How vets saved a donkey foal who ate a towel, and more things the horse world is talking about

An astonishing find

Vets and owners of a miniature donkey filly were in for a surprise on discovering the three-month-old foal had eaten an entire towel. Harper (pictured, top) was brought into Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine after showing signs of colic. Vets performed an exploratory celiotomy, a surgical procedure to enter the abdomen, and removed two pieces of towel that were blocking Harper’s colon. “Removing foreign bodies from the digestive tract of an equine like a horse or donkey is uncommon,” said Elaine Claffey, assistant clinical professor of large-animal surgery. “They’re usually pretty good at sticking to the things that they should normally eat; we don’t do as many foreign body removals as a small animal veterinarian would because dogs, as we know, are indiscriminate eaters and eat all sorts of things that they shouldn’t.”

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Corporisation debate

A debate on corporisation in the equine veterinary world took place at this year’s British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress (11-14 September). The subject, which was also discussed at BEVA Congress in 2017, featured a panel of vets in both corporately owned and independent practices. There were a range of views on both sides. Gemma Dransfield, who has worked for independents and corporates, said she can see the pros and cons of both. “So I think in some ways it’s benefited the profession, in some ways it hasn’t; it would be wrong to say whether it was all good or all bad. One thing it has done is change the profession, and it did need to change. So I guess the jury’s still out on whether it’s changed it for the better,” she said.

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Andrew Nicholson on Britain’s autumn fixtures

Andrew Nicholson reflects on which autumn fixtures on the British eventing circuit have impressed him, in his exclusive H&H column this week (3 October). “Cornbury is a great event site and works very well for the three young horse championships it holds – for five-, six- and seven-year-olds. It has much more of an international feel about it than many events at that level, with a spectacular main arena and a lot of atmosphere,” says Andrew. He also shares how he was impressed with the courses and offerings at this year’s South of England Autumn Show, and offers his thoughts on Blenheim.

Find out what else Andrew had to say

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