Equine Vaccinations & Prevention

Protection & Prevention

Protecting your horse from disease is an essential part of his or her overall wellness plan. Vaccinations are vital to protecting against disease, and we will create a vaccination schedule that is right for your horse.

Core Yearly Vaccinations

• Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis—This disease is transmitted by mosquitoes or other blood-sucking insects. While rare in our area, it is recommended to vaccinate your horses against this potentially life-threatening disease.
• Rabies—While the incidence of rabies in horses is low if it is contracted it is 100 % fatal and can be transmitted to humans. It is recommended to vaccinate your horses yearly for this life-threatening disease.
• Tetanus—All horses are at risk for this potentially fatal disease. Transmission is by invasion of the ubiquitous bacteria through puncture wounds, open lacerations, exposed tissues or surgical incisions.
• West Nile Virus—Transmission is mostly through mosquitoes and, rarely, other bloodsucking insects after feeding on birds infected with West Nile virus.

Risk-Based Vaccinations

The following vaccinations are given if your horse's lifestyle or where they live may put them at risk:

• Equine Herpes Virus type -1 and type -4 /(EHV-1) & (EHV-4)—Equine herpes viruses are very common DNA viruses in horse populations worldwide. The two most significant are EHV-1, which causes respiratory disease, abortion, and neurologic disease; and EHV-4, which primarily causes respiratory disease and only occasionally can cause abortion or neurologic disease.
• Equine Influenza—Equine influenza (horse flu) affects the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It is caused by influenza viruses that commonly spread in horses and closely related animals, like donkeys and zebras. The viruses cause flu-like signs and symptoms in those animals, similar to those caused by seasonal flu viruses in people.
• Strangles—Strangles is a highly contagious bacterial disease caused by Streptococcus equi equi. It is characterized by swelling of the lymph nodes and the formation of abscesses, primarily in the head and neck. Disease severity varies and younger horses often exhibit more severe clinical signs than older horses.

Strategic Deworming

We work with you to develop a strategic deworming plan for your horse. To do so, Fecal Egg Counts (FEC) should be performed to determine their parasite load. These FEC results will allow our veterinarians to determine their level of shedding (low, moderate, high), then create a unique deworming schedule for your horse.

With this approach, we can effectively reduce the parasite burden in your horse while preventing parasite resistance. This target approach will improve your horses overall health, body condition, reduce complications that arise from parasitic infections such as colic, and reduce unnecessary deworming treatments.