What to Expect
There are many instances when it is neither economical nor convenient to transport horses for veterinary care, especially when sickness or lameness would compromise the horse’s treatment and recovery.
Fortunately, advances in mobile communications and veterinary technology have made it possible to outfit a vehicle with a wide range of veterinary supplies and equipment, so the ‘hospital’ can come to you. Epona Equine vets are just a phone call away!
Epona Equine has 2 Ford F-150 Hybird trucks that are custom-fitted with a ‘Vet Box’ to ensure that they are always fully equipped for both urgent and routine care procedures. This mobile hospital unit has a multitude of compartments that keep supplies and equipment well-organized, clean, dry, and readily accessible. They even have heated running water and refrigerated compartments, to keep medications and blood or tissues samples cool.
Preparing for your appointment
Our veterinarians generally have an assistant with them for most appointments. Our assistants are experienced and well-trained in horse handling to ensure the safety of both the veterinarian and you. Assistants are usually unavailable after hours for urgent care, so you may be required to handle your horse for the veterinarians in emergency situations. If you find a situation too stressful or overwhelming, please don’t hesitate to request our assistant to handle your horse for you.
Urgent Care
If your needing urgent care services for your horse, please ensure you provide our team with clear directions to your location, as well as where we will find your horse upon arrival. Ideally, we would like to have a clear, direct path to your horse with our vehicles to ensure we can quickly access resources we need to support your horse.
Handling
Our main goal is safety. If your horse is ill-behaved during your appointment, we may need to stop the appointment and return when you have been able to work with your horse to create a safer experience for both them and the veterinarians. Dangerous horses will not be tolerated.
In some instances, your horse may be required to lunge. If your horse is not trained to lunge on a lunge line, we may need to have you jog your horse in hand. If you have a round pen, free-lunging may be acceptable. Free lunging in an arena is very difficult to evaluate lameness and is not usually advisable.
Work Area
A clean, safe area to work in is what we love to see when we arrive for your appointment. Whether that is in your horse’s paddock or stall, or in cross-ties, a safe space that is large enough for us to safely work is ideal.
For lameness evaluations and pre-purchase exams, we do require level, safe footing to be able to jog in hand. Additionally, we require an area where your horse can be observed in motion (on the lunge), whether that is an arena, a round pen or a flat surface that is large enough for a 15m-20m circle. Uneven footing makes it difficult to evaluate a lameness.
Epona Equine uses a cordless power float and ultrasound machine, however our x-ray unit and endoscope require access to power close by to our work area.
What is a Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR)?
The College of Veterinarians of BC (CVBC) describes a veterinarian-client-patient-relationship (VCPR) as the following:
“The veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) is one of the foundations of effective veterinary care and service. A current and legitimate VCPR must exist before a veterinarian recommends or provides veterinary services (including prescribing, dispensing, or administering drugs) for any animal or group of animals or herd, unless one of the listed exceptions applies. Veterinarians must ensure that they meet the Practice Expectations for establishing, maintaining, and terminating a VCPR.”
To remain a current, active client of Epona Equine Veterinary Services, our patients require, at minimum, a once yearly annual exam. By performing routine annual exams, we can pick up on any small changes in your horse’s health more readily including ones that you may not have noticed yourself, as well as provide prescription medications and refills, in addition to urgent care services.
Our urgent care services are only available to current, active clients. Time flies and you may not realize that your horse is overdue for their annual. We send out yearly reminders approximately 2-4 weeks before your horse is due to allow you ample time to book in for your appointments.
Prescription Requests
If you have maintained a valid VCPR, we may be able to dispense prescriptions and prescription refills without requiring a physical examination. Every case is different, so please provide our team with all the details about your request so our veterinarians can advise appropriately.
Please allow for a minimum of 24 hours for prescription refill requests. Payment is due prior to pick up of medications. Pick up instructions will be provided at the time of request.
Pick up location: 2651 Huband Road, Courtenay BC