Yes, I am pretty excited to see warmer temperatures, longer days, and fewer layers of coats, coveralls, gloves...
Getting our equine athletes ready for the summer starts with spring vaccinations and deworming. The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published vaccination protocols depending on the age and gender of your horse. You can visit the AAEP's website through a link at www.suitvet.com.
The majority of horses I vaccinate are adult horses and are boostered annually. AAEP's core vaccine recommendations include:
- Tetanus
- Eastern/Western Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE/WEE)
- West Nile Virus (WNV)
- Rabies
In addition to properly vaccinating your horse it is important to consider changes in the realm of equine deworming. As our understanding and concerns of parasite resistance continue to increase, new studies have revealed that horses may not actually be protected from certain parasites, and other horses may be over-dewormed...
Now, I went to veterinary school to work on horses and the thought of being a small animal veterinarian was never on my professional radar,......wait for it......BUT, the truth is, fecal evaluation, similar to your dog's, is exactly where the science has gone. Talk about resistance, I was less than thrilled about trying to convince clients that we needed to submit a stool from their horse, but the microsope doesn't lie.
What literally became so revealing was that farms and ranches where I thought parasites would not be a problem, were. The old saying, "20% of the horses are causing 80% of the problem," seems to hold true in many circumstances when sampled.
Fecal evaluation has allowed me to help design deworming protocols that fit the farm or ranch. This has allowed owner's to better protect their horses, their property, and their wallets!
