Equine Medical Services provides outstanding general preventive care for our clients, with programs that are tailored to each individual horse's needs. Examples of preventive care include vaccinations, fecal egg counts, deworming, and routine dentistry. Please read through our sections below for more information, or feel free to contact us to determine the best preventive care program for your horse.
Vaccination Recommendations
Foals
The American Association of Equine
Practitioners (AAEP) has identified certain vaccines as "core"
vaccines that all foals and adult horses should receive on a regular
basis. These vaccines include eastern and western encephalomyelitis, West
Nile virus, tetanus toxoid, rabies, influenza and equine herpes virus.
In addition to these core vaccines, we recommend vaccinating for botulism based
on some unique risks associated with our geographical area, and occasionally
for strangles, depending on the risk associated with the particular horse
operation.
Foals should not be vaccinated at all before 3 months of age and in the case of
many diseases, coverage is improved if vaccines are not begun until the 5th
month of life. The best age to start and the ideal protocol to use for your
horses is a decision best made between you and your veterinarian. Your
veterinarian can take all of your farm's conditions into account in designing a
specific vaccine program to best protect your horses.
We strongly urge a vaccine program developed in concert with your veterinarian
- not one that is self-administered. What is best for someone else's
operation may not be the best for yours. As a result, no formula for how
and when to vaccinate obtained over the internet or by talking to other horse
owners is necessarily going to be the best for you.
Our programs are tailor-made based on our clients' needs. Call us if you would like us to set up a program for you.
Adult horses
Adult horses should be vaccinated
annually for the core diseases as outlined above. In some cases, most
notably the respiratory viruses (influenza and EHV), semi-annual vaccination is
recommended due to the relatively short term immunity associated with these
conditions.
Much has been made lately of the concept of "over-vaccination."
While it may be true in the case of some diseases (i.e. tetanus and rabies)
that vaccination may be protective for longer than a year, there is much
evidence that protection in other serious diseases is not as long-lived.
In addition, no adverse effects from frequent vaccination for these core
diseases has been demonstrated, with the possible exception of the neurological
form of EHV-1, a rare aberration of this disease.
All in all, the risk of the disease and its effects on the horse, as well as
the potential danger to people, is far greater than any vaccine risk for these
core vaccines.
Again, work together with your veterinarian. He or she is best equipped
to make a recommendation that is uniquely suited to your situation.
Pregnant Mares
Pregnant mares are at
particular risk for herpes virus infection due to this virus' ability to cause
abortion. They should be vaccinated with a series of three vaccines
during the course of their pregnancy, beginning at the 4th - 5th month.
Check with your veterinarian.
In addition, pregnant mares should be vaccinated for the other "core"
vaccines one month prior to foaling. This is the most effective way to
protect the expected foal by way of higher levels of antibodies in the mare's colostrum
or first milk.
Fecal Egg Count and Deworming
This is an area where
significant changes are being made in our recommendations as compared to past
years. More and more research is indicating a developing problem with
resistant worm populations. A more strategic approach to deworming on
each individual farm is indicated in order to attack this problem. The
bad news is that there may be medications that no longer work at all in your
horses; the good news is that in many cases you may actually be able to get by with
deworming less often than you have in the past.
Though there are many different brands of dewormers, there are really only
three TYPES. These are benzimidazole types (Panacur, Safeguard,
Anthelcide), pyrimidines (Strongid), and ivermectins (Zimecterin, Eqvalan,
Equell, Quest). Some ivermectins are combined with another drug,
praziquantel, to get at tapeworms (Zimectrin Gold, Equimax, Quest Plus).
The best approach to parasite control involves a combination of appropriate
deworming medications, given at the appropriate times, along with pasture and
seasonal management steps to control the environment.
We do not recommend the old stand-by program of deworming with rotating
medications on a bi-monthly basis. Instead, fecal egg counts should be
checked on a regular basis to evaluate individual horse susceptibilities, the
effectiveness of particular medications in your herd, and a program designed
for your farm from that information.
Floating Teeth
"Floating" horse teeth refers to the act of filing the sharp edges of the teeth. This is done so that teeth are shaped appropriately for grinding forage, which is the primary component of a normal horse's diet. There are many opinions as to what is the best schedule and approach for floating a horse's teeth. Dental care should be tailored to each individual horse, and all horses may not need to have their teeth floated once or twice a year. The need to float your horse's teeth is best determined by your veterinarian, who can safely and thoroughly examine his mouth. Based on this examination, your veterinarian will determine whether or not the teeth should be floated and develop a schedule for routine dental care suited to the needs of your horse.
Preventive care