SHC’s specialized approach is based on three core expertise areas. We offer high-quality services in orthopedic examinations that accurately map the health and movement capabilities of horses. Our pre-purchase examinations help owners make well-considered purchases, while our diverse treatment options ensure optimal care and recovery for horses. With SHC, you choose expert, focused, and professional horse care.
At SHC, your horse is examined in depth and on different footings as the clinic is equipped with hard ground straight line, hard ground semi-covered circle and soft ground indoor and outdoor arenas for accurate lameness detection. Flexion tests are incorporated into the examination to have further information on the locomotion.
All our vets are equipped with the most modern mobile digital equipment to realize very good quality x-ray examinations on-site or in the clinic. Images can be send in a short period of time to the horse’s owner.
To image the soft tissues (tendons, ligaments, muscles, joints,..) of the horses, all our vets are using the last generation ultrasound machines. They are all well trained and very experienced to perform ultrasound-guided injections where the position of the needle is controlled by ultrasonography (neck, back, SI).
ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy) is commonly used for treating orthopedic problems in horses, including tendon and ligament injuries, as well as in physical therapy for pain reduction, increasing the metabolism at cellular level, revascularisation, and recovering normal muscle tone following various disorders.
Intra-articular therapies are used to treat joints suffering from damages due to the inflammation processes (bad quality synovial liquid, lesion in the cartilage, joint capsule thickening,…). Injections of anti-inflammatory drugs, hyaluronic acid, polyacrylamide gels are just a few of the options available to break the inflammation degenerative cycle that leads to the pain. We always carefully choose the dose of medications we use in order to have the most effective result without side effects on the cartilage (chondro-protective doses).
At SHC, we use the newest therapies available on the market. IRAP, PRP, stem cells, ProStride are many techniques of treatments made from the horse’s own tissues (blood, fat, bone marrow,…) to stimulate the body to heal on its own.
The back and the neck are essential axis of the horse’s locomotion. Neck and/or back pain result in a lack of results and unridability. We offer a wide range of treatments for the horse, « top line » facets joints injections, paravertebral injections, withers injections, sacroiliac (SI) injections, mesotherapy (multi-injections in the layers of the skin, the nerves responsible for pain perception in deeper structures are inhibited by a non-painful stimulus of the mesoderm) are just a few of the possibilities.
At SHC, we work in collaboration with the best blacksmiths to find the adequate shoeing for your horse. We really believe in the quote « no foot, no horse » and we are convinced that trimming with good balance and putting the most adapted shoe (alu or steel) can prevent injuries and reduce tension/pressure on pre-existing weak points.
SHC collaborates with internal specialists to evaluate the respiratory and cardiac systems of your horse to explore poor performance. Unfitness can be investigated as well through complete internal check-up.
We would love to hear from you if there is anything we can do, to help you or your horse(-s). Just contact us with any question and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You can give us a call, send an e-mail or a text by Whatsapp.
We would love to hear from you if there is anything we can do to help you or your horse(s). Just contact us with any question and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You can give us a call, send an e-mail or a text by Whatsapp.
Frank van Hoeck, DVM
Willem Verhaeghe, DVM
Simon Buntinx, DVM
Marie-Stéphanie Delheid, DVM
Stien Holemans, DVM
