Glasgow Equine Hospital and Practice, University of Glasgow
A state of the art Veterinary Hospital and First Opinion Practice
The Glasgow Equine Hospital is situated in the scenic Garscube Estate in Bearsden, on the north-western fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately 6 miles from the city centre. An equine hospital has been at this site for many years but the current hospital was opened in 1995, with subsequent expansions made to increase patient capacity and provide entirely separate isolation facilities. The Glasgow
Equine Hospital works closely with veterinary surgeons throughout Scotland and northern England to provide support and referral services for horses in need of specific procedures or further diagnostics, treatment and hospitalisation. Referral is open to all cases and should be discussed first with your own vet, who will then liaise with the vets at the Hospital. Staff are dedicated to providing a professional, reliable and cost effective service whilst maintaining the highest standards of patient care. The Glasgow Equine Practice is the ambulatory side of the Equine Hospital, and offers high quality veterinary care to the horses in its local catchment area, with stable-side diagnostics and 24-hour emergency provision. Horses, ponies and donkeys registered with the Practice also have the option of being cared for at the Hospital when in need of further intensive treatment or nursing. The hospital’s team of on-site staff, extensive facilities and diagnostic laboratory offers the advantage of 24-hour nursing with continuous professional care. Patients are stabled in large, well ventilated modern stables with additional facilities for intensive care patients, mares and foals and a sand-floored stable for laminitic cases. Our vets have postgraduate specialist training in different aspects of horse medicine and surgery, between them holding four Diplomas from European Specialist Colleges, two American Diplomas and seven RCVS post-graduate Certificates. Four of the vets are recognised by the RCVS as specialists (similar to hospital consultants) in either Equine Medicine or Equine Surgery, and we work closely with in-house specialists in anaesthesia and diagnostic imaging. The team ethos remains practical, with the aim at all times of achieving the best possible outcome for both you and your horse. The Hospital is registered with the European Board of Veterinary Specialists as a training centre in both medicine and surgery for veterinary surgeons wishing to develop further skills in these areas. There are currently five resident veterinary surgeons working at the Weipers Centre whilst completing a 4-year further training period in specialist medicine or surgery. Our nursing team includes four Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) who bring combined experience from different equine veterinary hospitals and practices. The equine nursing team is assisted by animal technicians and year 5 veterinary students, enabling us to give effective and economic 24-hour nursing to our inpatients.
16/04/2026
If I could have one piece of home monitoring for a coughy horse, it would be a temperature record.
Fever (pyrexia) is often one of the earliest clues that a ‘cough’ is part of an infectious respiratory illness rather than just irritation.
A simple daily temperature log for any horse with signs — and for new arrivals — can help you spot change early and give your vet clearer information to work with.
A horse’s normal temperature should be 37.5°C – 38.5°C / 99.5°F – 101.3°F
12/04/2026
Fuel costs are something we are all navigating at the moment. One of the best ways we can keep routine visit fees as low as possible — for as long as possible — is by making the most of our zonal visit scheme.
Our zonal visit fee is £23.
Book two or three horses on the same visit and that fee is shared between them. Four or more horses on one visit and the visit fee is free.
If you have horses due for vaccinations, dentals, blood samples, or any other routine care, booking them together on your area's zonal day makes a genuine difference. It keeps your vet on the road less and with your horses more, and it helps us reduce our driving time.
The link to our Zonal day map is in the comments.
08/04/2026
🙂 We are very happy to see her back home
06/04/2026
Not sure if we come to your yard?
Our practice team covers a wide area across Central Scotland, with regular visits including places like Stirling, Falkirk, Kilsyth, Kirkintilloch, Drymen, Helensburgh, Johnstone, Paisley, Uddingston and Cumbernauld.
We also run set zonal area days - £23 or free for 4 horses.
(for example Milngavie/Strathblane/Drymen, Dumbarton/Alexandria/Helensburgh, Johnstone/Kilmalcolm/Paisley, Kirkintilloch/Kilsyth/Denny, and Newton Mearns/East Kilbride).
The simplest way to check is to look at the visit area and zonal map on our website. If you’re just outside the map, get in touch and we can talk through options.
05/04/2026
Please share recommendations for equine Hi-vis 🐴
The British Horse Society have recorded over 1,200 horse-related road incidents in Scotland over a 10-year period, and many of those involve speed and lack of space.
Most road incidents with horses happen because a vehicle passes too fast.
If you’re driving, the safest approach is to slow right down, be patient, pass wide when it’s safe, and avoid revving or using the horn.
If you’re riding, high-visibility gear and clear hand signals can help, but the biggest difference still comes from how drivers behave.
The BHS have the Horse i app which is great for recording incidents to guide future action.
29/03/2026
What does subtle lameness actually look like?
Sometimes it isn’t obvious.
A horse may still be working and competing, but small differences in stride or symmetry can already be present.
These subtle changes are exactly what we look for during our Pre-Competition Assessment Clinic.
The assessment combines:
🩺 clinical examination
🐎 trot-up and lunging assessment
💻 objective gait analysis using Equinosis
Early identification can help prevent small issues becoming bigger problems later in the season.
26/03/2026
Strangles Awareness Week isn’t until May, but the practical steps that reduce risk matter all year.
The SAW Collaboration has shared a short animation on the four “BEST” steps to slow spread on yards, and we’ll be sharing it because it explains good biosecurity clearly.
Even small habits, repeated consistently, can protect horses and reduce disruption for owners and yards.
23/03/2026
Good clinical care doesn’t stand still. We keep up with emerging research—because the best outcomes come from combining evidence, experience, and what we see in front of us.
If you’d like us to translate a recent research topic into a practical “what it means for owners” post, tell us what you’re interested in (lameness, breeding, internal medicine, wound care, dentistry, poor performance).
Comment with topics
16/03/2026
Most horses don’t suddenly go lame.
Often there are small changes in movement first — subtle differences that only become obvious once training intensity increases or competition season begins.
Our new **Pre-Competition Assessment Clinic** is designed to pick up those small changes early.
During the assessment we combine a clinical examination with objective gait analysis using Equinosis (Lameness Locator) to give a clearer picture of how your horse is moving.
The aim is to support horses enter the summer season 'comfortable, balanced and ready to perform'.
📍 Glasgow Equine Hospital & Practice (for clients of the Equine Practice)
📅 Thursdays
💷 £119
If you’d like to book a **Pre-Competition Assessment**, our reception team will be happy to help.
10/03/2026
Science Week at Glenalmond College yesterday — and what a day. 🐴
In the morning every student got hands on with real clinical equipment. Equine skulls to explore the anatomy, a rigid dental endoscope with live imaging on screen, and an ultrasound scanner — imaging blood vessel models or, for the willing, their own hands. Everyone had a go. That was the whole point.
In the afternoon the older students had a session on where science actually goes once you leave school — careers in veterinary medicine, science communication, YouTube science creators who are genuinely changing how people engage with complex ideas, and a live demonstration of AI and computer programming being used in clinical practice right now.
The enthusiasm in that room was brilliant. These are students who clearly love science — and it showed.
Thank you to Glenalmond College for the invitation. Days like this are a genuine privilege. 👏
📹 Video below.
09/03/2026
As we gear up for this year's breeding season we are thrilled to announce that, alongside our current services, we are now approved by the APHA for the freezing and export of semen to EU countries.
Our senior reproduction vet Kirsty Gallacher is one of the speakers for Clyde Vet Group Equine Hospital's client webinar tomorrow night where Kirsty and the other speakers are discussing mares, stallions, nutrition and worms.
We offer bespoke packages for mares and stallions, contact Kirsty on 0141 330 5999 to discuss your requirements.
UofG School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
05/03/2026
📚 We hope you had a lovely World Book Day, here is a story from the archives 📖
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Glasgow Equine Hospital and Practice, University of Glasgow:
The Glasgow Equine Hospital is situated in the scenic Garscube Estate in Bearsden, on the north-western fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately 6 miles from the city centre. An equine hospital has been at this site for many years but the current hospital was opened in 1995, with subsequent expansions made to increase patient capacity and provide entirely separate isolation facilities.
The Glasgow Equine Hospital works closely with veterinary surgeons throughout Scotland and northern England to provide support and referral services for horses in need of specific procedures or further diagnostics, treatment and hospitalisation. Referral is open to all cases and should be discussed first with your own vet, who will then liaise with the vets at the Hospital. Staff are dedicated to providing a professional, reliable and cost effective service whilst maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
The Glasgow Equine Practice is the ambulatory side of the Equine Hospital, and offers high quality veterinary care to the horses in its local catchment area, with stable-side diagnostics and 24-hour emergency provision. Horses, ponies and donkeys registered with the Practice also have the option of being cared for at the Hospital when in need of further intensive treatment or nursing.
The hospital’s team of on-site staff, extensive facilities and diagnostic laboratory offers the advantage of 24-hour nursing with continuous professional care. Patients are stabled in large, well ventilated modern stables with additional facilities for intensive care patients, mares and foals and a sand-floored stable for laminitic cases.
Our vets have postgraduate specialist training in different aspects of horse medicine and surgery, between them holding four Diplomas from European Specialist Colleges, two American Diplomas and seven RCVS post-graduate Certificates. Four of the vets are recognised by the RCVS as specialists (similar to hospital consultants) in either Equine Medicine or Equine Surgery, and we work closely with in-house specialists in anaesthesia and diagnostic imaging.
The team ethos remains practical, with the aim at all times of achieving the best possible outcome for both you and your horse. The Hospital is registered with the European Board of Veterinary Specialists as a training centre in both medicine and surgery for veterinary surgeons wishing to develop further skills in these areas. There are currently five resident veterinary surgeons working at the Weipers Centre whilst completing a 4-year further training period in specialist medicine or surgery.
Our nursing team includes four Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) who bring combined experience from different equine veterinary hospitals and practices. The equine nursing team is assisted by animal technicians and year 5 veterinary students, enabling us to give effective and economic 24-hour nursing to our inpatients.
