Our Services

We believe in a core group of services to enhance your horse's well-being. Physical exams, vaccines, dental work, and strategic deworming all play a role in the health and longevity of your horse. We can also give advice on diet, exercise and general management. Every horse and owner combination is unique, and we strive to meet those unique needs with preventative care that helps to minimize emergencies and illnesses.

The dental services we provide include both routine and corrective dentistry, such as complete oral examination, floating (power and hand floats), and tooth extraction from highly trained veterinarians.

Medicine is the treatment of any disease that does not require surgery. This includes most infectious diseases, immune diseases, geriatric cases, most cases of colic, ocular disease, and much more. The first step in treating any illness begins with a thorough history and physical exam, followed by whatever diagnostics and therapies are determined necessary. We also have relationships with several referral hospitals and consultants if necessary to help your horse.

Early diagnosis is key in treating any illness, disease, or injury. At SLVS we are happy to offer many diagnostic modalities to aid us in helping you and your horse.
• Digital Radiology: used to augment our physical and soundness exams. Radiology is most often used to detect bony changes or remodeling, such as laminitis, degenerative joint disease, bone chips, and fractures. The added benefits of digital radiology include improved image quality and the ability to send images to referral veterinarians, specialists, and your farrier via email or CD.
• Endoscopy: our clinic has two portable endoscopes that are one meter in length and can be used on the farm to examine the upper airways (e.g. nasal passages, guttural pouches, pharyngeal area, trachea and portions of the small airways), and a portion of the esophagus.
• Laboratory: SLVS offers many in-clinic laboratory services, including Complete Blood Count (CBC), Chemistry, Urinalysis and Fecal Analysis. In-clinic services provide immediate results and can help us to make fast and informed diagnoses and treatment plans. SLVS also uses the services of multiple referral laboratories for all testing that cannot be run in-clinic.
• Ultrasound: At SLVS we use ultrasound as a key tool for diagnosis and monitoring of reproduction, and we have two ultrasound machines with probes designed for trans-rectal ultrasound.

Horses of all activity levels are at risk for lameness, and these can range from foot abscesses to complicated multi-limb issues. Here at SLVS, we have multiple tools available to help diagnose and treat your horse’s lameness. If we feel it is appropriate or necessary, we also have a network of working relationships with referral centers, farriers, and other lameness diagnosticians for consultation.

A pre-purchase examination includes a thorough physical and soundness examination. This examination is performed in order to render an opinion as to the current state of the horse, and to identify those readily observable shortcomings that might prevent a horse from performing at a given level. Radiographs and other diagnostics may also be recommended or requested.

It is important to remember that the pre-purchase examination can only give information about the horse's condition on the day of the exam. While this information is very important in making an informed decision about whether or not to purchase a horse, it cannot guarantee future health or soundness.

Each of our veterinarians are accredited with the federal government of Canada to perform Coggins testing and prepare the documents needed to export your horse if needed.

When it comes to reproduction, we can work with you from the first idea of breeding, through conception, pregnancy, and delivery of a happy, healthy foal.
• Mare Management: while health of the reproductive tract is important for a successful breeding program, overall health, body condition, dental health, vaccination status, nutrition, and other medical conditions she may have also play a role. We use palpation and ultrasound to evaluate the reproductive tract, follow her reproductive cycle, properly time medications used to ensure she ovulates around the desired date, and monitor pregnancy.
• Artificial Insemination: At SLVS, we provide breeding services with both fresh and frozen semen. This includes any post-breeding management, such as post-breeding uterine lavage, that your mare may require.
• Breeding Soundness Examination: As a means to a successful breeding program, the veterinarians at SLVS can perform a thorough examination to determine your mare’s suitability as a broodmare. This exam spans both external physical characteristics and internal anatomy required for successful conception and maintenance of pregnancy.
• Foaling Assistance and Neonatal Care: Should your mare require assistance during foaling, one of our veterinarians can help in assessing the situation and determining if the issue can be resolved on the farm or if referral to a specialist facility may be required. We can also provide neonatal foal exams to ensure that the foal was born healthy and help to treat any illnesses they may develop in the mare or foal in the post-partum period.

There are many procedures that can be done right on your farm that are considered surgical in nature. This includes the suturing of lacerations, and uncomplicated castrations. However, for those procedures that cannot be done on your property, SLVS has a small surgical suite as part of our facility that includes a gas anesthetic machine, and a padded induction and surgery stall. This allows us to place your horse under a general anesthetic for some more complicated or prolonged procedures. We are quite capable and willing to provide surgical services for procedures such as eye enucleation, crypt-orchid castration (retained testicles), umbilical hernia repair, fractured splint bone removal (depending on location), and neurectomy (denerving). For more complex procedures or cases such as colic surgery, arthroscopy, or fracture repair, we will refer your horse to a Board Certified Surgical Specialist.