Equine Field Services

Creston Large Animal provides high quality service and technology to ensure your equine is performing to the fullest. Work with us to develop a sports medicine plan that fits the specific needs of your performing equine. Together we can keep your horse comfortable in all aspects of their health, allowing them to do their job even better.

SPORTS MEDICINE

Our goal here at Creston Large Animal is to maximize health & performance and to minimize exercise related injuries and disease. Sports Medicine is not just for elite athletes, but applies to all horses regardless of age, function, or activity level. Creston Large Animal has a state-of-the-art mobile clinic that is equipped with the latest technology available to diagnose your horse properly. Determining what is keeping your horse from peak performance is important to us. Successful treatment and rehabilitation is key to getting your equine athlete back on track as soon as possible; this is our goal with every client.

• Lameness examination and diagnosis
• Respiratory disease examination and diagnosis
• Performance pharmacotherapy, conditioning and nutrition plan development
• Pre Purchase examinations

REPRODUCTIVE

Creston Large Animal provides equine reproduction services to ensure a healthy pregnancy. It is best to track ovulation and follicular growth to have the highest chance of getting your mare in foal. Our guided program will keep your brood mare on the right track to carry full term and deliver a healthy viable foal. We also work closely with boarded theriogenologists when advanced techniques are required that we can not perform in the field.

• Ultrasound
• Preg Checks
• Ovulation, Follicular Growth
• Artificial Insemination
• Breeding Soundness Exam

PREVENTATIVE

Having a good preventative plan will not only save you money but keep your livestock healthier as well. Together we can create and modify a plan that works for you and your animal while staying within budget. By following a specialized health plan, your animals will live longer and you will continue to use them to their fullest potential.

• WellCare Program
• Dentistry Evaluation
• Metobolic Disease and Nutrition

JOINT INJECTIONS

What Joint Injections Do

Injecting a joint with medication to lubricate, protect, and prevent further deterioration is one of the most commonly performed therapies in sport horses and lameness practices. While this is done very frequently at C.L.A.V.S., it is not a decision we make lightly. The utmost care is taken during the procedure to reduce any chance of complication.

Purpose of Joint Injections

The goal of joint injection is not to conceal pain or to allow a horse to compete when it should be resting. Joint injections may be performed in cases of acute joint damage in order to reduce the inflammation and harmful substances released into the joint at the time of injury, as well as provide substances that promote and supply material for the healing process. Rest is a critical part of this treatment program. In other cases, joint injections can be performed on horses to relieve problems of stiffness and poor lubrication that are part of the normal wear and tear of aging and performance. Oral and intramuscular joint therapies are often used in addition to the articular injections with the goal of prolonging the interval between treatments. Other situations where this procedure is performed include post-joint surgery situations, and in younger horses who get sore while going through difficult developmental and training phases.

Individualized Therapy

We choose the medication on an individual basis to provide maximal benefit for each horse's unique circumstance. This is usually a combination of hyaluronic acid, adequan, and certain steroids that have been proven to protect cartilage. In addition, drug withdrawal times must be carefully considered in competition horses. If the decision is made that intra-articular injections will benefit your horse, we will discuss what medications are appropriate, what to expect from the therapy, and provide instructions on how to manage your horse in the days after injection.

REGENERATIVE TREATMENTS

IRAP Therapy

In horses, we use IRAP most commonly for arthritic joints and tendon/ligament injuries. In the case of joint disease, IRAP is a good choice for horses with lameness problems that are not responding well to other treatments including injection with more traditional joint medications and shockwave therapy. With ligament injuries, our goal is to reduce painful and destructive inflammation without slowing the overall healing process.

IRAP is also a good choice for horses competing under strict drug testing rules, as there are no foreign substances present in the serum. The standard course of treatment is a series of three injections, one every two weeks, with a long-term follow up injection several months later.

What is IRAP?

IRAP is a substance naturally created by white blood cells that has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect in the body.

Damaged tissues release a molecule called "Interleukin-l (IL-1)" that stimulates severe inflammation, pain, and further tissue destruction. IRAP attaches to the IL-l molecule and prevents it from activating these tissue reactions.

Ultrasound Guided Injections

At Creston Large Animal, we use the latest in ultrasound technology to monitor the placement of the needle, ensuring the medications are delivered to a precise location. Using our imaging equipment, we are able to treat a variety of conditions that could not be performed with traditional blind injection techniques. Advanced lameness therapy can involve the diagnosis of problems in areas that are very deep within the body. These structures are impossible to reliably inject for therapeutic treatments without some kind of imaging technology.