Lameness & Orthopaedic Investigations
Systematic lameness investigation, diagnostic analgesia and imaging, and the orthopaedic treatments that follow from them.
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Equine veterinary surgeon
Veterinary care built around the sport horse
Ambulatory equine veterinary care, with a particular focus on the sport horse — carried out at your yard, with the time each case genuinely needs.
Independent
The practice is owned and run by the vet who attends your horse.
Fully ambulatory
Diagnostics and treatment brought to your yard.
Sport horse focus
Lameness and poor performance as the core of the caseload.
One vet throughout
The same clinician from first examination to final follow-up.
RCVS regulated
Practising under the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Code of Professional Conduct.
The practice
A practice with one clear focus
A subtle change in the way a horse moves, a loss of scope that nobody can quite put a finger on, a problem that improves and then returns — these are cases that reward patience, careful observation and a methodical approach.
Lameness investigation and orthopaedics sit at the heart of what we do, alongside routine and preventative veterinary care that keeps horses healthy, comfortable and performing at their best throughout the season.
Services
What the practice offers
From a full orthopaedic workup to the vaccinations in your diary each year.
Poor Performance Investigations
For the horse that is not lame but is not right — systematic investigation of the vague, the intermittent and the hard to place.
Read moreRoutine & Ambulatory Care
Vaccinations, dentistry, health checks, parasite control, passport identification, official export certification and end-of-life care.
Read morePre-Purchase Examinations
Two-stage and five-stage vettings, carried out for the buyer and explained in full before you commit.
Read moreCompetition & Event Veterinary Cover
On-site veterinary support for competitions, events and racing, as an FEI Permitted Treating Veterinarian and accredited racecourse veterinary surgeon.
Read moreA horse cannot tell you where it hurts. Subtle does not mean insignificant.
The Sport Horse VetThe approach
How a lameness case is worked up
Lameness investigation is a process of putting the pieces together. In the case of the sport horse some problems may present as reduced performance rather than obvious lameness.
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History and standing examination
What the horse does, what has changed, and what can be found by hand before anything else happens.
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Dynamic assessment
In hand, on the lunge, on different surfaces, and ridden where that is what brings the problem out.
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Diagnostic analgesia
Nerve and joint blocks, worked through methodically to localise the pain where possible.
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Imaging
Radiography and ultrasound directed at the region the blocks have identified, or areas of suspicion, to identify pathology.
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A plan you can actually follow
Treatment, rehabilitation and realistic timescales, explained in terms that make sense, taking the individual horse and facilities into consideration.
Ambulatory
The practice comes to you
Horses behave differently away from home, and a great deal can be learned from seeing one in its own environment — the surface it works on, the stable it lives in, the routine around it.
- Visits at your own yard, on your own surfaces
- Portable radiography and ultrasound brought to the horse
- Unhurried appointments, with time to talk the findings through
- Direct continuity — the same vet from first visit to final follow-up
Based in Southport and covering roughly 25 miles across West Lancashire and Merseyside. Pre-purchase examinations are taken further afield by arrangement, with mileage charged.
Enquiries
Talk to the practice
For registrations, availability and general questions, send an enquiry and it will be answered as soon as possible.
Anything clinical or urgent is best dealt with by telephone — the website is not monitored around the clock.