Coleshill Heath Riding Club

11/01/2026

⭐⭐ Extended Working Hours until 8pm - Monday to Wednesday! ⭐⭐

For 2026, we have introduced extended working hours on Monday through Wednesday, with appointments available until 8:00pm.

This change is intended to provide greater flexibility for clients with daytime work or other commitments. We hope these extended hours will make it easier for you to access our services. Please note that these evening slots are for pre-booked routine work only and do not include zone visits.

To take advantage of this new service or for more information, please call our Reception team on 01295 670501.

11/01/2026

08/01/2026

⭐⭐ FREE CLIENT EVENING ⭐⭐

Join us on Monday 16th March for our next FREE client evening.

For this event, we're heading back to our lovely friends at Redwings Horse Sanctuary (Oxhill), based on the Banbury Road, near Kineton (CV35 ORP).

Start time will be 7pm and we'll have the usual free refreshments and buffet. More information coming soon on our topics for the evening so look out for our next post!

06/01/2026

⭐⭐ Discounted Gastroscope Clinic ⭐⭐

Take advantage of this amazing offer and book onto our next discounted gastroscope clinic - taking place on Thursday 5th February.

This clinic offers excellent value for money - £165.00 to include VAT, sedation and trot up. Overnight stabling is available at an extra charge.

If you think your horse may be suffering from gastric ulcers, book now - particularly if your horse is showing these signs:

👉 Irritability when grooming
👉 Girthy when tacking up
👉 Reluctance to go forwards under saddle
👉 Poor performance
👉 Loss of condition
👉 Loss of appetite

Take advantage of this excellent offer by calling our Reception team on 01295 670501 or email [email protected]. If you'd like to speak to one of our experienced vets then please give us a ring.

For more information on gastroscoping and gastric ulcers - take a look at our blog: https://www.avonvaleequine.co.uk/blog/equine-gastroscope/

Terms and conditions apply - payment at time of booking.

05/01/2026

⭐⭐ Monthly Theme Continued - Signs of Gastric Ulceration ⭐⭐

Gastric ulcer disease in horses can present in a wide variety of ways:

- Girthiness or grumpiness
- Resentment of being groomed
- Reluctance to work
- Unwillingness to jump
- General reduction in performance
- Reduction in appetite
- Weight loss
- Poor hair coat
- Tooth grinding
- Colic signs (a rare symptom)
- Subtle non-specific signs ‘just not quite themselves’

We also find that if we gastroscope horses with no perceived problem as part of a pre-season ‘fitness to work’ routine examination, that significant ulcers may be present. If we treat these horses, it is often then reported that their level of performance increases. EGUS may therefore be performance limiting without resulting in any specific clinical signs, even in horses and ponies considered to be working well.

Large scale studies have concluded that gastric ulcer disease is present in up to 90% percent of performance horses and more than 50% of ponies, affecting all ages, breeds and types and horses and ponies living under all management systems.

Foals are also prone to gastric ulcers and signs in foals and youngstock can be much more severe, including signs of colic, excess salivation, tooth grinding, reduced nursing and diarrhoea.

Next Monday we will look into Gastrosopy.

If you have any concerns regarding your horse or pony, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our experienced equine vets to discuss. We are available for free telephone consultations whenever you need us. Call the practice on 01295 670501.

02/01/2026

⭐⭐ Practice Standards Inspection completed ⭐⭐

We recently had our Practice Standards inspection and we passed with flying colours!! We are once again an approved and accredited practice.

The RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) is a voluntary initiative to accredit veterinary practices in the UK. The scheme aims to promote and maintain the highest standards of veterinary care, with inspections every 3-4 years. It's a fairly gruelling process with every area of the business reviewed and was a huge team effort. A huge thank you to our amazing staff for all their hard work.

We are open to new registrations so please give us a call or register via our website - www.avonvaleequine.co.uk.

01/01/2026

⭐⭐ New Monthly Theme – Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome ⭐⭐

This month we are going to share a few insights into the much-discussed topic of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS).

We will look at the potential symptoms to look out for, what the process of gastroscopy entails, different types of ulceration and their treatment, and management regimes aimed at reducing the risk of recurrence of ulceration.

Look out for our first post next Monday!

22/12/2025

⭐⭐ Monthly Theme continued - Winter Management ⭐⭐

Worming Control

Worming your horse in the winter can be very important to specifically target small redworm larvae and tapeworm. Neither of these two parasites can be detected via the routine faecal worm egg count.

Parasitic worms have the potential to affect the health and well-being of horses and ponies of all ages, and cause a variety of problems, which may include:

• Irreversible damage to the gut and other organs
• Poor body condition, weight loss or poor growth
• Colic
• Scouring

Small redworm larvae are internal parasites that hibernates within the horse’s gut wall in small cysts. Tapeworm are wide and flat, and reside at a narrow junction between the small and large intestine. They are commonly associated with intestinal blockage, condition loss, colic if the horse has a large burden.

A targeted worming programme is vital for our horses; therefore, we recommend carrying out a tapeworm saliva test in the winter to determine whether or not your horse needs to be treated for tapeworm.

Only wormers containing the active ingredient Moxidectin are effective against encysted redworm and wormers containing praziquantel that are effective against tapeworm should be administered late in the grazing season (usually after the first frost) so that reinfection on the horse’s pasture is minimised. Lately we have noticed an increase of drug resistance to wormer, therefore it is crucial to have a good worming program in place. This should include regular worm egg counts and the correct use of appropriate wormers in addition to the tapeworm saliva test mentioned above.

See our website for more information on our annual worming package - https://www.avonvaleequine.co.uk/our-services/routine-healthcare/