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Check list before attending Diagnostic Centre Appointment

1. All horses must be referred by your veterinary surgeon.
2. Please inform your insurance company that you are bringing your horse to Rossdales Diagnostic Centre. They will send you a claim form.
3. Ensure any appropriate paperwork has been completed/is brought to the appointment, including your horse's passport.
4. Mare owners: please inform us if you suspect that your mare will be in season when you bring her to our Diagnostic Centre. Some investigations, such as nuclear scintigraphy (bone scan) are more difficult to perform at this stage of the cycle and sometimes it is worth rearranging the appointment date. Please feel free to ring the hospital to discuss this with us.

Lameness Examinations

1. Ideally your horse should be kept in light work until the appointment date unless welfare considerations or your veterinary surgeon indicate otherwise. This ensures that your horse is clinically lame at the time of admission. It is frustrating for owners to make long journeys to be told that their horse is not lame enough to allow a lameness examination to be performed.
2. All horses should be shod, preferably in the shoes that they have been wearing in the weeks up to referral as this can reveal the cause of lameness whilst new shoes may not. Unshod horses often become foot-sore when trotted up for lameness examination. This can be confusing and complicate the diagnosis of the true lameness.
3. All anti-inflammatory drugs or analgesic medication should be stopped at least 48 hours before your appointment date unless welfare considerations necessitate their use. These drugs can mask clinical signs and lameness and make adequate examination impossible.
4. Please bring the tack that you normally use for the horse as it may be necessary for our veterinary surgeons to see the horse being ridden under tack. It is preferable that the horse’s regular rider is available in such circumstances, although if this is not possible, we can arrange for a member of our staff to ride your horse, with your permission.