Sep 24, 2018 | Events
Dear followers, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of useful horse care tips to bring you: The Top 10 reasons you should come to my 12th Annual Open House this weekend! Remember, it’s on Saturday, September 29th from 10 am-2 pm at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic, and there will be BBQ from Top Hog in Newberry. Have you tried their BBQ yet? It’s to die for! Bring the whole family for a day of horses and fun. What could be better?!
#10: The Movie Theme
That’s right: this year’s Open House is entirely themed after your favorite movies! While munching popcorn, follow the full-sized motion picture posters to visit each blockbuster-themed station and learn something new about caring for your horse. Just like going to the movies, all you need to do is show up. From there just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. I’m not giving away any of the movies we chose- you’ll have to come find out for yourself. The suspense is killing me!
#9: The Vendors
We are expecting more vendors than ever this year! Local businesses from feed stores to clothing lines will be there for your convenience. Looking for a new farrier or massage therapist? Are you new to horses and looking for somewhere to take lessons? Look no further than Springhill Equine’s Open House. Learn what is available nearby, catch a great deal, and maybe even snatch up some free swag!
#8: The Door Prizes
While we will have over 100 bags of stuff to give out, they will be distributed on a First Come First Served basis! The first bags will contain the most awesome swag, and so on down the line. In addition to grab bags for the first 100 visitors, we will be raffling off larger prize baskets throughout the day. I have seen these prizes and I’m pretty tempted to lay on them and cover them in cat hair to claim them as my own so they can’t be given away this weekend. But I will refrain, for you. Anyway, this is an opportunity to go home with some seriously cool stuff!
#7: The Skin Funk station
Every horse owner deals with skin funk sooner or later. Whether your horse has itchy ears or rain rot, rubs his tail, or cakes his pasterns in mud, we have a solution for you. Our wonderful vet tech Nancy will be womanning the skin funk station this year. She has seen it all when it comes to equine skin issues, and she has tried and tested practically every product out there. Let Nancy share her knowledge and help you choose the right treatment for your horse the first time. Believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble!
#6: The Clicker Training station
Do you know how to clicker train your horse? Well, now is your chance to learn! Our fantastic vet tech Monique will be teaching this useful trick, which can be applied to a variety of situations. Look out for a live horse demonstration at this station! Some of the most common applications of clicker training we use here at the clinic include getting your horse to tolerate shots, loading on a trailer, putting on a fly mask, standing still during an undesirable procedure, etc. Clicker training is a valuable tool to have in your equestrian toolbox. Let us show you the way!
#5: The Dentistry station
Did you ever wonder why horses need a dental every year? Do you want to see some of the worst teeth we’ve ever encountered? Let our awesome vet tech Rachel take you through the wonderland of equine dentistry. This is a hands-on station where touching and feeling dental instruments and equipment is strongly encouraged! Keep small children close by though…this station has some serious bite!
#4: The Nutrition station
Dr. Vurgason joins the helpful folks from Nutrena at this station to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about equine nutrition. Super senior horse? Easy keeper? Metabolic issue? We will make a feed plan to fit your horse’s specific needs! Come to this station armed with questions, and expect to leave with all the answers. In addition to grain, feel free to pick Dr. Vurgason’s brain regarding supplements and forages as well. She owns everything from an old hard-keeper picky-eater off-the-track Thoroughbred to a fat laminitic insulin-resistant donkey. Nutrition can be complicated; visit this station and let Dr. Vurgason simplify your life!
#3: The Lameness station
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Never is this more evident than in the complex world of equine lameness. Come learn from Dr. Lacher what you can start doing today to avoid ending up with a lame horse in the future. Follow the story of a lameness workup to see how our docs arrive at their diagnosis. This is also a great opportunity to pick Dr. Lacher’s brain about lameness treatment options from joint injections to shoes to supplements to alternative therapies. Hint: some work, others are a waste of your hard-earned money. This station is definitely going to be worth your while!
#2: The chance to win a Wellness Package!
You heard right. Each person who attends Open House and visits each station will be entered to win a 2019 Wellness Package for one horse. That is over a $400 value you guys! The package includes 2 visits a year with wellness exams, all core vaccines (Encephalitis, Tetanus, West Nile, & Rabies), a Coggins, a dental float (sedation included), 2 fecal egg counts, and NO emergency fees for the entire year. Make sure to pick up a card when you check in, fill it out with your info, then get a sticker at each station as you go, and turn your card in at the end to be entered to win. You could be this year’s lucky winner- so don’t miss your chance!
#1: Me
Obviously the top reason to attend Open House this year: I will be there. Duh! And I will be available to receive your affections. See you then!
-The Magnificent, One and Only Tony, the Official Clinic Cat of Springhill Equine
Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!
Oct 30, 2017 | Events
Open House
If you are looking for a fun family activity to attend this weekend, look no further! My biggest “See Tony” event of the year (a.k.a. Open House) is this Saturday, November 4th, from 10 – 2! This year’s theme is Boosting Your Horsepower. Just as your car needs regular maintenance, high-quality fuel, insurance coverage, and repair after an accident, so does your horse. My vets and technicians will be covering these topics and more at their stations, complete with live horse demonstrations! As if my handsome face isn’t enough to drag you cats out of your warm seat in front of the fireplace, here are 3 more reasons you don’t want to miss Open House this year:
#1. Exciting booths to explore
I am expecting more vendors than ever before, from local feed & supply stores to boarding barns, small businesses to a popular clothing line! Bring your friends- even if they don’t own a horse there will be something fun for everyone. Did I mention there will be FREE FOOD from Backyard BBQ, and a bake sale by our local 4-H club? I can’t wait to taste the scraps!
#2. Awesome door prizes
Get here early because the grab bags are filled with some seriously nice loot. I’m talking shirts, hats, cups, grooming supplies, great coupons, and tons of useful information! These bags are first-come, fist-served: the first person gets the bag with the most stuff, and so on down the line until I run out. The last person just gets the pleasure of my company…which is pretty good incentive in itself.
#3. Chance to win a wellness plan
Last but certainly not least, everybody who attends Open House will be entered into a drawing for a complete annual wellness plan for your horse, a $405 value! Here’s what you have to do: show up on Saturday between 10am and 2pm, visit and get your card stamped at each station, and turn your card in to one of my minions at the end. Keep in mind my wellness plans cover all of your horse’s veterinary care for the year, including vaccines, coggins, dentals with sedation, physical exams, fecal egg counts, and NO emergency fees! This will be the one and ONLY opportunity to win a 2018 wellness plan, so you really don’t want to miss it.
I guess there’s nothing left to say except see ya Saturday!
-Tony
Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!
Apr 4, 2017 | Events, Feed, Hay, Retired, Seniors, Weight loss/gain
Garbage in, garbage out, or so I hear from the humans. Here I sit munching on a nice grasshopper. They have a great flavor; I recommend you try them, especially roasted with a bit of salt and pepper! Great nutritional choices like this are what keep this cat in top physical condition. Senior feeding strategies for your horse will keep them running at peak performance, too.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
You sang it, didn’t you? I know I did. Then I had images of the movie Shrek play through my head. OK, back on track. You have made wise decisions for your horse’s diet (your own, not so much) and things have been going great. However, as horses get older, their diet needs change, and those changes are very different from the ones humans experience. Doing a very thorough evaluation of body condition score, muscle quality, and diet should be done at least every six months on every horse. (Need help? My minion, Beth, has tons of nutrition experience and can help you formulate a custom plan. In fact, Wellness Plans include this!) If you notice topline shrinking, maybe the ribs are a little easier (or harder) to find, or eating is taking a long time, it may be time to adjust the diet.
Protein, Protein, Protein
You’ve been monitoring your horse’s condition, and have noticed the muscles on the topline are slowly fading away. Maybe there are fat pads cropping up by the top of the tail and behind the shoulder blades. It’s just plain harder to maintain condition. Protein is the answer. Well, part of the answer, anyway.
We have been well trained not to increase protein for older people and animals, but, as usual, horses are weird. It’s important to remember that basic diets for horses are pretty low in protein, usually around 10-12%, versus cat diets which hover around 30-32% protein. This means adding protein to equine diets is a relative thing. The easiest way to add protein is with a ration balancer. Just about every major feed company makes a ration balancer. Enrich Plus, Triple Crown 30, Equalizer, and Empower Balance are all examples of ration balancers. Adding a pound or two of one of these to every feeding is often all the older guys need.
When do I switch to Senior Feed?
Maybe never. While 15 years old is our guideline for Super Senior, it’s just that: a guideline. Dr. Lacher’s 27 year old horse is still on a “regular” feed, SafeChoice Maintenance. Full on Senior concentrates are best suited for horses with very bad teeth. These diets are designed to meet all the nutritional needs of a horse: grain, roughage, vitamins, and minerals. Most of our Seniors have pretty good teeth which means they can get loads of nutrition from hay. As long as your Super Senior is doing well on a regular diet, there’s no need to switch to senior feed.
If not Senior feed, then what?
Okay, you’re having some trouble maintaining topline, but there’s also some fat pads creeping up beside your horse’s tailhead, and you currently feed SafeChoice Maintenance and coastal hay, along with 4-5 pounds of alfalfa hay. Oh, and your horse just turned 17 years old. You ride 3-5 days every week and would put yourself in the moderately in-shape category. Now what?
There’s loads of options out there, but a little tweaking will go a long way here. First, let’s increase the quality and quantity of protein. Dropping back on the amount of SafeChoice Maintenance and adding Empower Balance will increase protein while decreasing calories overall. Trying this simple change for 30 days, while monitoring body condition, may be all the adjusting that’s needed. However, if you aren’t satisfied after 30 days, we can tweak the hay choices, or even switch concentrates all together. My point is: You’ve got options and I’ve got minions to help you with those options.
Want even more information? Want my pawtograph? Come out to the Super Senior Seminar April 19th, 2017 at 6:30pm!
See you there!
-Tony
Mar 15, 2017 | Buying and Selling, Competition Horses, Craigslist, Disaster Preparedness, Events, Horse Trailer, Q & A, Safety, Trading, trailering
Ever have problems loading your horse on the trailer? Tony reveals all the tricks of the trade!
So, I have a complaint. On Saturday morning my minions came to feed me as usual. But then, as they all headed off eagerly to Canterbury Showplace to set up for my Trailering Seminar, they slammed the door in my face! That’s right, they left me here at the clinic with stinky Teanie! Can you believe it? I do all the work designing and promoting the event, then they leave me behind and take all the credit. Well, in case you too got locked behind your kitty door, here is a recap of what you missed.
How NOT to load a horse
Hanging out and observing all the goings on at the clinic, I have seen many methods of loading a horse on a trailer that are fantastically ineffective. If you stand in front of your horse pulling on the leadrope, making lots of noise, rushing, and trying to force your horse into a dark scary hole, I guarantee you it is not going to work. Other poor choices I have seen include shaking a bucket of grain in the trailer while your horse stands outside terrified of the noisy echo coming from inside the hole where he was already convinced monsters were lurking. Also, using short crops on the shoulder or lip chains on the leadrope, both of which tend to drive horses backwards rather than forwards. Another good way to set yourself up for failure is to try to load a horse that does not yet know how to lead, and to move forward when you ask.
If you’re not bored, you’re doing it wrong
Now I am going to share with you and only you, my adoring fans, the great, big, awesome, mind-blowing, earth-shattering, best-kept-secret-in-the-world for loading a horse on the trailer: patience. If you put a very patient person at the horse’s head (like Nancy, who perfectly demonstrated this at my seminar), chances are very good your horse will get on the trailer. Now first, Nancy will have to make sure your horse knows to move forward when asked. Then, your horse will have to get comfortable being close to the trailer, to convince himself that the horse-eating monsters that live inside have left for the day. Finally, Nancy will ask your horse to step into the trailer, immediately rewarding any motion or even a hint of moving in the right direction. For this part, it is helpful to have your second-most-patient friend behind the horse with a longe whip to gently encourage that forward motion, and to immediately release pressure when the forward motion is achieved.
How to haul a horse trailer
Well, I guess I would know what to tell you here if they had invited me to my own event! Apparently Justin did a killer job giving demonstrations, explanations, and hands-on training to the attendees. He taught them how to do this fancy move called an L-turn for backing your trailer into a tight spot. He warned against passenger-side backing, and advised using a ground person to watch your blind spots whenever possible. The biggest take home message that was passed along to me was safety first when hauling: always think about what you are going to do before you do it. Don’t pull into that gas station without thinking about your exit strategy. Don’t pull forward into a narrow spot if you are not comfortable turning your trailer around. Don’t hesitate to get out and walk around the back of the trailer instead of just backing up until you hear a crunch!
I hope everyone other than me was able to make it to this amazing event. But if you missed it, save the date for my next seminar, Wednesday April 19th on Geriatrics! Don’t worry, I won’t let them keep me away next time.
-Tony
Dec 27, 2016 | Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Hay, Weight loss/gain, Wellness Program
It’s that time of year when you humans like to work on some goals for the upcoming year. I listed mine out to show you how easy it can be: 1. Improve human response time to food demands, 2. Get better at using the computer so I can order my own cat treats, 3. Continue to find new and improved sleeping locations. Now see how easy that was? Look at what’s going on that you feel needs to change or improve and write down a goal to address it. OK, here we go.
Eat better. Beth looks at equine diets all the time and her mantra: simplify, simplify, simplify. Most of you humans like to make life sooo complicated. Go with quality hay, then add quality concentrate, then add supplements only if your horse needs them for a specific problem. This plan makes life easier and so much less expensive. Don’t believe me? Check your inbox later this week for Beth’s amazing breakdown on how much cheap feed costs!
Exercise more for the fat horses (like this cat). I struggle with this one, mostly because I hate to exercise. As a black cat living in Florida, it gets hot and I whine a lot and I end up spending the day laying around in the air conditioning. And that’s how I ended up with diabetes. The average horse needs to slow jog for about 15 minutes 3 times weekly to prevent founder and other serious fat horse problems. Commit to that time with your horse and you will stop so many problems in their tracks.
Exercise more for those show horses. Injuries happen at exhaustion. When your horse gets tired, muscles don’t respond like they should, legs end up going weird directions, and BAM! an injury occurs. Do your horse a favor and put in the time needed to have them truly fit for what you want to do. A good general guideline is to be able to do twice as much as you need to do in the show ring. Be sure you aren’t just drilling on “horse show moves.” Cross training is important! Riding horses on different types of terrain and footing helps them learn how to handle anything you crazy humans throw at them. Jumping your dressage horse, or trail riding your western pleasure horse helps keep the brain engaged and builds up different muscles than their normal, everyday work.
Learn something new. This is mostly for you humans. There is always a ton of research out there about the equine athlete. Oddly, there’s not much on the feline athlete. Look for a new exercise for you and/or your horse, read the latest science research on horses, get a lesson or sign up for a clinic. Step outside your comfort zone. You will be a better human for it.
One last New Year’s Resolution: Get your horse a Wellness Plan. With one simple call, e-mail, even text you can cross Better Health and Save Money off the list. You won’t have to remember when your Coggins is due, wonder if you have all the right vaccines, and you have freed up time and energy to eat better, exercise more, and learn something new.
Nov 22, 2016 | Athleticism, Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Injuries, Safety
Whew, boy am I sore! Kevan Knudsen, personal trainer extraordinaire, had us doing squats, lunges, stretches, and all manner of exercises at our “Exercise for Equestrians” event on Saturday. Technically, I am not an equestrian, so I thought I should have been exempt. But the humans demanded my participation *eye roll.*
Kevan also taught us a great deal about nutrition– one of my least favorite subjects. Turns out lean meats, fruits, and vegetables should make up the majority of your diet if you are a human. Tuna is a lean meat, right? I’m totally in! Your macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) need to be in the right ratio for your body to function properly. Most Americans are eating foods they are intolerant to on a regular basis (dairy, white bread, and artificial sweeteners, for example). Simply eliminating these foods from your diet can result in significant weight loss and better health. As Kevan summed it up, “don’t eat processed crap!”
Of course your mental health is as important as your physical health, especially for riding horses. Horseback riding is one of the only sports requiring the participation of another sentient being. It’s not like running where you can take your frustration out on the track. You need to be in the right frame of mind before you set foot in the saddle. Kevan recommended working on positive self-affirmation, realistic goal-setting, anxiety management, and interpersonal communication. I already practice most of these on a daily basis, in between cat naps.
If you missed me at this enlightening event and would like more information on personal training from someone experienced in working with equestrians, contact Kevan Knudsen at (971) 221-5451, or kevan.knudsen@gmail.com. Your horse will thank you for getting fit and healthy! As for me, I’m just fine with my current lifestyle of eating, sleeping, and occasionally walking out to the end of the driveway. Now to ice these sore quads…
-Tony
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