Elemental Veterinary Services

08/30/2026

BEFORE & AFTER: The Power of Consistency ⏱️

Lower leg injuries in horses are every owner’s nightmare. Because there is so little soft tissue coverage and constant movement from the joints, even minor-looking cuts below the knee or hock can quickly turn sideways. Wounds in these areas are highly prone to chronic inflammation, infection, and the dreaded overgrowth known as proud flesh.

These photos show the progress of a lower leg wound before and almost 2 weeks later.

SWIPE to see what happens when you combine daily commitment with proper wound management:
🔴 Day 1: A ragged, contaminated woundbed traps dirt and bacteria, keeping the body stuck in a painful, inflammatory cycle.
🌸 Day 12: Thanks to regular cleaning, proper medications, and appropriate protection the wound has filled in with a clean, healthy, and perfectly flat bed of granulation tissue!

08/27/2026

08/25/2026

🚨 EMERGENCY VET CALL 🐴Come with me on a late-night emergency call to treat a horse with a fetlock laceration. This sweet boy got into a bit of trouble and needed immediate stitches to close up a deep cut near his joint. Watch the process of how we clean, numb, and carefully suture the wound to get him back on the road to recovery!

Clean wounds and quick action make all the difference. 🩺✨

08/15/2026

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: Meet Alli! ✨

Behind every great equine veterinary team is someone who keeps things moving, pays attention to the little things, and is always ready to learn—and that’s exactly what Alli brings to EVS. 🐴🩺

Hardworking, detail-oriented, and genuinely excited to continue learning, Alli has become a crucial part of our team. She’s always willing to jump in, ask questions, expand her knowledge, and help make sure our patients receive the best care possible.

She understands that great veterinary care doesn’t stop when we leave the ranch—it also means helping owners understand their horse’s health and giving them the knowledge they need to make informed decisions.

And now for the fun stuff… 👀

🎬 Her horse has Hollywood credits: her horse has appeared in the hit show Yellowstone!

🐕 Her Labrador knows more tricks than most husbands. 😂

🚛 She holds a Class A license—because apparently working with horses wasn’t enough of a challenge!

We’re incredibly grateful to have Alli as part of our team. Her work ethic, curiosity, attention to detail, and passion for horses make her someone we can count on—and someone our clients and patients are lucky to have in their corner. ❤️

Help us give Alli a little love in the comments! 👇

08/14/2026

Another day, another summer sore!

Summer sores don’t always show up in the places we expect—and this one decided to take up residence in the corner of the right eye.

This horse presented with irritation in both eyes, with the right eye significantly worse. On examination, we found fly larvae and sulfur granules within the affected area. Those sulfur granules are a classic finding associated with the larvae of Habronema spp., the parasites responsible for equine summer sores.

After blocking the region around the eye we flushed the nasolacrimal duct—the tear drainage system that carries fluid from the eye, through the duct alongside the nose, and ultimately into the nasal cavity. This horse had a clogged duct, and flushing it produced purulent material and debris from the eye. That discharge is clinically important because it can indicate inflammation and infection within the tear drainage system rather than simply “eye goop.” Just like our previous summer sore case, we treated the lesion regionally with an injection as part of the treatment plan, along with addressing the significant fly irritation contributing to the problem.

Summer sores can cause significant inflammation, discomfort, secondary infection, and—in locations near the eye—potential complications involving the ocular structures and tear drainage system.

08/12/2026

Our patients unloading for their floats.

These guys are Belgian drafts. They are 17.2 hands with room to grow, every bit of 1,300lbs, & pretty as can be! Traditional trailers can be too short for them to comfortably lift their heads so they travel in a box truck.

We’re glad we were able to help keep these boys comfortable so they can continue working!

08/10/2026

🪰 SUMMER SORES: SMALL WOUND, BIG HEADACHE! 🪰

Swipe through this before & after of this summer sore. Presented on June 18th & was healed by August 3rd.

Summer sores, also called cutaneous habronemiasis, are caused by Habronema larvae that are deposited into wounds by flies. Once those larvae are present, the horse’s immune system can mount a significant inflammatory response, causing a wound that may become raised, ulcerated, proud-fleshed, and stubborn to heal.

Summer sores can be frustrating because they can linger for weeks or months, especially when fly exposure continues. They most commonly develop around the lips, eyes, nostrils, and other areas prone to small wounds and fly activity.

For this case, we used a multimodal treatment plan —

AGGRESSIVE FLY CONTROL
Fly control is HUGE when dealing with summer sores. This horse wore a fly mask with tassels, and we utilized Swat and fly spray to help minimize additional fly exposure.

TOPICAL THERAPY
Our special S4 cream was applied as part of the treatment plan to address the lesion locally and support healing. This cream is designed to decrease inflammation, infection, & deter parasites topically.

CLASS 4 VETERINARY LASER
Laser therapy helps reduce inflammation, support circulation, and promote healthy cellular function — all of which promotes a happy wound. We incorporated regular laser treatments throughout the healing process to support the body’s natural ability to repair the damaged tissue.

DEBRIDEMENT
The sore was debrided regularly to remove sulfur granules associated with the inflammatory process. This helped keep the wound cleaner and gave the healthy tissue a better environment.

One of the classic findings in a summer sore is “sulfur granules.” These are small yellowish, gritty-looking granules made up largely of dead tissue, inflammatory material, and colonies of organisms associated with the larvae. They can become embedded within the lesion and contribute to inflammation. Debriding this is an important part of managing these sores.

DEWORMING
A veterinarian-directed deworming protocol was also incorporated.

VETERINARY-DIRECTED ANTI-INFLAMMATORY THERAPY
Because of the significant inflammation associated with this particular lesion, a regional anti-inflammatory treatment was administered as part of the veterinarian-directed plan.

If a wound seems unusually inflamed, doesn’t heal normally, or just keeps coming back during fly season, it’s worth having your veterinarian take a closer look.

08/09/2026

Before & After 🐴🩺

Faces have excellent blood supply and can heal remarkably well with appropriate veterinary care.

In this case, this laceration was caused by a damaged feed bucket.

A good reminder to regularly inspect the equipment in your horse’s environment:
- Make sure bucket hooks are intact and don’t have sharp or exposed ends.
- Replace damaged, misshaped, sharp edged buckets rather than continuing to use them.
- Consider covering bucket hooks with electrical tape to reduce the chance of a horse catching its nose or lip on the hook if you must leave them in the horse’s stall.

A quick equipment check can prevent an emergency call to your vet.

04/06/2026

EORTH:

EORTH is short for Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis. It's a painful, progressive equine disease. The body stays breaking down the tooth structure, but also has an overproduction of cementum crating the bulbous structures at the roots. This causes the incisors to become painful, mobile, & deformed. Common in elder, senior horses. Treatment for this disease includes incisors removal. Horses tend to do very well without incisors as they are not out grazing in the wild. Pain relief is substantial post extraction.

Pictured here is an extraction we did. You can see where the incisor fused with the canine from the overproduction of cementum. Also pictured is the bulbous structure we see in the gums.