Grand Strand Equine Veterinary Services

04/14/2025

We can now offer full chiropractic services! Can treat minis all the way up to drafts. Think your horse would benefit from an adjustment give us a call and get them an adjustment. (843) 603-1070

04/05/2025

The images are graphic, but the story is very important. This is why we require all of our patients to be vaccinated for rabies.  Horses are nearly 4 times more likely to get rabies than dogs. Please vaccinate your horse. 

04/01/2025

We get a lot of people who are unsure about when the grass has the most sugar. We know that 10 PM to 3 AM is a challenging time to have your horses turned out. Just try and turn them out as late as you can after the sun has gone down and the grass has used a bit sugar and bring them in before the sun comes back out in the grass starts making more sugar. 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT CAUSES GRASS FOUNDER?

Spring is a wonderful time of the year, but it may be the beginning of some serious problems for horses vulnerable to grass founder — like horses that are over the age of 10, easy keepers, overweight or cresty-necked.

Laminitis or founder, as it is commonly called, is inflammation of the laminae of the horse’s foot. Laminae are the delicate, accordion-like tissues that attach the inner surface of the hoof wall to the coffin bone (the bone in the foot). A horse suffering from laminitis experiences a decrease in blood flow to the laminae, which in turn begin to die and separate. The final result is hoof wall separation, rotation of the coffin bone and extreme pain. In severe cases, the coffin bone will actually rotate through the sole of the horse’s hoof where it becomes infected and can ultimately lead to the horse having to be euthanized.

Laminitis can be triggered by different causes, like repeated concussion on hard ground (road founder), grain overload, retained placenta, hormonal imbalance (Cushing’s syndrome), obesity, and lush grass.

In cases of grass founder, the sugar fructans produced by rapidly growing grass stimulates an overgrowth of bacteria in the horse’s large intestine. The bacteria produce and release toxins (endotoxins) that are carried by the bloodstream to the foot where they cause damage to the laminae and small blood vessels.

The best way to deal with laminitis is preventing and managing the causes under your control. Consult your equine practitioner for further information and to formulate a plan tailored to your horse's individual situation. If you suspect laminitis, consider it a medical emergency and notify your veterinarian immediately.

03/28/2025

Great local education. Support our local extension office which is amazing resource we have.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/equine-pasture-management-tickets-1273735881309

03/11/2025

We got some new equipment today! Can anyone guess what this is?

02/25/2025

Is your horse on Prascend?
If so, you may have been like this owner and put their horses pills pre-broken in half in a convenient container in the barn. Or maybe you prepare feed bags with all medications already in them.
You may inadvertently be making your medicine less effective. Pergolide aka the drug name for Prascend is very finicky and needs to be protected from light and air. The blister pack is filled with nitrogen and blocks UV rays. They can start to lose their effectiveness after only 24 hours of being out of the blister pack.

02/22/2025

We had some good guesses yesterday on where and what Dr. Elizabeth was doing. She is at chiro school at the Chi Institute in Florida. Fun fact she already does acupuncture and can now provide both services.

02/21/2025

As we teased in our client letter we will have some new services coming soon. Can you guess what training Dr. Elizabeth is getting? Bonus points if you know where she is.

02/06/2025

This is why we are passionate about rabies vaccines. We want to protect horse, mule, donkey, and human health.

While the number of confirmed equine rabies cases every year is low, talking about this disease remains important because of the potential for human exposure—which does NOT have to involve a bite from an infected horse, as contact of skin or mucosa with the horse’s saliva could be enough to transmit the disease.

Rabies has many faces, but they are all deadly—once a horse shows clinical signs, the animal invariably dies within a few days as there is no treatment.

The good news is that modern vaccines are highly effective and current AAEP recommendations list rabies as one of the “core vaccines” that should be given to all horses annually to maintain immunity (read the full AAEP vaccination guidelines here: https://aaep.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines).

Equine rabies is a real risk for all horses, and a public health concern as well. Be sure to set up a regular vaccination schedule with your veterinarian if you haven’t already done so. Remember that strange behavior on behalf of your equine friend is always a valid reason to check in with your horse doctor!

01/28/2025

A dilemma as old as time... to blanket or not to blanket? Unfortunately, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. Whether your horse needs a blanket during the winter months depends on many factors such as their coat, the weather and their living situation.​ Hopefully the cold is behind us but you never know.

01/27/2025

Ready for our inaugural haul in appointment day!!! Call the office and get on the schedule. This will help us be more efficient and clients can enjoy a reduced facility fee. 843-603-1070.

01/25/2025

Remember that emergency care looks like is evolving not just here but everywhere.

Though we wish our horse doctors could be there for our equine friends in any emergency, the reality is that our horses' primary veterinarian cannot be available 24/7 and still juggle the needs of their own personal lives, health and happiness.

The most significant pain point for many veterinarians is caring for their clients during regular business hours and then also being on call for emergencies after hours. For single-doctor or small practices, this traditionally has been the case most nights of the week.

However, private veterinary practices and veterinary schools have more recently focused on developing new models for emergency care which ease the strain on individual practitioners. This includes the growth of emergency cooperatives where two or more practices in a geographic area work together to share after-hours care, as well as more emergency-only practices and the use of tele-triage services to address client concerns after normal business hours.

As equine veterinarians reevaluate what after-hours care looks like for their practices, the support of their clients is critical to creating a balance that works for both parties. If your horse doctor talks with you about changes in how after-hours care is delivered, we hope you’ll welcome the adjustments. This evolution of emergency care must take place in order for equine veterinarians to avoid burnout and continue to be at their best to treat all of your equine friends.

01/23/2025

Day two of ❄️❄️❄️ Let us see your horses in the snow.

❄️❄️❄️🐴🥶⛄️

01/22/2025

❄️❄️❄️🐴🥶⛄️

01/16/2025

The New Year is a great time for a horse insurance review. Does your horse need insurance? What type do they need? There are many different companies with different pros and cons. Recommend speaking with a broker who can help you find the best fit for you.

01/07/2025

We are very excited to announce we now have HAUL IN APPOINTMENTS! To better serve our clients we will be offering wellness, lameness, diagnostic imaging, and much more at these appointments. Since we will be using a private barn, we will not be seeing any horses that are experiencing any type of sickness that could potentially be contagious to other horses coming in for these visits or those that live at this barn. The farm is in Loris and more information will be available when an appointment is made. These appointments will be set days and times while we gauge the interest in these types of visits. Give the office a call at 843-603-1070 to schedule your haul in appointments.

01/04/2025

Important to remember with all our cold weather 🥶

As blanket season is in full force upon us, here is a very important reminder courtesy of the horse doctors at Miamitown Equine Veterinary Services:

"When securing blankets, make sure that the snaps/clips are facing inward, toward the horse! If they are facing out, they can easily become stuck on something, like the hay net in the picture."

01/02/2025

Is anyone missing this cutie? In the Loris area, near Log Cabin Road.