NORTH Yorkshire horse owners were given a unique glimpse behind the scenes of one of the UK’s most prestigious equine veterinary hospitals.

Around 120 clients enjoyed tours of Rainbow Equine Hospital’s state-of-the-art facilities and found out more about how it delivers the highest levels of care to horses.

Rainbow Equine Hospital is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons accredited hospital that provides 24-hour care to horses, from its Rainbow Farm site in Old Malton and through a team of team of vets who go out on the road to visit patients.

Its team of highly qualified vets also treat horses that have been referred from veterinary practices all over the UK.

During the open event, visitors were given tours of the veterinary hospital’s surgical facilities, diagnostic imaging suites and laboratory, and watched demonstrations on equine wound care, dentistry and bone scanning.

The team also gave clients an insight into how high-tech MRI and CT scanners help Rainbow’s vets diagnose illness and injury and deliver the best possible treatment plans, and showed how endoscopy and gastroscopy are used to take a look at what’s going on inside the horse’s body.

Visitors enjoyed canapes and drinks, sourced from local businesses, and looked through photographs from the archives, showing the hospital through the years and team members who have been an important part of its history.

Among the team members welcoming horse lovers to the open day were vets and clinical directors Jonathon Dixon, Jonathan Anderson, Rachael Conwell and Moses Brennan, and practice manager Lorraine Colgan.

Jonathon Dixon, said: “The open day was an enormous success and we were delighted to welcome so many clients through the doors and show them the facilities were are so very proud of.

“It was the perfect opportunity to show clients how our hospital has been designed to meet the needs of our patients and how giving horses the highest quality care is at the heart of everything we do.”

One of Rainbow Equine Hospital’s founders, vet Ieuan Pritchard, who retired three years ago, returned to give a talk on how the hospital has grown over the years and developed into a veterinary centre of excellence.

Rainbow Equine Hospital is part of VetPartners. Established in 2015, VetPartners is made up of some of the UK’s most respected and trusted small animal, equine, mixed and farm practices and animal healthcare companies. Led by vets, VetPartners has 12,000 employees working in more than 700 sites across the UK and Europe, including its headquarters in York.

Following European expansion in 2019, the group now has practices in Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. After being established as a safe home for veterinary practices, VetPartners diversified and now includes pet cremation services, an online retailer, a small animal veterinary nursing school, an equine veterinary nursing school, laboratories and a locum agency.