Plain Equine

08/05/2025

Foaling season trauma........Life as a horse vet inevitably has its ups and downs......yesterday was a prime example.......late morning, a client's mare foaled seemingly normally, but tragically the foal faded soon after not having taken any proper breaths, despite sterling efforts at CPR from all involved. The owner was keen to offer the mare as a potential foster mother so I spread the word on the UK horse vets' social media groups.......7pm message arrives from vets in Kent, mare had a uterine artery bleed after foaling and very sadly couldn't be revived.....leaving a strong sassy foal looking for a potential foster mum. After hasty discussions the foal's owner shipped her across to Salisbury Plain for us to bring the orphan together with the bereft mare. Now it is notoriously difficult to persuade a mare to accept a foal that is not her own. Horses are very scent-orientated in their social interactions, so on arrival we smeared the foal in placental fluids from the deceased foal, sedated and blind-folded the mare, then proceeded to the introduction. Fortunately for us, the mare (her maiden foaling) immediately showed good maternal instinct. However the foal was initially rather clueless about what was required.....perhaps not surprising after just having lost her mother followed rapidly by a 2 hour+ van ride......after receiving a good dose of colostrum by stomach tube the foal perked up, and finally managed to figure out which part of the mare would supply the plentiful supply of life-sustaining milk.....I am more than very pleased to report that mare and foal have bonded and are now inseparable......so after a day of unfathomable tragedy for so many there was at least a positive outcome......posting with permission from owners......

27/08/2024

A high-speed police pursuit ended with the arrest of two men on the A350 near East Knoyle yesterday morning. At around 10.30, Wiltshire Police received reports that a Jaguar had been stolen from Shrewton. The vehicle was tracked along the A36 through Westbury, where it failed to stop for police, prompting the scramble of the police helicopter as a pursuit was authorised. The vehicle was driven along the A350 to Shaftesbury. It collided with a wall near the Esso garage before turning back along the A350, where officers used equipment to deflate the vehicle’s tyres. The Jaguar then left the carriageway and stopped in a hedge at around 11.30 AM. Two men from Devizes were arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, theft of a motor vehicle, and burglary.

Thanks to Tim for sending photos from East Knoyle, which we have blurred to obscure identities for legal reasons. We have contacted Wiltshire Police for further information.

27/04/2024

16 new items · Memory by Jeremy Naylor

15/10/2023

Here again on duty at sunny Larkhill, with the Army and Royal Artillery Hunter Trial.... beautiful weather, perfect going considering the recent heavy rain....

24/09/2023

A day on duty at the Tedworth Hunt Hunter Trial at Larkhill..... blustery and mild conditions, perfect Salisbury Plain going, wishing all competitors a fun and safe round.....😁😎🐴

06/05/2023

Wishing Helen Martin and her fabulous Andreas a successful and enjoyable cross country round at Badminton tomorrow......over the past few months I have been working with Helen to optimise his fitness for their debut at the 5 Star level. We have used the speed and heart rate monitors that I use routinely in training racehorses and introduced some training approaches to tune up his stamina and pace. They did an excellent dressage test earlier today and had a successful prep run in the Netherlands recently finishing 5th in a 4 star event at Kronenberg.

Local competitior Helen Martin makes her five-star debut at Badminton Horse Trials, at the age of 46. Helen was riding Andreas to score 32.8