Equine Hospital of the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich

World-class specialists

The Equine Hospital at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, has a vision that is also the mission of the people who work there: they have made it a priority to be there for the horse at all times, together and with passion. And it is no empty phrase; one can see and feel that they live this motto day by day. This not only includes the love for the animals, even though this may have been the motivating force for all of them once. Entering this profession means to make it a vocation. Constant effort is required to keep up with the latest scientific research, and to provide the most innovative and promising diagnostic and treatment methods worldwide – all for the good of the patients.

Continuing education is a top priority at this hospital. Skills and knowledge are constantly being pushed to the next level. The bosses, Professor Colin Schwarzwald, head of the Equine Department since 2017 and member of the Executive Board of the University Animal Hospital, and his colleague, Professor Anton Fürst, who previously held this post, are no exception. They are both proven experts in their fields, they both enjoy an international reputation, and both have undertaken additional training in the USA and elsewhere. Schwarzwald is a team player who studied in Zurich and worked at The Ohio State University between 2001 and 2006. Here he established an outstanding reputation as an internist and cardiologist. He then became senior lecturer in Zurich and, in 2013, Director of the Clinic for Equine Internal Medicine. The heart specialist devotes his scarce free time to his photography hobby and is involved in a zoo. In Zurich he introduced electrical cardioversion for treating atrial fibrillation, a treatment method provided by very few other clinics in Europe.

Fürst, a native of Vorarlberg in Austria, studied in Zurich and also spent some time at The Ohio State University. He specialises in orthopaedic surgery. Following in the footsteps of his father, who was a veterinarian as well, he is a hands-on visionary. Together with other researchers, he developed special plates that can be used to successfully treat fractures that were previously very difficult to treat. He is also very well known in the equestrian sports scene: For 17 years, he cared for the Swiss dressage team and accompanied them to numerous championships.

The broad-based hospital also has space for future-oriented specialties such as equine sports medicine. After his studies and doctorate in Berne, Professor Michael Weishaupt took up the challenge in 1994 to develop this area of expertise in Zurich. He specialises in treadmill exercise tests in horses. On the one
hand, these are used to quantify and optimise performance. On the other hand, they also serve to identify the underlying diseases in patients with poor performance and the early detection of subclinical orthopedic, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The University Equine Hospital in Zurich has the world’s only gait laboratory with an instrumented equine treadmill developed in-house, which measures the vertical ground reaction forces of the four limbs and, together with high-speed cameras, can identify lamenesses that are difficult to localise. Last but not least, the Ophthalmology section, led by Professor Simon Pot, is also part of the Equine Hospital, although this unit treats eye diseases in all animal species. It offers a wide range of state-of-the-art examination and treatment options for ophthalmic diseases that are available in only a few other hospitals worldwide.

Central to Zurich’s success model is the interdisciplinary collaboration with renowned specialists in all fields and access to collective knowledge and facilities in a wide range of disciplines that only a university can provide. Specialists in reproductive medicine, anaesthesia, diagnostic imaging and laboratory medicine work side by side with the Equine Hospital team. They also work closely with the Large Animal Rescue Service Switzerland/Liechtenstein, which uses specially equipped vehicles to bring even the most urgent emergency patients safely and gently to the hospital. The hospital provides a comprehensive range of treatments and services, and the clientele is just as varied: ranging from famous international competition horses to leisure horses and animal welfare cases.

Our services for you:

• 42 stalls in different wards are available
• 800 to 900 patients are cared for each year by the Clinic for Equine Internal Medicine
• approximately 1400 to 1500 in the Clinic for Equine Surgery
• sports medicine specialists see over 200 patients
• ophthalmologists care for some 300 horses

Routine prophylactic treatments and pre-purchase examinations are also part of the range of
services. Twenty-six internationally recognised specialists in different areas of expertise take care of the four-legged patients, and they are supported by a further 45 vets, 20 veterinary nurses and 2 farrier teams. They guarantee comprehensive care for both inpatients and outpatients. And they always
remain true to their common vision – at all times together and with passion for the horse.