Gabriel, Grills & Associates

Approximately 140 clients attended our equine meeting on Thursday 19th November 2009. A highly successful and informative meeting was enjoyed by all. Once again Ivybridge Rugby Club proved an ideal venue and provided us with excellent facilities and a delicious buffet.

Richard Hepburn of Willesley Equine Clinic delivered the first talk. This was on Equine Gastric Ulceration Syndrome. (EGUS). This is now understood to be a common condition both in competition and leisure horses and Richard is an acknowledged expert in the field.
The physiology and functional anatomy and predisposing factors for EGUS were outlined.
Many of us would have challenged our traditional way of feeding and managing our animals to reduce the incidence of this condition. For any client who suspects that their animal may suffer from EGUS or where we as vets think that this present, we can arrange for Richard to hold gastroscopy clinics at Filham park
Treatment can initially be quite expensive but the benefits in well being and performance can be spectacular and management can subsequently control the disease

Russell Roan a veterinary surgeon working for the pharmaceutical company Vetoquinol then talked about the benefits of feeding Scientifically proven feed additives or nutraceuticals. Much money is wasted with little or no benefit to the horse or pony. It is commonplace for owners to buy anecdotal evidence from the local yard “Expert” or “Knowledgeable Friend”

Many products off the shelf do not list ingredients or the rate of inclusion of active constituents much of the market is represented by products that are not subject to quality control and whose ingredients come from highly questionable resources. There is one commonly used food additive that is simply mixed up in a bathtub at an unknown location.

We encourage clients to come to us for advice so that we can recommend nutraceuticals from ethical drug companies who have invested much time and money into research and quality control. Further more we can target food supplementation so that additives are appropriate to the individual animal. As many of these products are reasonably expensive this approach also represents significant cost –savings.