West Coast Equine First Aid

Shared by our local SoCal Equine Vets
Dr. George Dyck, DVM & Dr. John
Roueche, DVM

ATTENTION ‼️ HAULERS 🐴

For anyone traveling to AZ and returning to CA, there are new health certificate requirements. This is due to the current Vesicular Stomatitis outbreak in AZ.

If you travel to AZ, and are gone longer than 7 days, you will need to obtain a new health certificate from an AZ vet before you will be allowed back in CA. Even though your CA health cert might say it's valid for 30 days, it won't be.
You will need to get a new one.

Example:
CA health cert issued 2|26/26
Travel to AZ 2/27
Return to CA 2/29
It's still within 7 days so it will still be valid
CA health cert issued 2/26/26

Travel to AZ 2|27
Return to CA 3/7
No longer valid for re-entry to CA. Requires a new cert issued by an AZ vet.

The penalties are stiff money💲💵💲for getting caught attempting to travel without a valid health cert.

Don't do it 🚫 This is one way we safeguard our equine populations along with a few other

FACT!!! Great written piece from our Equi-First Aid friends in GA

FIRST AID FAILS
Why first aid does NOT equal emergency-only knowledge

One of the biggest misconceptions we see is the belief that first aid is only needed during major emergencies.

In reality, first aid begins in day-to-day management, long before an emergency occurs.

When first aid knowledge is limited to:
• “What do I do if it gets bad?”
• “I’ll call the vet when it’s an emergency”

Owners often miss the small, early indicators that something is off.

True first aid includes:
** Knowing your horse’s normal vitals, movement, and behavior
** Recognizing subtle changes before they escalate
** Responding appropriately to minor injuries and concerns
** Understanding how nutrition, hydration, and routine care impact healing and resilience
** Making informed decisions about monitoring vs. intervention
** Communicating clearly and accurately with your veterinarian

Daily choices (including feed, turnout, workload, environment) directly influence how well a horse handles stress, injury, and recovery. Ignoring any of these makes emergencies more likely, not less.

When first aid is treated as emergency-only knowledge, problems tend to progress quietly, become more costly, require longer recovery, and create unnecessary risk for you and your horse.

First aid doesn’t replace your veterinarian; it supports the entire care team by preventing escalation and improving outcomes.

At Equi-First Aid Middle GA, we teach first aid as a continuum, not a crisis response.

Being prepared isn’t just about emergencies; it’s about everyday care done well.

Do any of you know how to do a spider wrap, or understand its purpose? I'll make a post on that soon!

We are still deep into the winter months so let’s not forget to hydrate! ❄️

Dehydration can lead to colic, and that’s the last thing we want!! 🚨

Some signs that your horse may be dehydrated:
•Skin pinch test will take longer than 1-2 seconds to return to normal
•Tacky, pale gums
•Lethargy
•Sunken Eyes, overall depressed looked
•Poor performance
•Dark, infrequent urine

Stay on top of your horse’s hydration & always be one step ahead! 💦

✨ Keep Your Horses Healthy This Season! ✨

As we head into competition season and the excitement of holiday parades, it’s important to take those extra steps to keep our equine partners feeling their best. From hauling stress to new environments, colder weather, and busy schedules — a little preparation goes a long way.

🧲 Hydration, nutrition, hoof care, and routine checks can make all the difference in keeping our horses comfortable, happy, and ready to perform.

Whether you’re showing, trailering to clinics, or joining festive parades, let’s prioritize their well-being every step of the way. Our horses give us their all — it’s our job to give that same care right back. ❤️🐴

Check out the flyer below for tips to support your horse’s health, safety, and overall comfort during the holiday hustle!

As of today, November 24th

Camarillo Springs Ranch - Nov. 15-16

🐎💥 Be prepared when it matters most!

Join our 2-Day Equine Safety & First Aid Clinic and learn how to confidently handle injuries, emergencies, and unexpected situations with your horse. Hands-on training, real-life scenarios, and expert instruction you won’t want to miss!

⚠️ Limited spots available — secure your place today by clicking the link below

https://pci.jotform.com/form/252795172417160

Continuing education is one of the greatest investments we can make—for ourselves and, in this case, for our horses.

This past weekend, our WCEFA team had the privilege of attending an Equine Dissection Clinic, hosted by Joe Novy, CJF, and led by Cody Gregory, FWCF (Honors). The knowledge we gained was invaluable—deepening our understanding of equine body mechanics and anatomy, and showing how that insight directly applies to practical first aid and responding effectively in equine emergencies.

Photo credit Sydney Salsbury Photography

Continuing education is one of the greatest investments we can make—for ourselves and, in this case, for our horses.

This past weekend, our WCEFA team had the privilege of attending an Equine Dissection Clinic, hosted by Joe Novy, CJF, and led by Cody Gregory, FWCF (Honors). The knowledge we gained was invaluable—deepening our understanding of equine body mechanics and anatomy, and showing how that insight directly applies to practical first aid and responding effectively in equine emergencies.

Thank you Joe Novy Cjf, SoCal Equine Hospital and Cody Gregory Fwcf Honours for an awesome weekend! Looking forward to next time.

Photo credit
Sydney Salsbury Photography

This is another case of someone injecting banamine into what was supposed to be the muscular triangle of the neck. Either way, this horse ended up with Clostridium causing gangrene. The only treatment is to open the tissues up to the air with a procedure called a fasciotomy. Banamine otherwise known as flunixin meglumine should never be injected into the muscle, even though the label instructs you to give it intramuscular (IM) or intravenously (IV). This is a rare occurrence, but do you really want to risk, loss of life, loss of future performance, down time for this to heal, let alone have the vet bills? I know you don't, especially when another way is available. Either give it IV if you have been trained how to do this with out hitting an artery, because that is another trainwreck, causing seizures in the horse and any damage from going down in such a violent way. Or use the same injectable dosage and without using a needle on your syringe, just so you don't loose any on the ground, sq**rt about 3 mls in the mouth at 1 minute intervals until the entire dosage has been administered.