Leahurst V's Animal Health Trust v's ?? Experiences please

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equinedentistuk

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Hello all,
My horse has been diagnosed with forelimb lameness and kissing spines.
He is to be referred for further investigation.
I live in Wales so Leahurst is the closest Equine Hospital, and the one my vet refers to, they also refer to The Rainbow Centre.
I am a horse transporter by profession and regularly take horses to the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket.
Who have you used for diagnostics and surgery, and what was your experience?
I am interested in using Dr Sue Dyson at the AHT as I understand she is the best available.
My horse is not a competition horse of high value, he is a 10yr old sec D, who gave me the confidence to go XC again after fracturing my skull show-jumping, and is quiet enough for my children to ride. If he needs to be retired, so be it, but I want to feel I have fully investigated the options, and had the best opinions possible.
Many thanks :)
 
I've used Leahurst, AHT, Rainbow, and the Shelf in Halifax. Would highly recommend AHT and the Shelf. Rainbow were OK, I'd use them again for a bone scan but I would never send another horse to Leahurst for lameness.
 
I would not go to Leahurst as we have been so let down by them in the past as in failing to diagnose the same lameness in our horse and that of a friend ,both of these horses were easily sorted by a man from a racing yard.
My friends horse has been lame for a year and Leahurst has failed to diagnose his problem ,they have not failed to use up his insurance money thousands of pounds.
 
shergar said:
I would not go to Leahurst as we have been so let down by them in the past as in failing to diagnose the same lameness in our horse and that of a friend ,both of these horses were easily sorted by a man from a racing yard.
My friends horse has been lame for a year and Leahurst has failed to diagnose his problem ,they have not failed to use up his insurance money thousands of pounds.
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Have pmd you with similar experiences.
 
Hello
He is insured, so hopefully this will cover the majority of the cost, failing that I have a credit card. The lameness has been diagnosed on x-rays at my local equine clinic and he has received IV Tildren and injections for this today. He comes home tomorrow, I then need to decide where I will have him refered to for the KS investigations/treatment
 
I only use Sue Dyson for mine (I am a frequent customer). She is very matter of fact; don't be afraid to ask stupid questions she may seem unapproachable but she was really sad when we found arthritis in my young dressage horse. She completely understood.

However with mine we didn't know what the problem was so she was very good at systematically ruling things out and she will get on to see what they are like under saddle. She even tried to lunge one of mine (she didn't believe me when I said he wouldn't be lunged). That only lasted about 15 seconds!

If you are only going gift diagnostics then I would go for the cheapest and save your money for surgery etc. my horse's KS surgery cost £2k for the surgery alone. You can ask each of the practices how much they will charge; I ended up having the surgery at my local vet with the surgeon coming in for the op. Saved about £500 and meant he had a 20 min journey as opposed to several hours and I could visit him more easily and he knew the local surgery very well (unfortunately) so wasn't was upset.
 
Mine had the standing surgery for kissing spines at Three Counties, just off the M5 at Tewkesbury. Mark Georgetti was the surgeon and both he and Luise Harrison who was also involved have been very helpful and open with me. Surgery was last summer, he hunted a half season last year and is fit and ready for this season. He was discharged from his physio in January (although he still has treatment quarterly for my peace of mind) and has come out of the surgery well.
 
frostyfingers said:
Mine had the standing surgery for kissing spines at Three Counties, just off the M5 at Tewkesbury. Mark Georgetti was the surgeon and both he and Luise Harrison who was also involved have been very helpful and open with me. Surgery was last summer, he hunted a half season last year and is fit and ready for this season. He was discharged from his physio in January (although he still has treatment quarterly for my peace of mind) and has come out of the surgery well.
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I'm with you frostyfingers! Mark Georgetti at 3 Counties is excellent!! They'd certanly be the handiest venue for a horse from Wales - and I think they'd be a little cheaper too than the eastern counties experts!
 
HI My horse was operated on for KS about 8yrs ago. I live in Kent and transported my horse 41/2hrs to Gloucestershire to see Svend Kold at Willersley Equine clinic. At the time he was the best person in that field and has remained so since although there are other techniques available now. I still feel that the way he operated and the future it gave my horse was something I am truly grateful for. Willesley's aftercare post op was super and my horse is a much loved part of the family so we are very protective of him but I felt he was in safe & kind hands there. He can be a bit awkward but they handled him brilliantly. Hope that helps.
 
For the KS I have heard only good things about Cotts, I personally have used three counties for the "old" surgery and they were very good, I am not the biggest fan of Leahurst for lameness type things!
 
I hope you find your answer.

I personally did not have a good experience with Shelf, and also know 2 other people who have not had good experiences, as well as one person who did. It was not so much the top vet (although he did not diagnose the problem in my horse -and someone since has - some you win, some you lose) it was more the set up, staff experience and communication.

Leahurst has been good results IMO, but your horse gets prodded and poked by a lot of students. I did not feel as important as the students.

I have been recommended Rainbow, by two people, who had very good experiences even when the result was not good with one of them they still commended the care and attention and believed the best was done. Rainbow is now my vet.

I have been recommended Sue Dyson, by a very experienced person who said she was tops with diagnostics, and also another amateur where she recommended there was nothing wrong and kick on, which they did successfully. She is not local to me.

I guess each and every vet has successes and failures. I would take into account how far away the journey is, the cost, and when you speak with them which one you feel comfortable to work with.

Also, when you make enquiries, I once found that the eye specialist from Edinburgh comes once a fortnight to my local vets and that was a happy coincidence when my horse needed an eye op, we could have it at Minster. They did an excellent job.

Good luck, and I am sure whatever you decide will be the best.
 
I have found shelf excellent I live in Chester , do it's a decent trek but well worthit, my horse has been there several times in which they accurately diagnosed and treated successfully hind suspensories and both front collateral ligaments.
Off course The success of any treatment also relys on the rehab.
My friends horse has been operated on by shelf for kissing spine and so far so good .
 
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I insited on a referral to Leahurst in 2004 for my ten year old WBxTB who the vets had misdiagnosed as having EHV and I wanted a correct diagnosis for what I suspected him of having which was wobblers/CVM.

I wasn't aware that there would be students standing around the consultant as the horse was evaluated and it was very traumatic as the consultant was asking the students which drug he should use for sedating the horse and when the horse had to be pts two hours later (after conclusive diagnosis pointed to Wobblers with no cure) he again asked the students for their opinion of which drug he should use to euthanase the horse which I found very distressing.

I know its a teaching hospital but it was still overwhelming to be discussing my horses sad demise with the consultant and all his students, and it was heartbreaking and extremely worrying to see one of the students prepare the syringe of lethal injection used for the horse. I know people have to learn but I think you should be made aware that there will be students around and it can be a bit overwhelming on top of everything else when you have to deal with what could be a distressing situation for you watched by lots of eager eyes all wanting to practice their skills on your horse. I think there were about five people in the put down box when I said my goodbyes and i found that very hard to deal with too and I was convinced by the huge amount of agonal gasping that followed his euthanasia that it was as a result of a 'cock up' having been made by a student (perhaps very unfair of me).

I am sure that such a sad outcome won't be happening for your horse but I just wanted to make you aware that you don't get much privacy. Maybe I am being a bit unfair as I realise people have to learn but I wish I had been more prepared for this. So be aware that there will be lots of students around you in what may be quite a distressing time for you.

I guess my view was tainted by the fact that my horse never came home. I know they are an excellent teaching hospital and work very hard and I did offer my horses neck bones to them after he was pts as I thought it would help others to learn.
 
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I would never EVER go to Leahurst again after the way I was treated in september! I won't go into the details but the vet was completely unprofessional, accused myself and good friend of "being difficult" in front of a bunch of her students, then refused to re MRI my girl! I told her if that's the case she would need to compensate me for the costs of travelling there (150 mike round trip) and that Leahurst would need to pay for me to have an MRI elsewhere as the claim was about to expire with the insurance. She then agreed to scan her but said that she wouldn't give us the results (!) and that we'd have to go through them at home with our vet before turning her back on us and storming off. I asked to speak to the Clinical Director, who apologised on her behalf and told me she had been unwell (I suggested she go home as clearly she was not fit to carry out the duties of her job) and we agreed that she would give us a "factual" overview of the results. By that point I had completely lost all confidence in the vets ability to carry out her job and may as we'll have not bothered taking her. AVOID!
 
I agree with above post AVOID Leahurst, my friends and I could write a book ,and that is sad when the horses suffer ,and owners are treated badly.
 
Oh dear people are rubbishing Leahurst again. I am with the practice and have had a number of my horses referred to the hospital over the last 12 years. The last time was for an eye operation. The job they did was so good you could hardly tell anything had been done. The horse recovered quicker than expected and was home after a few days and to top it all the bill came in at nearly half what I was expecting. I guess some people will always have bad experiences for whatever reason but there are those of us that have had good experiences at Leahurst too.
 
I would NEVER go to Leahurst again after their misdiagnosis resulted in my horse being worked for months, with wobblers which is dangerous, until I decided to get a further opinion. My local vet suspected wobblers and referred to leahurst for second opinion, they diagnosed weakness and advised me to work him to get him strong, months later after following their instructions and him not getting better I took him to Sue Dyson who confirmed Wobblers. I would therefore not recommend Leahurst but would recommend Sue Dyson. I also think Sue Dyson is not as harsh as she is made out to be, she didn't recommend PTS as the wobblers is mild and suggested he be kept as a pet, which he now is :-) and is very happy.
 
Well he has been at Animal Health Trust for nearly a week, what a fabulous place. Dr Dyson is indeed very thorough. Awaiting MRI on lower limbs tomorrow, seems he does NOT have kissing spines after all - PHEW
 
That is good news so pleased to hear he does not have kissing spine and fingers crossed for tomorrow,so pleased you did not go to Leahurst.
Keep us posted .
 
Well it was a double edged sword, whilst he doesn't have kissing spines, he does have severe ligament damage to all four limbs, involving the chondrocoronal and chondrosesamoidean in the forelimbs and the suspensories in the hinds. Inoperable :(
 
I have heard heard good things about Sue Dyson although I took my girl to Leahurst last week and whilst it wasn't the outcome I was expecting the vets and other clinical staff were first class from the minute we arrived.
Can't remember all their names but Padraig & James were two of the four or five vets involved.
 
Sorry your news was not what you hoped for. My big horse goes into Nantwich equine. Hospital Sunday for a hobday and tie back op.. I am am another who would not go to leahurst even though it's closer to yard, not going to diss them but several I know have been sorry after going there. I need the best for my horse and NVets are the ones for his problem.
 
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