Rhinebeck Equine

Rhinebeck Equine Rhinebeck Equine LLP is dedicated to improving the health and welfare of the horse.

Rhinebeck Equine is an independently owned, exclusively equine, practice located in Dutchess County in the Hudson River Valley about 120 miles north of NYC. The practice was founded in the 1940s by Dr. Kenneth Gumaer and began its equine focus in 1967 when Dr. Paul Mountan joined Dr. Ronnie Miller. Renamed Rhinebeck Equine in 1996, the practice’s veterinarians have been providing quality care to the equine population of New York’s Hudson Valley for over 50 years. This experienced and trusted practice has progressively grown into a comprehensive ambulatory and referral clinic with twelve veterinarians, five intern veterinarians, and over 30 support staff. The Rhinebeck Equine LLP team offers a full spectrum of services to horses of all breeds, providing comprehensive equine health care, including services in the areas of surgery, sport horse care, lameness evaluations, pre-purchase exams, reproduction, neonatal care, internal medicine, ophthalmology, dentistry, and wellness care. Our referral hospital is staffed by board-certified specialists in equine surgery, internal medicine, theriogenology (reproduction), ophthalmology, dermatology, interns, and a team of highly experienced support personnel. The hospital enables Rhinebeck Equine LLP to provide cutting-edge treatment to its equine patients. Ambulatory veterinarians serving the surrounding area provide care from their fully equipped mobile units.

💉 It is Wellness Wednesday! And today we are continuing to cover the core vaccines recommended by the AVMA. Next up are ...
03/18/2026

💉 It is Wellness Wednesday! And today we are continuing to cover the core vaccines recommended by the AVMA. Next up are the vaccines that make you go EEE and not WEE.

🦟 Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus is a triple “E" threat to unvaccinated horses in upstate New York. EEE is a viral disease caused by infected mosquitoes. The mosquito becomes infected from feeding on infected birds. An infected mosquito bites a non-vaccinated horse causing the virus to spread through the body and attacks the central nervous system. This virus causes neurologic signs such as depression, blindness, ataxia, seizures, recumbency, head pressing, fever and uncoordinated gait.

🦟 EEE is spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Per the CDC, eastern equine encephalitis is very serious and approximately 30% of people who develop severe EEE die, and many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems. Symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes, and drowsiness.

🦟 WEE is Western Equine Encephalitis. It is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes from birds to horses and even humans. The symptoms include depression, anorexia, lethargy, fever and neurologic signs such as tremors, convulsions, paralysis, weakness, ataxia, incoordination, and recumbency. Treatment consists of supportive care.

🦟 Per UC Davis Veterinary School, the mortality rate is 20-40%, significantly lower than for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). Long-term deficits may occur in horses that recover from WEE.

🦟 Per the CDC, the last human case of WEE was in 1999. Most people with WEE do not feel ill; however, some people may experience fever or severe neurologic symptoms. Remember to use mosquito repellant and fly gear on yourself.

🦟 Prevention includes vaccination, fly control, turning horses out at times where the mosquitoes are not as abundant and keeping water sources clean and away from light. Here at RE we use Spalding Labs Fly Predators in addition to other fly control management practices.

🩺 Be sure to make an appointment during our Spring Wellness Days for preventative and routine care.

☘️ We are green with envy on this St. Patrick’s Day. Not quite. The green fluid is actually tap water with food coloring...
03/17/2026

☘️ We are green with envy on this St. Patrick’s Day. Not quite. The green fluid is actually tap water with food coloring for re**al fluids.

💩 Yes, re**al fluids are sometimes a part of treatment for colic depending on the type of colic. Re**al fluids are used to support hydration and in certain circumstances to help breakup a small colon impaction. The re**al mucosa is highly permeable which is why it is effective even when compared to IV and nasogastric methods. Here at RE, we use tap water, a coil set and a stallion catheter in the re**um then secured to the tail to administer re**al fluids. The fluid is administered by continuous gravity flow.

💧 Studies have shown that re**al fluids are an effective method for hydration due to patient compliance. Plus, this method is relatively inexpensive and with minimal risk of complications when compared to IV fluids and nasogastric intubation.

☘️ Happy St. Patricks Day! And our little Irishman is here to tell you about the history of horseshoes, rainbows and sha...
03/17/2026

☘️ Happy St. Patricks Day! And our little Irishman is here to tell you about the history of horseshoes, rainbows and shamrocks being lucky.

🍀 There are two avenues of thought about how the horseshoe became a symbol of luck. One story is that in the eighth century Chaldeans thought the crescent shape of the horseshoe represented various mood goddesses. Another story is that in 949 AD the patron saint of blacksmiths, St. Dunstan, shod the devil’s own hoof. And after the ordeal, the devil agreed to not enter a threshold that had a horseshoe nailed above it. But how do you hang on to your luck? Do you hang the horse shoe upside down or right side up? Some say that hanging the shoe by the heels in the shape of a “U” keeps the luck within to protect wherever it hangs. However, others hang a horseshoe as an upside down “U” for the luck to spill out onto those who pass underneath. From the materials used to make a horseshoe to the number of nail holes to how the horseshoe is displayed, those superstitious believe it represents luck and warding off evil spirits.

🌈 Rainbows are synonymous with luck. Leprechaun folklore believes that leprechauns hide their gold at the end of the rainbow. And of course, Ireland’s weather is perfect for seeing a rainbow or two.

☘️ And the last symbol of luck is the shamrock. But did you know that this three leaf clover actually does not exist in Ireland? The shamrock represents religious symbolism and Ireland’s push for independence.

☘️ Whether you drink green beer, eat beef and cabbage or find gold at the end of a rainbow we wish you a day of luck on St. Patricks Day!

☘️ Be sure to stay tuned for our throwback post about Guinness and anhidrosis!

🩸 Let’s talk about blood transfusions. The 2025-2026 intern class have been busy collecting and administrating blood to ...
03/16/2026

🩸 Let’s talk about blood transfusions. The 2025-2026 intern class have been busy collecting and administrating blood to critical patients.

🩸 Why might a whole blood transfusion be indicated for your horse?
It is often a treatment for horses with acute hemorrhage (i.e. hemoabdomen or laceration), destruction of red blood cells due to a disease, and severe anemia, not having enough healthy red blood cells and the protein hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. If the horse is exhibiting clinical signs of hypoxemia (low level of oxygen in the blood), hypovolemia (severe blood loss resulting in the heart being unable to pump enough blood to the body), and decreased tissue oxygen delivery or estimated loss of more than 20% of the horse’s circulating blood volume then a whole blood transfusion is indicated. And foals sometimes need a transfusion too, but we will save that topic.

🩺 Other Clinical Signs:

🫀Tachycardia (Increased heart rate)
🩸 Severe bleeding
🫁 Tachypnea (Increased respiratory rate)
🫀Decreased pulse quality
🧊 Cool extremities
👄 Pale mucous membranes
🧠 Mentation changes
📈 Hyperlactatemia
🩸 Decreased PCV ±Decreased TS

😮 Fun fact: Did you know that horses have 7 blood groups and several sub-mutations resulting in 400,000 possible blood types?

🩸 How much blood does a horse have?
A 1,200lb. horse has roughly 54.5L of blood.

🩸 How do we do it?
Fortunately, in an emergency situation, a first time whole blood transfusion can be given one time without performing a cross-match or confirming blood type between the donor horse and a patient. Of course, this is not a risk free procedure and adverse reactions are possible; however, horses rarely have naturally occurring antibodies.

🐴 Here at RE we have a list of horses available to be blood donors due to the generosity of neighboring farms and owners. The blood donor horses meet certain requirements such as their health, size, s*x, behavior, and proximity to the RE clinic. A physical exam is performed on the donor horse prior to blood collection. The donor horse’s jugular vein is carefully prepped and a large gauge needle is placed into the jugular vein. The blood collection system is attached to the needle. The blood collection bag is then held closer to the ground to allow gravity to fill the bag while the person holding the bag gently shifts the blood back and forth as it is collected. The blood collection bag contains ACD-A solution to prevent the whole blood from clotting. The volume collected depends on the recipient horse’s needs. Once the collection is complete, the needle is removed and the site is held off with pressure before the blood is rushed back to the hospital. The recipient horse has an intra-venous catheter placed and the bag of whole blood is hung with a blood administration set. The recipient horse’s vitals are closely monitored during the administration process.

❤️ We are grateful to the owners, farms and horses who help us save lives.

📸: Recently, Dr. Haven Erengil and Dr. Mary Kenne Lott went to collect blood for a patient in the hospital.

🏆 The Chronogram Readers’ Choice Awards are back for 2026! Last year Rhinebeck Equine was third in the veterinarian cate...
03/15/2026

🏆 The Chronogram Readers’ Choice Awards are back for 2026! Last year Rhinebeck Equine was third in the veterinarian category. Be sure to nominate us for readers’ choice in the Health and Wellness subcategory Veterinarian from March 1st-March 31st! Please help us earn enough nominations to move on in the voting round.

🔗 Please follow this link to nominate Rhinebeck Equine: chronogram.com/readerschoice

👏🏼 Shoutout to Dr. Jesse Tyma, Dipl. ACVS-LA, for her American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Conference Bur...
03/15/2026

👏🏼 Shoutout to Dr. Jesse Tyma, Dipl. ACVS-LA, for her American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Conference Burst session on managing surgical site infections has been published in the EquiManagement publication. Thank you Dr. Tyma for sharing your knowledge!

🔗 https://equimanagement.com/research-medical/how-to-manage-surgical-site-infections-in-colic-patients/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAQiru1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeR1j9QgidQG3NFkYsM6-YpUE2c14_XFY-hOiE9qnYkJyYtp9TmqpdIT0RQeQ_aem_IVT99kU4Szk1wVD8QJ4g8g

👏🏼 Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Pasch, Dipl. of ACT for her case report, “Pyometra management in three mares: The use o...
03/14/2026

👏🏼 Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Pasch, Dipl. of ACT for her case report, “Pyometra management in three mares: The use of endotracheal tubes as cervical stents,” being accepted into the February edition of the Equine Veterinary Education journal.

🦠 Here is the summary: “Equine pyometra is an uncommon but potentially life-­ threatening condition in mares. The novel use of endotracheal tubes (designed for intubation of small animal veterinary patients) to create cervical stents offers an inexpensive and accessible method of medical
pyometra management. Cervical stent placement can be combined with more invasive
surgical procedures as dictated by each individual mare's anatomy.”

🗣️ Thank you Dr. Pasch for sharing your expertise to help other mares!

📸: We are reminiscing about summer days, sunsets, and being surrounded in a field of mares and foals. Rockridge Stud, LLC rockridge_stud.llc

03/14/2026

Dorm supervising from above!

03/14/2026

🩸 Recently, the RE team stumbled across a paper centrifuge aka the “paperfuge” method for running PCV/TP in the literal field. It was inspired by the Veterinary Education Malawi team creating a paperfuge. So we thought we would try to make our own paperfuge. A few basic supplies and an arm workout later, we were surprised that it worked! We compared results from the paperfuge to the more traditional centrifuge method using the same blood sample. The paperfuge method results are a PCV of 50% and a TP of 7.4g/dL. And the traditional centrifuge method results are a PCV of 47% and a TP of 7.4g/dL.

🐴It is Foal Friday! And looks like this mare just wants to nap while her foal is ready to go. The Hudson Valley gave us ...
03/13/2026

🐴It is Foal Friday! And looks like this mare just wants to nap while her foal is ready to go. The Hudson Valley gave us with a few days of spring like weather, but looks like snow and rain are heading our way for the weekend. We guess it’s just a delay for the inevitable mud season. What are you looking forward to most with your horse as it warms up?

📸: Mare and foal at Rockridge Stud, LLC rockridge_stud.llc

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26 Losee Lane
Rhinebeck, NY
12572

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(845) 876-7085

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Rhinebeck Equine is an exclusively equine practice located in Dutchess County in the Hudson River Valley about 120 miles north of NYC. The practice was founded in the 1940’s by Dr. Kenneth Gumaer, and began its equine focus in 1967, when Dr. Paul Mountan joined Dr. Ronnie Miller. Renamed Rhinebeck Equine in 1996, the practice’s veterinarians have been providing quality care to the equine population of New York’s Hudson Valley for over 50 years. This experienced and trusted practice has progressively grown into a comprehensive, caring medical and surgical center employing eight veterinarians, four intern veterinarians, and 28 support staff. A “State of the Art” referral hospital, completed in 2002, is staffed by two board certified equine surgeons, a board certified internal medicine specialist, interns, and a team of highly experienced support personnel. The hospital enables Rhinebeck Equine LLP to provide cutting edge treatment to its equine patients. Seven ambulatory veterinarians serving the surrounding area who will provide on the farm care from their fully equipped mobile units. The Rhinebeck Equine LLP team offers a full spectrum of services to horses of all breeds, providing comprehensive equine health care, including services in the areas of surgery, sport horse care, lameness evaluations, pre-purchase exams, reproduction, neonatal care, internal medicine, ophthalmology, dentistry and wellness care.

For more info, visit us at http://www.rhinebeckequine.com/