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The Vet's Perspective: gearing up for the foaling season

Hi, I'm John Campbell,

Having worked with the team at Tweenhills for 14 years now it’s been amazing to see it grow in to one of the largest studs in the country. It’s a huge pleasure and quite a responsibility to oversee the veterinary care of the horses resident there but luckily I’m part of a large team of experienced vets and nurses working at Three Counties Equine Hospital based near the stud.

At this time of year we are busy with preparations for the last big sales of the year at Tattersalls in December and are also working with the team to make sure everything is in place for the exciting 2019 season. This coincides with a generally busy time for our clinic, which is heavily involved in National Hunt racing, covering a lot of large local yards and racecourses including Cheltenham.

Obviously my busiest time of year is during the stud season, running from February to early June, where I will spend every morning at Tweenhills working closely with the team. From January onwards we will also be kept busy with the foaling mares and overseeing the care of the new arrivals at the separate foaling unit. We have some really exciting and high-profile babies to look forward to next year, with a number of Frankel, Dubawi and Galileo foals amongst the crop.

These are particularly exciting times to be involved with the Tweenhills operation for everyone including the vets. It was great to be able to welcome Roaring Lion and Lightning Spear back to the stud last week and I’m happy to report that both are in rude health and settling well into their new purpose-built stables. They have achieved so much since we last saw them here as yearlings and they both looked relaxed and in great condition.

With stallions of this calibre we are looking forward to working with some wonderful mares and fillies next season and preparations for 2019 are well underway. Breeding regulations for next season have been reviewed and updated and it was really beneficial to be able to sit down with the team and go through biosecurity protocols to ensure we are all aware of disease risks and how to prevent them.

John Cambell Vet
John Campbell BVMS MRCVS
Vet Tweenhils 201