Our Services

Our surgery team is comprised of dedicated specialist equine surgeons. With years of both academic and private practice experience, our surgeons have a diverse range of skills. General anaesthesia is administered and controlled by veterinarians and includes the use of the latest monitoring equipment. Our nursing team pride themselves on excellence. Our facilities include an operating theatre, multiple recover/induction stables and a standing surgery suite.

The surgical case load is broad and includes arthroscopy, airway, eye, wounds, fracture repair, angular limb deformities in foals, cryptochid castration, ovariectomy, soft tissue and reproductive procedures.

In addition, we perform a range of procedures using standing sedation and local anaesthesia including tiebacks, laser surgery, sinus surgery, fracture repair, laparoscopic procedures and back surgery. We also have experienced dental veterinarians who perform routine floating to complex dental procedures in collaboration with our surgery team.

Consultations on properties are an essential part of equine practice. ABEC provides an ‘on farm’ service to horse. Numerous horses are visited each year for a variety of reasons in the field, such as lacerations, colics, foalings, lameness and dental examinations. We have well stocked ambulatory vehicles and portable equipment including digital radiology, ultrasound and videoendoscopy (both resting and exercising).

We provide an ambulatory service throughout the Hawkesbury, Hills and Blue Mountains/Penrith regions and have scheduled day trips outside these areas. Clients from outside this region are welcome to call to check our next availability or come into the clinic for evaluation and care.

The Menangle area is attended on Wednesdays by Dr Christine Smith and Terrey Hills once a fortnight by Dr Lauren Jordan and Dr Natasha Newman.

To make an appointment please call the office on (02) 4588 5200

We offer routine to advanced reproductive services. Our veterinarians are committed to getting the results for your mares. Our facilities include an advanced repro lab, frozen semen storage, a phantom mount, jump mare and housing options for stallions, mares and mares with foals at foot.

We offer an embryo transfer program, giving donor mares the ability to produce multiple offspring in one breeding season, as well as being able to stay in competition work. Additionally, this can provide an alternative for mares who have difficulty carrying foals to term. We perform fresh semen collection and evaluation, as well as chilled semen shipment or semen freezing. Epididymal freezes can also be performed as an elective procedure at the time of gelding or in an emergency. 

Our services also include: 

• Live cover 

• On farm breeding (if a crush is available) 

• Mare breeding using chilled or frozen semen 

• Treatment and breeding management for mares with uterine infections, uterine clearance problems and uterine cysts. 

• Twin/triplet pregnancy management at variable stages of gestation

• Evaluation and management consultations/recommendations for high-risk pregnancies. 

• Stallion collection 

• Training stallions to collect 

• Semen evaluation 

• Semen cryopreservation (freezing) 

• Epididymal semen collection and freezing 

• Shipping nationally of chilled and frozen semen 

• Frozen semen storage 

• Embryo collection program

• Post foaling mare and foal examinations, placental evaluations and quantitative evaluation of foal IgG

• Abortion case management and diagnostics

• Surgical procedures including:

  • caslicks

  • caslicks removal

  • perineal body reconstruction

  • urethral extension

  • recto-vaginal fistulas or third degree lacerations

  • cervical lacerations

  • standing laparoscopic procedures such as ovariectomy and ovarian tumour removal 

Lameness in equine athletes is very common, and is the leading cause of training failure, poor performance and even retirement in many disciplines. Lameness issues can, in some cases, be very frustrating problems to diagnose and manage. They can be associated with many different causes including joint inflammation and osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries and foot pain. 

We perform a large number of lameness evaluations at ABEC and our team’s experience and diagnostic imaging capabilities are well placed to help you work out any lameness issues your horse may be experiencing. We are fortunate to work with several excellent farriers, commonly working closely together to manage horses with foot related issues. 

Our in-house lab is also set up to harvest and process platelet rich plasma (PRP) and IRAP therapy for the treatment of lameness cases. The best candidates for this therapy are horses with joint inflammation (synovitis), early osteoarthritis and acute tendon injuries. If you think one of these therapies might be indicated for your horse, please contact us at the clinic to discuss. 

The clinic has a variety of imaging equipment in which to provide excellent image quality this assists our veterinarians to achieve a diagnosis and treatment plan for many conditions.

VIDEOENDOSCOPY

• Portable video endoscopy units are utilised on the road mostly for upper airway endoscopy. In the cliic is a larger video endoscope which allows our team to diagnose respiratory, oesophageal, stomach, urethral and bladder conditions. It is also used for standing surgical procedures such as laser surgery.

• Dynamic over the ground endoscopy COMING BACK SOON!!!

ULTASOUND

• Portable reproductive and musculoskeletal ultrasound

• In house state of the art ultrasound with specialised probes for musculoskeletal, abdominal, respiratory, etc

RADIOLOGY

• Portable high quality digital radiology

SCINTIGRAPHY

• Allows the detection of bone metabolism showing stress fractures that can not be identified on xrays- preventing catastrophic break down injuries

• Indicated to determine if radiographic evidence of kissing spines are clinically significant

• Particularly useful for lameness cases where the cause or more often causes can not be identified with routine blocking and imaging such as sacroiliac joint disease and conditions of the neck and back

Our team pride themselves on high quality routine dentistry. When done well and regularly it is inspiring to see the healthy mouth mature without complications. When problems arise in our horses mouth, they often keep it to themselves and hidden from us. Routine care is essential to identify these issues. The ability to do a thorough oral examination with a light, mirror, probe and in some cases endoscope provides the best information to us. If needed we can take radiographs and perform complex procedures to ensure a pain free mouth for your horse.

The purpose of a prepurchase examination is to evaluate the health state of the horse, identify existing and potential problems and then interpret these findings with respect to the animal’s intended use before the horse is purchased.

At ABEC we follow the Equine Veterinarian Australia (EVA) protocol when performing these important examinations and they can be performed on all types of horses, including elite sport horses, racehorses and pleasure riding horses.

The intended buyer requests the prepurchase exam, and the results of the examination are solely for the use of this individual. The purpose of the prepurchase examination is not to determine the overall suitability of the animal, which is ultimately the buyer’s responsibility. The decision to buy the horse should take into consideration the results of the prepurchase exam as well as the financial investment and the suitability of the horse to perform its intended job.

Often these examinations will include routine imaging to identify abnormalities prior to purchase.

At ABEC we use a systematic approach to addressing poor performance in horses, and our team will use our collective experience to help identify if there is something we can do to improve your horse’s performance. 

Poor performance in equine athletes can be a frustrating problem. There are many potential causes of performing below expectations and can include: 

• lameness 

• upper and lower respiratory tract problems 

• skeletal muscle disease or damage 

• gastric ulcers 

• systemic illness 

• heart problems 

• neurological deficits 

ABEC has a well equipped laboratory that is able to process a variety of tests that may be required in the investigation of a horse’s problem. This includes

• Haematology

• Biochemistry

• Blood and peritoneal lactate measurement

• Triglyceride measurement

• Foal IgG quantification

• Blood gas analysis

• Faecal worm egg counts

If other specialist tests are required, ABEC is supported by a commercial laboratory where further samples can be run.

Our reproductive laboratory is equipped to process chilled and frozen semen, and frozen semen storage is also available. We are able to do in house reproductive culture and sensitivity.

Regenerative medicine our lab has the specialist equipment require to process PRP and IRAP