PJ McMahon Equine Vets

21/05/2026

🌞 Temperatures are rising across the UK this weekend, with forecasts into the 30s - so be on the alert for heatstroke in horses, hounds, and humans at polo and keep the HPA’s rules and guidance in mind:

📘 Read the Extreme Heat Guidance available in the HPA Welfare Booklet, available online and in print
🐎 Try to travel and play early or late to avoid the hottest part of the day
🚛 Do not travel in temperatures over 30°C unless the vehicle is temperature-controlled
🪟 Open all windows and reduce the number of horses travelling together for increased airflow
🪣 Carry extra water on board in case of a breakdown or traffic emergency
🧽 Use aggressive cooling measures on horses after play and monitor carefully
🫗 Make sure fresh water is available at all times
🌳 Keep horses in the shade as much as possible
🐶 Do not leave dogs in cars or horseboxes
🧴 Apply suncream to sensitive areas
🧃 Remember to hydrate people too!

⚠️ If the temperature is 28°C or above, or there is an amber  weather warning in place, free changes are to be given during play.

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18/05/2026

🩸Did you know we have our own in house laboratory equipment to run basic blood tests straight away 🩸

15/05/2026

💡SHOCKWAVE💡

We use mobile shockwave therapy regularly to support faster, better healing in sport and leisure horses, using some of the most recent technology available in equine medicine.

BENEFITS
🐴 Soft Tissue Injuries: Highly effective for proximal suspensory desmitis, tendonitis and collateral ligament desmitis.
🐴 Bone Healing: Used to treat splints and bucked shins.
🐴 Joint & Back Pain: Used for treatment of osteoarthritis, navicular syndrome and thoracolumbar pain (kissing spines).
🐴 Wound Healing: Promotes tissue proliferation and reduces inflammation in chronic wounds.

HOW IT WORKS
🩸Increases blood flow, decreases pain receptor sensitivity and promotes tissue remodeling.

If you’d like to know whether this could help your horse, feel free to reach out and we’ll happily talk you through what we do 01403 871331

06/05/2026

Carrying on with Veterinary Nurse awareness month -

👀 Did you know 👀

Registered Veterinary Nurses have to complete 15 hours of CPD (continuing professional development) each year.

This can be done in various ways webinars, in-house training, work shops, courses etc.

Yesterday our nurse Jo travelled to the Horse Trust to spend the day with BARTA (British animal rescue and trauma association) learning how to assist the emergency services at large animal incidences and qualifying as a large animal Veterinary responder. Another certificate to add to her portfolio 🎉

01/05/2026

The month of May is Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month 🎉🎉
As some of you may know Jo is our qualified Veterinary Nurse, so thought we would take this opportunity to share a bit more of what that involves over the next month.
Jo has been qualified for nearly 10 years, she qualified by doing an apprenticeship scheme whilst working at Liphook Equine this involved -
🎓 Attending college once a week alongside working full time for 3 years,
🎓 The first two years were mixed small and equine learning with the final year focusing on equine only,
🎓 Assessments were carried out through a combination of multiple-choice exams, assignments, and practical evaluations,
🎓 Completing approximately 1800 hours of practical training in a practice,
🎓 Completing a nursing log - involves 10 skill categories with multiple tasks totalling 79 different skills. In order to sign these off a student nurse must record numerous examples in each section,
🎓 OSCE's which are practical, simulation based exams designed to assess clinical skills - this is the final exam.

It's the 1st of May, which means it's officially Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month (VNAM)!

This year’s campaign theme of ‘Compassion and Empathy’ will recognise how these traits are demonstrated by veterinary nurses every day, whether towards their patients or the people around them, and underpinning the skilled care they provide. VNAM celebrates what it means to be a veterinary nurse – raising public awareness of the significant contributions made by veterinary nurses to animal health and welfare, and that of the public too.

Message from BVNA President, Sarah Holliday:

"I am delighted to launch this year’s VNAM, which also follows my Presidential theme of ‘Compassion and Empathy’. Throughout May, we will be highlighting how these qualities are integral to everything veterinary nurses do – from providing dedicated and skilled care to animals of all species, supporting animal caregivers in sometimes difficult and emotional situations, and offering a listening ear to colleagues. Often, this goes on behind the scenes; VNAM is a crucial opportunity to put a spotlight on the incredible work carried out by veterinary nurses every day."

Find out more about VNAM here, and how you can get involved this year; https://loom.ly/LcNzlC4

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30/04/2026

🐴EQUINE CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT🐴

Equine chiropractic is a hands-on assessment and treatment of the spine and joints, aimed at restoring normal mobility and relieving tension in the musculoskeletal system. Our Vet Marco is a fully qualified Chiropractor and routinely uses this technique with great results.

Please ring the office if you would like to book in or for more information 01403 871331.

29/04/2026

🛑EQUINE INFLUENZA UPDATE!🛑
There is no confirmation of the exact whereabouts but a case is confirmed in West Sussex. Please ensure your horses are up to date with their vaccinations especially the young and old ones

28/04/2026

Next Monday 4th May is Bank holiday May Day so the office will be closed from -
🔕 Friday 1st at 5pm to Tuesday 5th at 9am
but the vets will still be available for emergencies on the usual number 01403 871331.

💊 Don’t forget to order your medications in time for the weekend, last guaranteed delivery before the bank holiday will be by 3:30pm on Thursday 30th April.

Hope everyone has a lovely long weekend and if you would like to share pictures of what you did at the weekend please do in the comments! We would love to see them 🐴📸

20/04/2026

🥳IT IS APPRECIATE YOUR VET RECEPTIONIST WEEK.

Behind the team of vets there are the reception team - organising appointments, keeping the medicine supply flowing, booking in cars for servicing, sending off samples to laboratories, sending out medication, dealing with prescription requests, washing up after the vets 🫣 and a myriad more jobs that are make the team run like clockwork. They are the ones who deal with the "can you just" and make sure the answer is yes ((99.9% of the time).

Jo is one of our reception team who is first and foremost a qualified nurse, she can handle anything - in reception and out on the road assisting the vets with castrations and gastroscopes, or you may see her out on her own administering medication, taking bloods, changing dressings etc. So when you see a vet you can bet there is a small team working hard in the background to ensure they have everything they need

15/04/2026

🩸PRP🩸
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is a regenerative joint treatment that uses your horse’s own blood to deliver powerful growth factors into arthritic joints, targeting inflammation and cartilage health. In human medicine there is now robust evidence for PRP in knee osteoarthritis and expert consensus is steadily shifting towards orthobiologics. We were one of the first equine practices in our area to adopt high‑quality PRP and have already seen excellent results.