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Practice
Focus
In each issue of
Equine Matters
we feature a brief insight into a
selection of the XLVets Equine
Practices. Featured in this issue
are Ardene House, Belmont
and Millcroft...
Aberdeen, Grampian
The practice originated over a century ago
providing farrier and veterinary care for the
working horses of Aberdeen harbour.
Over subsequent years the practice grew and
evolved in its then city-centre sites providing
mainly farm and small animal veterinary
services as the number of horses in Aberdeen
declined. Three decades ago the number of
leisure horses in the area sharply increased
and with it the corresponding need for vets
with an equine interest. Ardene House
responded to this demand and in 1996
moved to the current rural veterinary hospital
site five miles west of Aberdeen.
The equine department expanded to its
current size of four and a half vets who enjoy
the help and support of three equine
nurses. Additional consultancy is provided
on a regular basis by an approved
RCVS Specialist.
The practice offers a primary opinion
mainly ambulatory service but there is an
ever-increasing demand for second opinion
and referral services offered by the
experienced well-qualified equine team
from its modern hospital base.
Belmont Veterinary Centre is a first opinion
mixed practice. The practice comprises small
and large animal veterinary teams. The
geographical area extends from Abergavenny
and the Black Mountains to the east of
Worcester and the Malvern Hills.
Within the large animal team, particular
clinicians have an equine bias. As a first
opinion practice we aim to provide a high
standard of care and keep up-to-date with
the latest diagnostic aids and treatments. The
majority of our patients are pleasure horses
and ponies, though the spectrum ranges
from racehorses to donkeys.
Specialist interests include; lameness workups,
dentistry, ophthalmology. The practice is one of
a network contributing in supplying data, with
our clients, for research undertaken by the
Animal Health Trust (AHT) into equine laminitis.
Laminitis and endocrine diseases, such as
equine metabolic syndrome and Cushing’s
disease, appear to be a growing problem in
the equine population.
Evening talks are held for horse owners within
the area along with workshops, for example:
remedial shoeing courses for farriers.
Millcroft Veterinary Group is a mixed
practice offering treatments for all animals
from the smallest mouse to the largest bull.
On the equine side we cover every size of
horse, pony and donkey from Falabellas to
Shire Stallions, from Appaloosas to Zebras.
Our team of vets and nurses engage in the
many varied aspects of this ever-growing
area of work for the practice; from
vaccinations to vettings.
The equine side of the practice has
developed so much in the last couple of
years that at a recent Practice Standards
inspection by the Royal College of
Veterinary Surgeons we were promoted to
a higher level. One reason for this is the
recent addition of a padded stable which
allows us to offer in-house minor operations
including geldings and foal hernia repairs.
We also offer a portable x-ray machine if
horses or ponies are unable to travel to the
surgery, an in-house laboratory service for
same-day blood sample analyses and a full
set of hand rasps and power float to offer
horse dentals to our clients.
Cockermouth, Cumbria
Hereford, Herefordshire