Horse Vet Dentist Visits

Things to know before booking and coming along:

What will your horse need to know how to do: After arriving by float, you may have some time to wait until your appointment begins. The atmosphere here on dental days is usually very relaxed and past visiting equines have usually been chilled out. When it’s your equine’s turn, Dr Owens will take their photo and do a brief horse health assessment to ensure they are sufficiently well to receive a sedative. There are usually several intravenous injections administered, starting with a pre-sedative. You then need to load your equine onto the crush (see images above, noting that this also includes an overhead piece that is not included in the image). They will be sedated for their tear-duct check, oral assessment and treatment.

Post-treatment, they will be groggy with sedative for some time and must not consume any hay due to choke risk. It will be a little while until they are sufficiently awake enough to load and travel safely. How long depends on each individual horse.

If you need any training support to get your horse ready for their dentist appointment, please reach out to us at info@abbeysrunequestrian.com.au with your details and information, and we will explore how we can best offer you training support for your unique equine’s needs.

Cost: The cost in the 2024/25 financial year, per equine, for the Horse Vet Dentist is: $40 travel + basic fee + any extras required (which Paul will discuss with you at the time if they happen to be needed). The basic fee is $295 for an existing client equine and $315 for a new client equine (both entirely new horses and those that haven't seen Paul for over 12 months). Fees are subject to change and we will endeavour to update this information as changes occur and alert you if any changes occur after your booking has been made (we do all we can to avoid that situation).

There is a $15 p/equine administration/booking and facility fee that goes to us at Abbey’s Run Equestrian. This is payable at the time of booking (details in the booking form) or in correct cash on the day.

Location: We are located 20 minutes east of Benalla, approximately 15 minutes from the Hume Freeway on a sealed road. We will send you the address on receipt of your booking.

Parking: There is a turning circle at the top of the drive & parking will be up there. Please bear left at the top of the driveway and Benn or I will direct you where to park. You will be parked really near where Paul will be set up, so you've not far between car/float/horse/Horse Vet Dentist. 

Waivers & Facility fee: Immediately on your arrival you will need to ensure you read and sign our property waiver. We will have printed copies here for you to sign. The Facility fee is $15 per horse, payable either by direct deposit when booking or cash on the day (if paying in cash, please have correct money as we will not have change here). We will have envelopes for you to deposit your facility fee & Waiver into. Weather permitting - we will have these, along with some hand sanitizer set up on a small table near Paul's car - so they will be easy to find.

Manure: Please pick up and take home ALL manure. We are very biosecurity conscious here at Abbey’s Run and request this to reduce any spread of illness/disease.

Feeding your horse while you wait: post dental, your horse will not be able to eat while the sedation is wearing off, however while you wait your turn, you may wish to feed your horse hay or otherwise. As per the previous point on biosecurity, PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FEED OFF THE GROUND. Do not give your horse food off the ground or let your horse eat feed/grass off the ground here. 

You're welcome to use the tie-up rails if available, and hang hay bags/nets off these. Horses must be tied to bailing twine - hard tying is not permitted.

Keep your distance: PLEASE KEEP YOUR HORSES APART FROM OTHERS HORSES and do not let them interact. This is again, for biosecurity, to reduce the chance of any illness transmission on the off-chance someone is carrying something asymptomatically. We want to keep your horses safe on their visit here.

Likewise, keep your own distance (see below).

Children & other animals: Please leave any other animals (ie, dogs) at home. Any children must be supervised by you or another adult with you at all times or remain in the car. Children must not interact (sit on, play on, etc) with the ground.

Paul will likely have his dog, Mr Pickles, here with him & tied up and/or on-lead during your visit.

Phone reception: Phone reception in our local area is patchy due to the geography. Those with Telstra will have reception on our property. Those with other providers will find their reception patchy. 

Covid & health precautions: 

• If you have Covid, have been exposed to Covid or have any cold/flu symptoms at all please advise us ASAP and do not attend.     

• While restrictions have eased, we are very aware that Covid is still present in the community and still highly contagious. Please keep your distance (at least 1.5m) from other people while at Abbey's Run. 

• It is expected that you will respect Paul's space and keep socially distant from him while working unless he explicitly invites you in most closely to have a look at something with your horse's mouth. 

• Please ensure you carry a face-mask on your person to put on if you do need to get close (within 1.5m) to Paul or someone else on the property.

• Note that Sarah is immune compromised (as others may be) - adhering to the above guidelines will help keep her safe from Covid which is particularly risky for her.

• Failure to comply with these precautions may see you asked to leave the property - we don't want anyone getting Covid on our watch. 

Wildlife: Please be aware that we share our property with wildlife and be observant before and as you're moving around.

Queries on the day: On booking, we will advise you of mobile phone numbers to contact on the day if you have any issues.

Balance payment for the Dental: Please be ready to pay Paul on the day with the balance for your horses appointment - he generally has a card machine with him. Final cost depends on if any additional work is required. If further work is required, Paul will discuss this with you.