Rivendell Veterinary Care, PC

Really??? I am not exactly a beauty queen and had no idea about this! If you are using a product containing EJIAO, PLEASE STOP!!!

***SENIOR SPECIAL***
'tis that time of year again - take advantage of 5% OFF ALL DENTAL WORK FOR HORSES 15 AND OLDER!
The days are getting rapidly shorter, Christmas decorations are starting to appear even Halloween isn't over yet, which means that now is the ideal time to check the dental status of your 15+ year old equine companion. Hay season is upon us and with that healthy teeth in a horse are more important than any other time of year. We are offering 5% off all dental work and an automatic 25% call charge discount between now and November 15th. Give us a call or send a message to sign up!

Folks, just a reminder that Dr. Dorothee will be out of the country for the next two weeks. But fear not, our fantastic licensed vet tech Josie will take care of what she can, and Dr. Kingsley will cover emergencies, so your horses will be taken care of. Dawn will keep the office open for regular hours, so you can always reach us to make appointments, get prescription refills, or drop off a f***l sample. See you in October!

Hate flies? Ran out of fly spray and Tractor Supply doesn't have any left? We have a few bottles of fly spray left and would prefer to not store it through the winter! Pyranha yellow - $28.59 for one bottle, $50 takes both; Pyranha blue spray - $22.85 for 1/$40 for both; Pyranha roll-on: $5 each; KineticVet Equishield - $24.99 each, $44 for both.

Good Morning! A quick announcement: after the staff having last week off and Dr. Dorothee taking care of business, her turn for vacation is coming up 9/16-10/3. If you need your horse seen before then please make an appointment as soon as possible!

PSA as we are currently getting inundated with requests to vaccinate horses thanks to media reports about EEE. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying "don't vaccinate". I *am* saying vaccinate, be aware that you won't get immediate protection, and in the future vaccinate in the SPRING! We recommend that for a reason.

Sorry for the delay in getting this post out, but we've been a tiny bit busy tidying up from Saturday 😆 Congratulations to our raffle winners Sabrina Hare of Painting Memories Farm who won our fabulous Triage Bag, and Sabrina Osuch who won a bag full of goodies supplied by our favorite supplier Midwest Veterinary Supply, Inc. Thank you for coming to our Open House last Saturday and for entrusting us with the care of your animals

🤔 What do the following horses all have in common?

Standardbred - not vaccinated - Madison Co.
2y Belgian - not vaccinated - St. Lawrence Co.
18m Thoroughbred - not vaccinated - Orange Co.
1y QH- only vaccinated in 2023 - Oneida Co.
2y Quarter Horse - not vaccinated - Ulster Co.
3y Percheron - vaccinated in 2023 - Cayuga Co.
18y Draft x - not vaccinated - St. Lawrence Co.
3y Belgian - not vaccinated - Wayne Co.
Standardbred - not vaccinated - Washington Co.

Give up? They are all horses that have died recently in NY state from Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and there are many more. This is a 100% preventable disease through vaccination (you know, the “E” in your EWT). 🥺

🦟 Sometimes we hear, “my horse doesn’t travel so he doesn’t need these vaccines.” Nothing could be more false. EEE (and West Nile Virus) are transmitted through mosquitoes. Horses don’t need to travel to be exposed to mosquitoes.

Don’t skip a simple and affordable vaccine that will prevent a deadly, and increasingly more common, disease that IS in our area.

As fall draws closer, many horse owners are busy securing their fall and winter hay supply. If you are considering purchasing round bales for your equine companions—due to their cost-effectiveness and greater convenience for feeding pastured animals— remember that there are a few things to consider when choosing between square or round bales.

• Are you equipped/prepared to store your hay correctly?
Improperly stored round bales can lose much of their nutritional value and are also more susceptible to mold, dust, and bacteria growth, which can cause respiratory issues and even colic.

• Are your horses protected from botulism?
Round bales provide an optimum environment for the development of the botulism toxin. This toxin is produced when "Clostridium botulinum" is exposed to the right environmental conditions — such as when forage materials are baled and stored while still damp, or when they include the carcasses of dead animals, like birds and mice.

Prevention of this disease through vaccination is critical, especially in areas where the condition is prevalent (such as Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and Tennessee).

• Are round bales a good choice for your horse?
Horses prone to respiratory conditions usually have increased problems with round bales due to their higher dust content.

• Do you have a feeder to place your round bales in?
Round bales not placed in a feeder can create more waste, which means your horses may not be meeting their nutritional requirements.

• Can you secure high-quality round bales?
Not all hay is created equal. Be sure to choose high-quality hay to meet your horse's nutritional needs and minimize the risk of impaction colic, which increases with lower-quality, less digestible forage.

As always, your equine veterinarian remains your best source of information and advice—consult your horse doctor on best practices when feeding hay this fall and winter!

For more information on botulism, visit our website at: https://aaep.org/guidelines-resources/resource-library/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEwcuRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV5P3MHpvOoAOGsW2VwZTo-v_0pkILq8xN-reSg_yb3W01gGW_lfk0Nrnw_aem_Pp0WTnTG0S7pEH-BcTMV1g&_search=botulism

Another huge THANK YOU goes out to our sponsors Merck Animal Health, Midwest Veterinary Supply, Inc., and Boehringer Ingelheim Equine Health. They helped us out with their support and expertise, goodie bags, and cookies. Of which, by the way, we still have most of a whole tray left over. If anyone wants to pick them up here at the office and take them out of our reach we would all be eternally grateful to you :p

Send a message to learn more

Huge shout-out and thank you to all of our helpers at the Open House!!! From left to right: Dawn Turner, most amazing receptionist ever - Dr. Dorothee - Taylor Alward, student at SUNY Canton and vet tech in waiting - Kristy Colton, our hard-working barn manager - Emma King, veterinary student at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph - Payton Fortin, tireless all-arounder - Olivia Stevenson, student at SUNY Canton and future equine veterinarian - Josephine Towne, best vet tech on the planet and hopefully Dr. Towne, DVM at some point in the future. Also many thanks to the Northern Exposure Pony Club members who helped staff the welcome, food & craft tents, and to Elli Butler, our delightful horse beautician! Could not have done it without you all!!!

If you're not here you're missing a good show! Come on over, the pulled pork is gone but we have cookies up the wahoo, and the VSMT session coming up!

We have been working hard and are totally not ready 🤪 No, seriously - the place is spiffy clean and we can't wait to see you all later! Unfortunately the saddle fitting event is cancelled due to illness, but we have plenty of other interesting things going on. Come and join us!

What are you doing today? Come and join us!

Closing out the Open House on August 17th at 5 pm will be an informal case presentation with Dr. Dorothee. Bring a chair and enjoy a relaxing barn-side chat about things that she has come across over the years. For more information on our Open House go to https://www.rivendellvet.com/

We see a lot of sore backs in our practice, and there are many reasons why a horse's back may hurt. Join Dr. Dorothee during our Open House on August 17th at 4 pm for a discussion on causes and treatments of back soreness in horses, and a LIVE demonstration of a particular type back treatment that we frequently use with good success. For more information go to https://www.rivendellvet.com/

Emma Burnham is a North Country native who has life-long experience with horses. She recently returned to the northeast after spending time at ELPO farrier school in Colorado and working with renowned farrier Gene Ovnicek. Emma will assess "Dixie", who we have diagnosed with severe navicular disease, and together with the owner decide on a treatment plan to try and get Dixie to be more comfortable. For more information got to https://www.rivendellvet.com/

VSMT (veterinary spinal manipulation therapy), aka "equine chiropractic" is the latest addition to Dr. Dorothee's toolbox. VSMT has nothing to do with bones being "out (of place)", and as a result it's also not about "putting it back into place" (with more or less brute force). Instead it utilizes speed and accuracy to remove restrictions in soft tissue movement *around* joints, thereby reinstating the full range of movement. Want to learn more? Come and watch a live demonstration on one of our patients during our Open House on August 17th, at 2 pm. Check our website for more details: https://www.rivendellvet.com/

By now everyone has heard about this and we are getting flooded with calls about vaccinating horses. Here's the problem: if your horse(s) haven't been vaccinated with the past 12 months they are considered completely naive to the virus. Some residual immunity from previous vaccinations may remain, but cases of EEE have been reported to start showing up in vaccinated horses just 7 months after the last dose. This means they will need a booster shot 3 weeks after the initial dose, and will only be fully protected another 3 weeks later. Meaning that if you get your horse(s) vaccinated today, the earliest they would be considered immune is around the end of September. THAT IS THE REASON WE VACCINATE IN THE SPRING! Properly timed immunization is crucial to make sure they work! I am not saying don't vaccinate this year - please do. Mosquitoes stay active until the first hard frost, which may come as late as November. But PLEASE also plan on getting ANNUAL BOOSTERS in the SPRING of next year. The horse in the picture was a confirmed case of EEE, and just like all the other cases we have seen throughout our career, did not make it 😥
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kLtTWMrAq8kPSRZj/

What makes a saddle fit well? What things can you check to see if your horse's saddle fits? Join us for our Open House on Saturday, August 17th, at 1 pm and learn from independent certified saddle fitter Mikayla Pick
More information on Mikayla is available on her website: https://www.thesaddlegal.com/?

Our first scheduled event for the Open House is a LIVE gastroscopy at NOON on AUGUST 17th. Did you know that horses can get stomach ulcers? Some ulcers are akin to humans' heartburn/acid reflux disease. Causes are stress and unhealthy eating habits (does that ring a bell???). Other ulcers are more like humans' true stomach ulcers, and we often see these in horses who have chronic pain. Come and watch as Dr. Dorothee and her team advance a 3 m (9 foot!) long, flexible endoscope into a horse's stomach and check around for problems. Keep in mind that this procedure may not be suitable for all audiences. If you're squeamish you may want to skip this one ;)

Mark your calendar! We are celebrating 15 years of Rivendell Veterinary Care, and hope you can join us!

2024 Open House | Rivendell Veterinary Information on Rivendell's 2024 Open House

When you are scheduled for an ophthalmology (eye) exam, but it's super bright outside and there's no barn available 😂