Central Gippsland Equine Veterinary Services

14/04/2026

📣 Central Gippsland EVS’s Dr. Ethan Romas-Hill recognised for his ongoing development and contribution to Australia’s equine industry in this issue of Australian Performance Horse Magazine covering Australia’s “30 under 30” People shaping Australia’s Equine Future.

10/04/2026

This came out of a horse today.

Let’s hear some guesses on what exactly this is…

09/04/2026

“I call this one, the compromising position”

Putting a lot of faith in the sedation here!

29/03/2026

Colic Season – Important Contact Information

With colic season now underway in the Traralgon region, we kindly ask all clients to ensure they provide clear and detailed information when contacting our service.

If you call and we are unable to answer, please leave a voicemail including the following:
• Your name
• Your location
• A clear description of the issue affecting your horse
(including temperature and heart rate if within your skillset)

Providing this information allows us to appropriately triage cases and prioritise urgent patients.

Please note that if these details are not included, it may not be possible to return your call in a timely or meaningful way.

During this busy period in particular, our capacity to provide phone advice for horses not currently under active care is limited (Dr Ethan is almost always giving his full attention to the patient in front of him, or on the phone managing ongoing cases). To ensure your horse receives appropriate attention, we recommend booking a consultation where a full assessment and discussion can take place.

Thank you for your understanding and for helping us provide timely care to all patients during this high-demand period.

06/03/2026

We have had concerned owners reach out about this post from Agriculture Victoria.

At this stage, we have not seen any patients in the Latrobe Valley with these signs and we want to keep it that way.

The biggest risk to horses is travelling, so we would encourage a quarantine period for these horses on return home if they must travel, this is to protect the rest of your herd.

Another risk is professionals such as ourselves, farriers, dental technicians etc. and it is important that we all observe excellent bio security.

This should not incite panic, and is not what would be considered an outbreak by any means, but is a cause to take an even greater level of care than usual.

If you do have a horse displaying these signs that needs care, please make sure to let us know before arrival so we can take extra steps to preserve biosecurity.

We have investigated reports from properties in Gippsland, of horses displaying fever, respiratory signs, and mouth ulcers.

Initial testing has ruled out exotic diseases and shown that the common equine herpesvirus (EHV-4) is active in the region.

EHV-4 is widespread and causes respiratory disease in horses. Clinical disease is usually mild, and most horses recover with rest and supportive care.

This is a timely reminder for horse owners to review their biosecurity plans and contact their vet if they have sick horses.

Also, please check your horses are healthy and fit for travel before going to events with other horses.

13/02/2026

Name that fluid! 🤔

Why do you think it’s been collected?

14/01/2026

Helping some caps (think baby teeth) out of a young horse today during their routine yearly dental.

06/01/2026

Take a close look at the back of this mouth in particular 😮

The wear on the second upper pre molars tells us that this horse has likely had a dental treatment attempted, but this was certainly an uncomfortable horse. An absolute testament to his unflappable nature, but this was also probably all he has known.

Good dental care is one of the fastest way to change a horse’s life. This fellow walked away a new man!

30/12/2025

Here is what we see in the lead up to ovulation.

We’re looking at a follicle on an o***y here. It contains the o**m or the “egg”

These images are taken between 8am and 2pm.

We can see the change in shape of the follicle that indicates that ovulation is imminent, as it forms a “guitar pick” type shape. If you time it right you can also star to see fluid leaking from this point into the surrounding tissue.

The last photo is approximately 30 minutes post ovulation. We check this for size, and blood flow to give an indication of whether ovulation has occurred successfully or if the follicle has hemorrhaged (we have seen many of these this year get in the way of pregnancies).

With frozen semen, this is when we breed the mare. We want to breed as close to ovulation as possible, as the s***m survive only 6-12hours in the mare and the o**m is only viable for 12 hours unfertilised

This follicle collapses and forms a corpus luteum or a “CL”. This produces progesterone, and does much of the maintenance of the pregnancy up until about 100-120days when the foetoplacental unit takes over.

25/12/2025

Dr. Ethan had a very special patient for his yearly vet dental!

He checked each tooth… and checked it twice!

Merry Christmas from Central Gippsland Equine Veterinary Services 🎄

22/12/2025

Christmas Hours 🎄

Please note that we are operating emergency only byfor existing clients only from today 22/12 until Monday 5th of January.

As a single vet practice it’s very important that our vet gets a break every so often so he can be working at his best during the year to keep your horses happy and healthy.

We will reopen again for new clients in the new year.

For non-emergent consults or new client emergencies please contact

South Eastern Equine Hospital (Narre Warren)
Woodgrange Specialist Equine Hospital (Bayles)
Gippsland Equine Hospital (Maffra)
Traralgon Veterinary Centre

*this does not affect reproductive bookings for mares already undergoing breeding efforts.

21/12/2025

🎅 The Equine Veterinarian’s Naughty vs. Nice List

Checking it twice… for horses AND humans.

😈 NAUGHTY LIST
• Horse is not caught, not haltered, and hiding in the far corner of the field at appointment time, especially when we send emails the evening before and texts 30 minutes before!
• “Oh by the way…” surprise lameness exam added after appointments are done
• Horse hasn’t seen a farrier, dentist, or dewormer since “last year… maybe?”
• Telling us after the exam: “He’s usually a little spicy with needles”
• Calling it an emergency when the problem has been going on for 3 weeks
• No safe area to work (mud, ice, loose dogs, toddlers, chaos)
• Horse has never been taught to stand… for anything


⸻

😇 NICE LIST
• Horse is caught, haltered, clean, and ready
• History is honest and complete (yes, even the embarrassing parts)
• Safe, dry, well-lit area to work
• Horse is handled by someone who knows them
• Preventive care is up to date (vaccines, dental, farrier, deworming plan)
• Calling early when something seems “off”
• Pays at time of service (Santa AND your vet love this)
• Coffee, kindness, or simply saying “thank you” ☕❤️

⸻

🎄