Dr. Patty Hogan

SPRING 🌼🌷🌺 is really heating up here and makes for some beautiful scenes all around us! It’s ‘Horse Heaven’ here right now with lots of sunshine and lush green grass. The foals continue to be just so darn adorable as they figure out the sights and sounds of their new life. Please enjoy our pics of the week!

That is a good question! This foal was sedated here and when not stimulated she hangs her head low and is pretty out of it. But this will be a long-term care issue for her and so she is learning - if you notice, there is no lip twitch, tail crank, or ear twitch - just a firm hold. Anesthetizing her would be convenient for us but honestly not necessary since extreme measures not required. She will get used to it - just a cranky personality!😾

@HoganEquine Can I ask why not sedate the foal and maybe even lay it down?

Ohhhh the joys of foal bandage changes !! 😡😡😡

Yes lots more FOALS this week - we can’t help it! 🥰They are so darn adorable (check out the ridiculously unruly “foal beard” 🤣). Busy clinic days but lovely glimpses of Spring all around us - enjoy our pics of the week! 🌸🌺🌷💐🌼🌻

And just like that - sunny days, green grass, and warm weather have all arrived 😎Spring is here - enjoy our pics of the week!

This one made us all 'misty-eyed' here today! One of our most difficult cases with just wonderful owners who believed in this horse to no end. He left us last summer after a long and arduous stay here and was brought along slowly. He made it back to the races this past Fall and his 7th start today was a winning one 🏆 He is just an AWESOME horse -truly a very special individual!

So many great sights and sounds this week! Foals take center stage 🥰 but lots of birds showing up, on their way back from winter homes. The grass is greening up and the horses are loving it - welcome to Spring outside our walls! 🌼🌿🌷🐣🪺🪶🐴🐶🐾

The use of advanced imaging - both CT and PET scanning - has added a whole new level of 'smarts' to equine care and is helping to make us all much better veterinarians! Case in point - you've heard the common term cannon bone or fetlock "bone bruising" that has sidelined many a racehorse. It is a frustrating and painful condition related to the way bone remodels in response to applied stress (i.e. training) - the cannon bones are a common site for this issue and it can lead to debilitating chronic lameness, attrition, and in some cases a condylar fracture. Besides prolonged rest, treatment options have been few and the incidence of recurrence is high, especially as a horse ages out in its racing career. In trying to find answers to this problem, we have been applying targeted compression screws (using the imaging information that CT can provide) to chronic, recurrent cases to encourage this bruised/sclerotic bone to mobilize and 'shore itself up'. This approach, combined with rest, seems to help these recurring cases and the results have been encouraging. This TB colt struggled with chronic "bone-bruising" issues in both hind ankles, yet he was very talented and still had room for a promising career. Using CT imaging to clearly map the pathology, we placed precise compression screws in both hind ankles this Fall. After proper time off he successfully returned to his winning ways in February and then this past weekend, impressively stepped up and won a very competitive Stakes race 🏆 - nice to see science in action...💪

Weather has made the turn and foals are finally on all-night turnout - they are thrilled! Our lone eaglet has grown so much and has been testing the waters 🦅- getting close to first flight 🤞🏻Enjoy our pics of the week!

The kind of update that we just LOVE to hear! This stakes-winning TB mare presented to us in September 2024 for a solution to debilitating pain as a result of progressive and severe arthritis in her LF ankle. We surgically fused the joint (called a fetlock arthrodesis) and she never looked back. She was bred in 2025 and fast-forward to this year - she just had her 1st foal! He’s a beauty (look at that grey muzzle lol!) and she’s a sound and happy Mom 🙌🏻 (📸Jan Durrschmidt 😃)

Grass is starting to turn and the horses are feeling it! Eagles are everywhere - here are our pics of the week outside the surgery room…😎

This big beautiful TB filly incurred serious injuries to both of her knees while on the lead in the stretch of a race this weekend- an extremely rare occurrence to experience bilateral slab fractures😱. Fortunately she had immediate expert care from her jockey, the outriders, attending vets, etc and shipped in to us safely. A lot of arthroscopic clean-up and some hardware added to boot and 24-hrs later we have a much happier horse who will go on now and lead a very comfortable life as a broodmare 🔩🔩🔩

We have had the pleasure of caring for this wonderful horse at various times in his hard-knocking career - at one point for a very serious pneumonia- but he was always a great patient and as you can see, he was a happy horse and just loved life! He will make a fabulous OTTB 🤩

We are hoping that was the last bit of snowfall and we have finally turned the corner into Spring! 🌸 The foals are dropping, horses are starting to shed out, and we have Daffodils!🌼 Ollie, our ‘Clinic Greeter In-Training’ is really stepping up his game and fitting right in ❤️. Enjoy our pics of the week…

This mare is AMAZING and has no physical limitations whatsoever! It is an 'urban legend' that the presence of any hardware in the limb of an OTTB will somehow hinder its capabilities - SOOOOO not true! In fact the repaired bone typically ends up being the strongest bone in the horse's whole body💪. GOING SOLO is sound, lovely to be around, and can do ANYTHING - don't miss out on her😍

The kind of update that makes tough cases SO worthwhile and highlights the impressive advances in veterinary care. This TB mare had such severe LF knee arthritis in 2024 that her joint was collapsing, she was in constant pain, and losing body condition. We recommended a partial carpal arthrodesis - fusing her lower knee with plates and screws- not for the faint of heart! New Bolton Center did the fantastic surgery and we took over the long road of the postoperative care and rehab. Fast-forward to 2026 and she just had her 1st foal - a NY-bred TANK of a colt- and she is sound, happy, and a helluva first-time Mom ❤️

A mix of weather this week with a big tease of sunshine and warmth followed by snow again today ! 😳 But Spring is coming - lots of birds moving back into the area, the eaglets are thriving, and the horses are so happy to be out on real grass again instead of snow cover lol…and little OLLIE is fitting right in here like a real ‘old soul’ ❤️ - Enjoy our pics of the week! 😊

A lot happening here as we slowly come out of this incredible snowy winter☃️! Daylight Savings this weekend so Spring is on its way🙌🏻 We welcomed the wonderful OLLIE this week to join our office staff 🤪 And great news - we’ve confirmed that our resident nesting Bald Eagle pair have at least 2 Eaglets! 🦅 Enjoy our pics of the week …