Juniata River Veterinary Services

05/22/2026

Some information on ‘track system’ pastures or ‘pasture paradises’—which is the application of enrichment ideas and distributing resources to better mimic more natural grazing patterns/movement for ‘easy keeper’ breeds.

A simple track system known as “paddock paradise” can be created on small acreage pastures to allow horses space for exercise while protecting your pasture

05/15/2026

6-8 years ago or so, I bought these birdhouses along the roadside for a deal, then decided to use them for pickups and deliveries.

This is the very first year an actual bird decided to move into one! So be warned there is a tree swallow nesting in the brown house!

05/15/2026

Update: Dr Ford is back to full service on scheduling! Including castrations 😉

05/01/2026

Emailing update:

I have hopefully resolved the emailing issues from the practice software. It will be coming from [email protected]!

Thanks for your patience and please let me know if you need records re-sent!

04/03/2026

Be on the lookout for heat stress this weekend/next week if your horses still have heavy coats…

Options to help them cope:

Bath and provide fans.
Partial body clips.
Bath several times.
Make sure a lot of fresh water is available.
Provide shade option.
Offer salt and/or electrolytes while having a separate regular water source.
If riding, play attention to breathing rate and effort.

This is especially important for equine asthma/ heaves horses and those with allergies. Pollen will be high as the plants continue bursting back to life.

Wishing you a beautiful and joyous Spring/Easter weekend!

03/26/2026

A Free Webinar on Laminitis/Founder and Endocrine/Metabolic Causes! It will be recorded if the webinar time doesn’t work.

03/25/2026

I’m back on almost full duty!

I’m seeing routine preventative care, dentistry, repro, most lameness, X-rays, colics, general emergencies in good footing/halter trained animals. Have done some new foal work with help, but no foal wrestling yet please.

Until April sometime, I’m not up for euthanasias, castrations, anesthesia, bad footing, or lacerations in ‘difficult places’ because I am still in a boot and sometimes still using crutches. I may decline or have to decline the needleshy or wild ones for a couple weeks because I can’t move fast. I’ll update when I am firmly out of the boot 😀

03/02/2026

A little overview of equine parasites! Most horse people are most familiar with bots and small strongyles for all age groups while ascarids are a more significant problem for horses under two years old.

Spring only a few weeks away! 🙌 It’s not too early to start thinking about a deworming plan for your horses.

If deworming is something you’ve been doing the same way for as long as you can remember, this year we encourage you to break tradition and work with your veterinarian instead. Thanks to tools like the f***l egg count, your horse doctor can help you devise a treatment tailored to the needs of your equine friend plus monitor the efficacy of the dewormer used last.

Before you dismiss this notion because you’ve been “doing it for years,” you should know that the old-school approach to deworming is quickly becoming outdated. Not only is it a waste of money, but it also builds drug resistance in the parasitic fauna of equines, which means we are running out of drugs that can effectively help us control parasite infections.

For more information, the AAEP Parasite Control Guidelines can be found on our website: https://aaep.org/resource/internal-parasite-control-guidelines/

Key take-home messages from these Internal Parasite Disease Control Guidelines include:

• Perform f***l egg count reduction tests (FECRT) annually to ensure that you are using effective dewormers in every herd or barn.

• Recognize that no anthelmintic will eliminate all parasitic stages from a horse.

• Continue using f***l egg counts (FEC) once or twice a year to stratify horses into low, medium, and high shedders to reduce pasture contamination.

• Deworm all horses at a baseline rate (once or twice a year) and target selected horses more often based on FEC (strongyle high shedders).

• Do not use FEC to diagnose disease in horses; there is no correlation between FEC and disease-causing parasite life stages.

• Discontinue deworming all horses with fixed intervals year-round (e.g., every 2 months), and stop blindly rotating anthelmintic classes.

As always, consult your equine veterinarian to learn more and for questions specific to your horses!

03/01/2026

Happy March, folks! I’m in a boot now post-op and can bear weight with crutches, so I will begin to schedule appointments with good footing starting March 9th. I hope to be crutch free sometime by the end of March and boot free sometime in April.

For now, I’m probably not going to be up for most emergencies, but hopefully that will change in a few weeks.

Thanks for your tremendous support!

02/11/2026

FOALING SEASON IS UPON US!

Are you ready to assist your broodmare? Here are some tried and true guidelines to remember during foaling:

• Unless there's an emergency, allow the foal time to break the fetal membranes. Once the foal breaks through, be sure it’s breathing.

• Generally, it’s not recommended to cut or break the umbilical cord. If it has not broken during delivery, it will usually break when the mare or foal gets up.

• Encourage the mare and foal to rest as long as possible. Give them an opportunity to bond undisturbed.

• Following birth of the foal, the mare and her newborn should be monitored for normal breathing, brightness and alertness. The mare should be non-aggressive, curious and accepting of the foal.

• The foal should stand and nurse within two hours of birth. If the foal has not nursed within three hours, call your veterinarian. The foal may be weak and in need of assistance or medical attention.

• By the third hour, the mare should pass the placenta, and the foal should pass meconium. Once the placenta has been expelled, examine it to make sure it is intact, particularly at the tips of the horns. The afterbirth will be Y-shaped and should have only the hole through which the foal emerged.

• A foal must receive colostrum (the mare's first milk) within the first eight to 12 hours of life in order to absorb the antibodies. If a foal is too weak to nurse, it may be necessary to milk the mare and give the colostrum to the foal via a stomach tube.

Contact your veterinarian to learn more so you can be prepared to help the new mother and foal get off to a great start! If your mare and foal are not meeting these milestones in the appropriate timeframe, call your vet immediately.