinations / rasping on a daily basis. For more involved procedures, such as wolf teeth extractions and molar extractions, these can be performed at your home or our clinic. (If carried out by equine dental technicians a vet must be present to supervise) Specialised procedures are carried out in the clinic by specialist veterinary dentists. See our Dentistry service for more information.

We have created our own “WormWise” program which is designed to minimise the use of wormers by regular worm egg counts. The cost effective package includes the Equisal testing and WECs and wormers as required. See our Worming Programme service for more information.

The 5 stage pre-purchase examination is the standard examination and allows a good assessment to be made as to the horse’s suitability for the intended role. Some people opt for the two stage “mortality” examination which does not include an exercise phase and should only be performed if the horse is well known to the purchaser. See our Pre-Purchase service for more information.

Starting an insurance claim is just a phone call to your insurance company to advise you are making a claim and for a claim form to be sent to you. These are normally in two parts, the first for you to fill in, usually with details about you and the horse and a ‘veterinary surgeons’ copy that we complete about treatment. When we receive the form the treating vet will have this completed within two working days. We will then post or email the claim to the insurance company with all invoices that are relevant your claim. Our policy at SEP is that you pay us and the insurance company reimburses you, therefore you can follow the claim and keep track of its progress. See our Insurance service for more information.

We are all horse owners and know that at what is a very sad moment the last thing we need is to be worrying about making arrangements. Whether it is in an emergency or a planned euthanasia, we can make all those arrangements.

Although it might seem rather morbid, it is sensible to have thought through what your preferences would be well before that fateful day arrives and have a plan.