Ashbrook Equine Hospital

05/12/2025

❄⛄When the snow doesn't come to Cheshire, we resort to making our own!!! Feed bucket disinfection is a daily routine at Ashbrook; however, this time we thought we'd share the bubbles!!

03/12/2025

🍀Good luck Steph on your next exciting adventure🍀

We're so sad to have waved Steph off on her next big career move down to the South of England. We've been lucky enough to have Steph working at Ashbrook for 6 years and have watched her develop from intern through to a Certificate holder in Equine Dentistry. Her care, compassion and veterinary skill level are a testament to her dedication to her chosen profession; she's been a true asset to the practice. The horses in Cheshire's loss, will be those in the South's gain!

21/11/2025

Vet appreciation!!
Our team of vets deserve a huge thank you as we reach the end of another very busy week - traditionally November is a quieter time in equine practice as people gear up for Christmas; however, we have had all 3 yards full at various times this week!
Thank you vet team for treating such a variety of horses, from routine lamenesses, gastric ulceration and colic, through to fractures, pedal bone infections and even a very unusual re**al mass. Thanks also go to our wonderful clients for bringing their horses in to Ashbrook and allowing us to give them the very best chance to be successfully treated and return to normal as quickly as possible.
PS - sometimes vet life gets you into compromised positions during particularly tricky moments!!
If you are worried about your horse, pony or donkey, please do call our experienced team on 01565723030.

17/11/2025

🧐Strangles factoids

🐴Strangles is a bacterial disease of the upper respiratory tract
🐴Strangles affects all equids (young and old, horses, ponies and donkeys)
🐴Strangles is spread by contact with infectious drops in snot, cough droplets or pus
🐴Temperature often increases before a snot or cough
🐴Cheshire East is a strangles hot spot in 2024-2025

🐴Animals can become carriers, meaning they remain clinically well but intermittently spread the disease
🐴Carrier status can be treated
🐴Definitive identification of carriers is challenging
🐴The gold standard for identifying carriers is a guttural pouch wash
🐴Ashbrook have same day results for testing for strangles

🐴A vaccine is available from Dechra UK
🐴This vaccine is relatively newly released, with small evidence based studies on it; however, initial results are extremely promising
In 2023, in Sweden, 2/20 (10%) of vaccinated horses showed symptoms and 48/65 (74%) of unvaccinated horses showed symptoms during an outbreak

🐴Vaccinated animals can be differentiated from those with true infection
🐴Vaccination is intramuscular, with 2 doses 4 weeks apart starting the programme
🐴Adverse reactions seem to be small, with mild swelling or fever seen for a short number of hours or days, which then settles. It is advisable not to vaccinate immediately before a big show or important training session in case they are sore.
🐴Currently it seems unlikely horses will require vaccination for strangles to compete

🐴Vaccination forms a part of strangles protection but excellent isolation, biosecurity, temperature checking are all essential to give yourself the best chance to avoid outbreaks and make them short-lived if they do occur

🐴 Strangles Awareness Week , Redwings Horse Sanctuary , The British Horse Society and Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance are all great information sources.

Do give us a call on 01565723030 if you'd like to discuss the vaccine or book your horse in for vaccination.

14/11/2025

Yesterday was nurse appreciation and today it's office appreciation day! Here's one of our amazing administrative team showing devotion to making Ashbrook a clean, fresh and welcoming place to visit!

Watch out for vet appreciation next week....

13/11/2025

At Ashbrook, we continually drive to provide the very best of care for your horse, pony or donkey and as part of our RCVS Hospital accreditation (and clinical care!) we undertake routine checks and even swab hidden areas like taps, drains and worktops to ensure we do not have any unseen bacterial contamination risks. Here's Charlotte loving a Friday job - thank you nursing team for all that you do!

11/11/2025

10/11/2025

Winter is coming!

As with budgeting to run a car, horses and ponies have ongoing routine healthcare costs that are essential to reduce the risk of expensive 'breakdowns'. Some of the winter costs include:

🐴Clipping - might be needed every winter to keep ensure comfortable temperatures are maintained whilst working
🐴Rugging - some horses need more layers than others (and rip them more often!)
🐴Farriery - wet ground might increase the number of shoes being accidentally pulled off
🐴Feed - make sure you find a good and reliable feed merchant and forage supply
🐴Dentistry - horse's teeth require dental care every 6-12 months so why not use the quiet winter months to plan a dental check up. Please only use vets or BAEDT registered professionals to ensure appropriate training and professionalism
🐴Worming - in recent times there seems to be increasing disease caused by small red worms so please watch out for lethargy, diarrhoea, mild colic or weight loss

If you'd like to chat to any of our team regarding healthcare for your horse, pony or donkey, please do give us a call on 01565723030.

07/11/2025

Hannah's lovely dog is nearly as big as a pony! Hot tubbing dog's feet is not something you see every day in our treatment room at Ashbrook - but we hope she makes a good recovery soon!

06/11/2025

Important information for routine and emergency surgeries for our own clients and those being referred from another local practice!

We understand veterinary work can be an unexpected and un-budgeted for expense at times and we will always endeavour to provide an estimate for work if requested. Unfortunately, due to the individual nature of each horse and pony and their condition, these estimates do not cover additional complications. Please do contact our wonderful office on 01565723030 if you'd like any further information.

03/11/2025

Prescriptions!

We are proud that we help our clients choose the most appropriate route for their horse, pony or donkey's healthcare requirements and, as such, we will always provide a prescription for medication if you require one.

In order to make the process as smooth as possible, when requesting repeat prescriptions for ongoing medication please inform our office team of the medication, the dose and where you will be sourcing the medication from if possible. If we have supplier details, we can send the prescription direct to them making the process even easier and quicker for you. We do kindly request 48 hours to provide a prescription.

We just thought we'd share a lovely picture of Steph and her wonderful horse Brad having a fun outing in the summer.