01
Routine visits
Vaccinations, passport signing, annual health checks and worm control plans, on a set round by area, so that you share the visit fee with the rest of your yard.
A shared-round visit is £28.
A vet answers, at any hour01291 496 0169
Is it an emergency?
Choose what you can see, for call now or wait, and what to do while we drive.
- ColicRolling, pawing, looking at the belly, off food
- Sudden lamenessWon’t put the foot down, or is suddenly very sore
- A woundA cut, a puncture, or anything bleeding
- A sore eyeClosed, weeping, swollen or looking different
- FoalingShe has started, or the foal is not right
Not urgent? Book onto your round, from £28.
What we do
Six things, all on your yard.
02
Lameness work-ups
Trot-ups on the hard and the soft, flexion tests, nerve blocks to narrow it down, and X-ray and ultrasound on your own yard. Usually a diagnosis within one long visit.
A lameness work-up starts at £145, with blocks and imaging on top.
03
Dentals
A proper look with a mirror and a head torch, under light sedation where it is sensible. Sharp points rasped, hooks and overgrowths corrected, and the mouth charted for your record.
A routine dental is £68 plus the visit.
04
Pre-purchase exams
A two-stage or a five-stage vetting for the buyer, with an honest written report. We look at what is there and tell you what it means for the job you want the horse to do.
A two-stage vetting is £190.
05
Stud work
Pre-breeding checks, ultrasound scans, artificial insemination with fresh or chilled semen, and foal checks at twelve hours. And the night phone, for when she decides to do it at two.
A stud scan is £55 plus the visit.
06
Mobile X-ray
A portable digital X-ray and ultrasound in the back of the truck, so the horse stays at home. See the images as they are taken, and have them in your inbox the same day.
X-ray call-out is £95, plus £25 for each view.
The night phone
Ten past two, and a person.
There is no call centre and no answering service. The number on this page rings in Siân or Huw’s bedroom, on alternate nights, and whoever answers will ask how the horse is, what it is doing and how long it has been at it.
Often it needs a visit, and we will tell you how long we will be. Sometimes it needs a walk round the yard and another call in half an hour. Advice on the phone is free, and always will be.
Is it an emergency?How we work
Small, and on purpose.
A vet answers at 3am
Ring the out-of-hours number and you get Siân or Huw, at home, half awake but on your side. They will ask three questions and tell you whether to wait or get the kettle on.
We tell you the honest wait
Usually under an hour to anywhere in our area. If we are at a foaling on the far side of Usk, we will say so straight, and tell you who else is on call.
Costs before the work
We tell you what a work-up or an operation is likely to cost before we start, and where it could go up. Colic surgery decisions are hard enough without a surprise on top.
We know your horse
Two vets and a small round means the person who comes has usually seen your horse before. Notes go on your record the same day, and you get a copy.
- 24 hoursa vet on the phone, every day of the year, and always one of ours
- 2 vetswho do nothing but horses, and take turns with the night phone
- 2004the year Huw started the practice at Cefn Farm, in the old cow shed
- 25 milesaround Raglan, from Crickhowell across to Chepstow and down to Caerleon
Rounds
Share the visit, and the fee.
Usk and Raglan on Mondays, Abergavenny and Crickhowell on Tuesdays, Monmouth on Wednesdays, Chepstow and Caerleon on Thursdays. Book onto your round and the visit drops to £28, split across your yard.
It is a better use of the diesel, and it means that you are usually seeing the same vet, who has seen the same horse.
When is the next vaccination due?Reviews
At ten past two, and otherwise.
Rang at ten past two with a colic. Huw answered on the third ring, told me exactly what to do, and was in the yard in forty minutes in his pyjama top. She had a painkiller and was eating by breakfast. He rang at eight to check.
Two other opinions said back. Siân blocked him up the leg over a long morning and found it in the hock, and showed me on the X-ray on the yard. She wrote a rehab plan with dates and he is hunting again. No one had ever written it down.
It was not what I wanted to hear about a mare I had fallen in love with, but it was what I needed. She told me what she had found and what it meant for jumping, and left me to choose. I walked away, and bought one she liked better.
Questions people ask
How do I reach a vet at night?
Ring 01291 496 0169, the same number at any hour. One of ours answers, and advice on the phone is free. A visit out of hours has a call-out of £180 on top of the treatment.
What is a round day?
We work each part of the area on a fixed day of the week, which brings a visit down to £28, shared across the yard. Book onto yours and save the £58 same-day fee.
How often does my horse need vaccinating?
Flu boosters every year, and tetanus every two years, or more often for some competition rules. Put in the last date and we will work out the next one.
Is it an emergency?
Colic, a foaling that has stalled, a wound near a joint, and a horse that will not put its foot down are all a phone call now. Go through the signs, or simply ring. Nobody here has ever been cross about an unnecessary call.
Do you treat anything other than horses?
Donkeys and mules, yes. Your dog no, though we will look at it if it is sitting in the truck when we arrive.
Do you bring a referral hospital in?
No. If it needs one, we ring ahead and send the notes and the images with you. For colic surgery, we will talk you through the decision and the cost, before the lorry is loaded.
Worried? Ring. Nobody here minds an unnecessary call.
A vet answers, day or night, and advice on the phone is free. For everything else, there is a round day.