Vectis Equine Vets

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

Vectis Equine Vets are the longest standing, island based equine veterinary practice. It has a great team of experienced equine vets and staff, resident on the Island, committed to playing an active part in the community. Both vets have post-graduate qualifications and continue to keep up to date with the latest techniques and medications. The whole team are committed to continuing to provide exce

llent veterinary care to horses, ponies and donkeys on the Island. They maintain close professional ties with the consultants specialists at The Liphook Equine Hospital who provide support, guidance and hospital facilities when required.

🐴 CLIENT EVENING 🐴We are back again with another client evening, focusing this time on Equine First Aid ⛑️Further inform...
11/05/2026

🐴 CLIENT EVENING 🐴

We are back again with another client evening, focusing this time on Equine First Aid ⛑️
Further information regarding our first aid kits, which will be available to buy on the night, will be following soon! ⭐️

Spaces are limited, if you'd like to attend please fill out the google form linked here : https://forms.gle/jDby8SCwzKBkTYaN7

🐰Happy Easter & Happy Bank Holiday weekend!☀️Please note the office is shut over the bank holiday from Friday 3rd April,...
02/04/2026

🐰Happy Easter & Happy Bank Holiday weekend!☀️

Please note the office is shut over the bank holiday from Friday 3rd April, with normal service resuming on Tuesday 7th April.

📞 As always, a vet will be on call for emergencies and urgent advice. Please ring the usual office number if you need us!

Fingers crossed for some sunshine 🤞🏼

TOP TIPS FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT (Part 2)Our first part focused more on laminitics, in this second part we'll look more at...
09/03/2026

TOP TIPS FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT (Part 2)

Our first part focused more on laminitics, in this second part we'll look more at horses that aren't laminitic but need to shed some pounds!

Similarly to us, it's diet and exercise that are the two factors we need to make some changes to.

🌱Limiting calories consumed when grazing
Grass can be a rich source of calories and is often higher than hay/haylage, it is also likely to change dependent on area and time of year. It's estimated that a 500kg horse out for 8 hours can consume between 0.7%-1.4% of their bodyweight in dry matter (grass is 80% water). This means we need to remember to account for grass when thinking about diet and forage restriction.

So, how can we restrict calories when grazing :

🌾Utilising small paddocks that have been overgrazed or poor quality
An easy way to limit a horse's intake but still provide turnout time. Whilst the grass can contain higher sugar content due to stress, the total amount your horse eats will still be lower than if it were longer grass.

🐴 Muzzles
We appreciate these are not always an owner favourite, but they are a genuinely great tool when used correctly, that can facilitate weight loss with turn out time. A study conducted in 2012 (A.C Longland et al.), found that dry matter intake was reduced by an average of 83% in ponies wearing muzzles for turnout, than those that were without muzzles.

🥕Strip grazing & Track systems
Strip grazing involves using electric tape to separate a larger paddock, providing controlled amounts of fresh grass and encouraging movement. Whilst also allowing areas of the field to rest.
Track systems are fantastic ways to encourage movement by increasing exercise, allowing those that may otherwise require restricted turnout time to have as much freedom as possible. There's many fantastic examples online, some including steps, poles and other obstacles.

🍎Hard feed 🍎
It's really important to review your horse's hard feed when concerned about weight and consider whether they actually need it! Most good doers will only need a lo-cal balancer to ensure they are receiving all the needed vitamins & minerals. We'd recommend taking a look at the sugar & starch content of your feed to ensure it is below 5%, don't be caught out by chaffs - we've seen some with 16% sugar!

🏋🏼‍♀️ Exercise
We know it's hard, particularly in the winter months, but just like us humans, exercise really will be a major factor for weight loss. For those horses carrying extra weight we'd recommend low impact exercise initially, long walking hacks with hillwork are perfect, alongside in hand poles or walking. The lighter evenings are fast approaching so hopefully many of you will feel inspired to be back in the saddle!

⭐️TOP TIPS FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT⭐️ (Part 1) Following on from our previous post about body condition scoring, we've now...
06/03/2026

⭐️TOP TIPS FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT⭐️ (Part 1)

Following on from our previous post about body condition scoring, we've now got some tips for you on lowering that BCS if it was a little high!
For those that guessed the BCS of Toby & Todd - Toby was 4 & Todd was 3!

To help us give these tips we have the adorable Toffee, treated in May last year for laminitis and whose owners went above and beyond in ensuring his management was perfect for him. Toffee needed to lose some weight and lower his insulin, his owners did the following to achieve this :

⚖️Ensuring Toffee's daily hay ration was weighed
Toffee was fed at the minimum forage requirement, which is 1.5% of the horse's body weight in kilograms. So, for example, a 300kg pony needing to lose weight would have a daily hay/haylage ration of 4.5kg.

💧Soaking hay / feeding appropriate forage
Initially, Toffee's hay was soaked for at least 8 hours to remove water-soluble carbohydrates (sugars) decreasing calorie content. Whilst for many equine's this will be appropriate it was found that despite soaking Toffee's hay must've been high in sugars as it kept increasing his insulin. Therefore the switch was made to bagged haylage that had a combined sugar & starch of less than 10% alongside introducing straw. Straw is low sugar & starch and great for incorporating into a weight loss diet but you do need to ensure it's suitable for your equines and introduce it slowly. We will give some further information on incorperating straw in another post!

⏰Increasing consumption time
It is inevitable that when you weigh out your ponies daily hay ration for the first time, the words 'this is nothing, it won't last an hour' will come out! Therefore, increasing consumption time to ensure gut health is a priority. Toffee's owners fed him from small holed haynets (yes, ANY equine will eat from these!) and hung his haynet in the middle of the stable so difficulty to eat increased. Alongside using things such as hay pillows and tyres, not only did these slow him down but provided enrichment whilst he had to be kept off grass.

🍕Ensuring hard feed was appropriate
Whilst normally Toffee might not have needed any feed, he was given a small feed to ensure he got his daily medication and his vitamin & mineral needs were met. His feed consisted only of a small handful of chaff and a lo-cal balancer. We try to keep to feeds with a total starch and sugar content below or as close to 5% possible in these cases.

🏃🏽‍♀️Exercise
Once Toffee was comfortable, we started low impact exercise. In-hand walking is a perfect low impact exercise for obese equines that will still burn those calories whilst preventing joint damage and for those needing a gradual increase in work load. It's important that ponies being treated for laminitis are cleared to start exercise by a vet.

👀Keep your eyes peeled for part 2

⭐️WEIGHT MANAGEMENT⭐️As we (hopefully!) start coming in to spring it's important to take note of our equine's body condi...
17/02/2026

⭐️WEIGHT MANAGEMENT⭐️

As we (hopefully!) start coming in to spring it's important to take note of our equine's body condition scores (BCS).
In 2025, a survey conducted by a feed manufacturer revealed that around 75% of horses and ponies in the UK could be overweight, a worringly high number.

Obesity in horses, ponies and donkey's can lead to serious health conditions like the following :
- Orthopaedic problems such as arthritis
- Laminitis
- Equine Metabolic Syndrome
- Increased strain on the heart & lungs
- Increased risk of hyperthermia

🩺It can also cause complications in the treatment of certain conditions where steroids are warranted such as ; intra-articular steroid injections for joint disease, inhaled or systemic steroids for equine asthma.

🐴Assessing your horse's BCS is a simple thing to do! Luckily, the BHS have a great step-by-step guide on how to do it, which you can find here: https://www.bhs.org.uk/horse-care-and-welfare/health-care-management/horse-health/fat-scoring-horses/

🫏Donkey's BCS are evaluated differently to horses & ponies, The Donkey Sanctuary have put together a helpful chart specific to donkeys to help owners which can be found here :
https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/for-owners/owners-resources/donkey-body-condition-score-chart

🔎To help you all start training to become pros at body condition scoring, pictured below are two horses. Comment below your guess of their BCS - answers will be revealed in our next post which will be all about tips & tricks to get those pounds off!

02/02/2026

UPDATE: Thank you so much for your enquiries, we are pleased to say that we are no longer taking new enquirers for Ebby after a flurry of wonderful prospective fosterers stepping forward'.

We are looking for a special someone to offer their heart and home to Ebby, who is looking for her Forever Fosterer. 🐎🧡

Ebby is a 19 year old, Irish Draught/Thoroughbred mare with a sweet, gentle nature. She is a lovely, well-mannered horse who is a pleasure to spend time with. She is 16.2 hands tall, mid-weight and is presently enjoying the gentle pace of semi-retired life.

Currently Ebby is used to being turned out during the day and stabled at night, although she would almost certainly be happy to live out full‑time if the weather and ground conditions allowed. She thrives with equine company and has also lived happily alongside sheep, goats, alpacas, and even a donkey. She is truly not fussy when it comes to the shape, size, or species of friend! Ebby is confident hacking alone, but she does not like being left behind, so she would be best suited to life with a fully retired companion or with a small, calm herd where she can enjoy having plenty of friends around.

Over the past year, Ebby has only been ridden very lightly – just the occasional gentle hack. She can be prone to being spooked at times and is sensitive to loud noises. So she would need a nice long period to gain some trust and confidence in new surroundings. Prior to 2017, she enjoyed some low‑level eventing and dressage, and with patient, sympathetic handling, she could be brought back into light work as her fitness improves, and the rust is shaken loose.

Ebby is currently barefoot with lovely healthy feet and receives regular trims, which she behaves very well during. She was shod in the past when in more consistent work but has not needed her shoes in recent years. She does have sarcoids, but The Cinnamon Trust covers veterinary fees for the life of any pet in a forever foster home. So her ongoing care will be covered, and our Animal Welfare Team will always be on hand to offer advice or support to ensure a long and happy life together.

Please, if you would like to learn more, call and speak to Charlotte on 01736 757 900 EXT. 201. Or email [email protected]. 🥕🐴

⭐️ Important Cushing’s testing update ⭐️Many of you use Boehringer Ingelheim’s Care About Cushing’s testing scheme, whic...
02/02/2026

⭐️ Important Cushing’s testing update ⭐️

Many of you use Boehringer Ingelheim’s Care About Cushing’s testing scheme, which provides free ACTH testing. There are some important updates to be aware of!

🧪 Diagnostic Testing
For those NOT already diagnosed with Cushing’s disease. Free testing will still be available but now only during Spring (March/April) and Autumn (September/October). Focusing on when laminitis risk is highest and diagnostic accuracy at its peak.

💊 Dose Checker
New for 2026 is a dose checker test, available for those newly diagnosed. A test 4–6 weeks post-treatment will now be available to ensure an accurate dose.

🩺 Monitoring
For those already diagnosed with Cushing’s disease a yearly monitoring test will still be available. Vouchers will be available 12 months after the date the preceding voucher was used.

🔬 Testing vouchers need to be generated before or during your appointment. Please note that visit / blood sampling fees still apply.

Happy New Year everyone! We have truly hit the ground running this January with a fully booked diary plus emergencies. H...
19/01/2026

Happy New Year everyone! We have truly hit the ground running this January with a fully booked diary plus emergencies. However, we have some exciting things coming this year.

What better way to start the new year than worm chat! 🪱
Along with following recent research, we use the BEVA ProtectMeToo and CANTER guidelines to ensure we are providing the most up to date worming advice.

Our current advice is as follows
- Worm Egg Counts in Spring, Summer and Autumn.
- Equisal saliva testing in Spring and/or Autumn, depending on previous results and treatment.
- Assessing risk profile for individual horses, those that are low risk do not require routine treatment.
- High risk horses should receive routine treatment after consulting your vet on the appropriate antihelmintic.

Winter worming ❄️
We suggest treating HIGH risk horses, ponies and donkeys with moxidectin to treat for encysted red worm. With temperatures having been consistently low enough for red worm to encyst into the gut wall, if you haven't done so already, it is now an appropriate time to give moxidectin to those that need it.

☎️ Please give us a call or email if you are unsure about worming your horse, pony or donkey. Whilst one of the vets may not be immediately available to chat, we will take down your details and get back to you.

Those that are part of our Horse Health Club receive tailored worming plans appropriate to the horse's risk profile. For more information and how to join you can head here https://www.vectisequine-vets.co.uk/horse-health-club

18/12/2025

Just a little comedy to get you through to the end of the week! (Apologies for the bad language).

We’re guessing many of you can relate!

🎄Merry Christmas to all our clients 🎄We’d like to remind anyone with a horse/pony on regular medication to make sure you...
15/12/2025

🎄Merry Christmas to all our clients 🎄

We’d like to remind anyone with a horse/pony on regular medication to make sure you’re fully stocked for Christmas.

🌟Please get your orders for medication in by Friday 19th December 🌟

Below are our opening times over Christmas, please note we are emergencies only for the week of 25th December - 1st January.

🗓️January is booking up fast, if you know your horse will be due a vaccination, dental or other routine procedure in the coming weeks please book well in advance.

Address

Systems House, St Cross Lane
Newport
PO305BZ

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+441983533799

Website

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