Vectis Equine Vets

24/07/2025

A massive thank you to whoever nominated us for Practice of the Year in the 2025 Petplan Veterinary Awards. 😍 Nominations are anonymous so we can't thank you individually but we are very grateful. 😃

The practice has been nominated every year since we started in 2012 so we're incredibly proud to see this trend continue.

Nominations for awards are open until 12th September and can be made in several categories:
🐴Practice of the Year
🐴Vet of the Year
🐴Practice Manager of the Year
🐴Practice Support Staff of the Year

If you feel we have gone above and beyond for you or your horse this year then this is a lovely way to let us know and gives us a huge morale boost. That certificate on the wall that says you've been nominated can really lift you on one of the tough, sad days.

Nominations can be made here:
https://awards.petplan.co.uk/

17/07/2025

🗓️ Appointment times & booking 🗓️

We just wanted to remind all our clients about shared visit fees!

Visit fees are split per number of owners and are free if we see more than 5 horses at one time. So it really does pay to be organised and communicate with your fellow liveries!

🌟Here is a reminder of our pricing 🌟
Visit - £44.10
Visit shared between 2 - £22.06
Visit shared between 3 - £14.69
Visit shared between 4 - £11.03

⏰ Appointment times ⏰
We offer 8.30am (first call) & 4.30pm (last call) routine booked appointments as set times only. Other appointments are either morning, lunchtime or afternoon. When booking please let the team know how much notice you need before the vet's arrival to make it to the yard and have your horse ready for their appointment.
Not having set appointment times allows us to make sure a vet is always available for emergencies
For things such as sedating for clipping and shoeing, post grazing insulin bloods and similar, we will of course agree a pre-arranged time.

📖 Our diaries are getting busier and busier and it's becoming tricky to squeeze in last minute vaccines, dentals and other routines at short notice. Please double check when your horses are due their vaccines and book well in advance so we can arrange a time and day that suits you best!

14/07/2025

This year we proudly sponsored the Veteran inhand and the Veteran ridden at the Royal Isle of Wight County Show.

Here are the winners of the classes:

🥇19year old Storm, a Dartmoor gelding owned by the Thornton Family won the Inhand class this year!

🥇18year old Scooby, a very handsome coloured gelding, owned by Heidi Carden and ridden by Jessie Vanassche - Russell won the ridden this year!

Well done to the winners 🏆 and everyone else who entered this year’s show.

Both look absolutely fantastic as older boys 🥰

Photos by Analiese Welsh 📸

07/07/2025

*WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS*

🍀 Lucky Lola 🍀

Back in March we received a call from Lola's owner after finding she had sustained an injury in the field that needed veterinary attention. Dom arrived quickly and after administering some sedation was able to look at the full extent of the injury.

Unfortunately, Lola had gone the extra mile and had a large laceration to her right fore, deep enough to expose her cannon bone and extensor tendons. Thankfully, she had managed to dodge any involvement of a joint capsule which would have complicated things further.

As the wound was already swollen and contaminated, it was unable to be stitched up. Treatment included clipping the wound, cleaning as much debris off as possible and flushing with (lots!) of sterile saline. Dom then applied a sturdy, 3 layer Robert Jones Bandage, allowing the exposed bone to be well protected and reduce range of motion to aid the healing process. Lola received strong pain relief and a long course of antibiotics. There was also lots of essential crossing of fingers and toes!

🩹 Over the course of 6 weeks, Lola had 11 bandage changes. Each time the wound was reassessed, flushed with plenty of saline, dressed with appropriate medication and the leg was wrapped up in a nice new bandage.

🩸If you aren’t too squeamish, you can see photos of the wound healing timeline below.

Given the extent of Lola’s wound, we were quite apprehensive at each bandage change but thankfully the wound healed beautifully without any further complications. It was a joyous moment to take off the last bandage and be able to let Lola back out with her mum in the field to enjoy some sunshine.

📈 We've seen an increased number of wounds recently and we’d love to put together an informative post on wound first aid for all of our lovely clients. If you have any questions or would like anything covered please let us know in the comments!

02/07/2025

In this hot weather even the army have sent their horses to the beach!!

30/06/2025

🌞 IT’S SCORCHING! 🌞

🌡️ With temperatures soaring this week, please keep a close eye on your equines to prevent unnecessary heat stress and remember:

- If you must exercise them, do it first thing in the morning or late evening

- Horses with PPID (Cushings) or those that are overweight may struggle more to regulate their own temperature

- Keep applying sun cream to those pink noses!

- Ensure horses are well hydrated by offering sloppy feeds/hosing down haynets, especially to those that are fussy drinkers

- Hosing down with cold water multiple times a day will help to keep them cool

- Either bring them in during the hottest part of the day or make sure they have shade in their fields

23/05/2025

At Vectis Equine Vets, we're passionate about the well-being of both horses and their handlers. Did you know that equine vets face one of the highest injury risks among civilian professions? To address this, the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has the "Don't Break Your Vet" campaign.

Have a look at the insightful videos by vet and equine behaviorist Gemma Pearson. The series offers practical techniques to help your horse remain calm and cooperative during veterinary procedures such as injections, clipping, worming, and examinations .

📺 Explore the full video series here: Don't Break Your Vet on YouTube

Let's work together to promote safety and trust in every veterinary visit!

Equine vets have one of the highest injury risks of all civilian professions. To help address this serious issue the British Equine Veterinary Association (B...

14/04/2025

🐰EASTER MEDICATION ORDERS🐰

💊A reminder to all our lovely clients that if your horse has daily medication they require to check
your stock levels before the bank holiday 🏖️

🚑We will be emergencies only from Friday 18th - Monday 21st April

☎️Please give us a call by tomorrow (Tuesday 15th April) if you need to order medications

21/03/2025

🌟MEET THE TEAM🌟

We've had two new vets join us at Vectis and whilst some of you will have met them, we thought a post was needed for a proper introduction!

Izzi joined the team back in July and has been enjoying the island life, meeting lots of lovely horses and their owners. She completed her veterinary degree at the Royal Veterinary College and whilst there enjoyed being a member of the polo team and spending time seeing practice at multiple referral hospitals in the UK. Izzi particularly enjoys diagnostic imaging such as x-raying, scanning and endoscopy. In her free time she is often seen in the countryside with her horse, Toby or at Chessel Cafe! 🍰☕️

Freja became a member of the team in January, having come from the much sunnier Zambia. During her time at Edinburgh University studying veterinary medicine, Freja was a member of a range of societies from scuba club to the Southern African society. Back at home she's competed in show jumping and vaulting! In particular, Freja enjoys many aspects of equine medicine including ophthalmology and cardiology. In her free time she's been exploring the island and aiming to go to a different beach every weekend 🏖️

We’re thrilled to have both Izzi and Freja as part of our team, be sure to say hello next time you see them out and about! 👋🏼

05/03/2025

Castration season is here 🍒

Last week vets Kate & Izzi along with final year student Siobhan performed the first castration of the year on the adorable Skippy!

🐴 Due to Skippy's tiny size we performed the castration under a general anaesthetic instead of the standing technique used for bigger horses and ponies

💉 Skippy had a catheter placed in his jugular vein so we had easy intravenous access to administer sedation and the medications we use to put him under anaesthesia

💉He also received an injection of flunixin for pain relief alongside a tetanus anti-toxin and will be on a short course of phenylbutazone to help with any pain and inflammation

☀️ Skippy enjoyed a lovely nap in the sun whilst the procedure was performed and woke up feeling like a new man

If you have a c**t needing castration this spring and have any questions regarding the process please give the office a call to chat with one of the team
☎️ 01983 533799 ☎️

26/02/2025

💉Flu Vaccine Amnesty 💉

Have your horses' flu vaccines lapsed or do you have a new horse that needs to start their course?

🎉 Luckily we are able to bring back the flu vaccine amnesty from 15th March to 15th April this year! 🎉

In the UK we strongly recommend all horses are vaccinated against equine influenza and tetanus. If you are not sure about vaccinating your horse here's some important information you should know:

🦠 ALL horses are at risk of equine influenza, not only is the virus airbourne but it can be transmitted on clothes, grooming kits, feed buckets and other equipment

🦠 Whilst your horse may not leave the yard, if there are others that go to competitions or hack out with their buddies, there is still a risk of flu being brought back to the yard as influenza can travel up to 2km in the air.

⭐️With our flu amnesty your horse will receive their second vaccine free ⭐️
(Please note, a visit charge will still apply)

📞 Please call the office on 01983 533799 if you would like to get booked in or have a chat with one of our vets for more information.

A team of experienced equine vets providing veterinary services to horses, ponies and donkeys.

12/02/2025

🐴 Horse Health Club Members 🐴

Your worming boxes are in the office ready for collection 🪱 💩