General Information Concerning Vaccines:

1. Any horse receiving a vaccine for the first time must have a booster vaccination in three to four weeks in order for the vaccine to be effective.

2. A horse previously vaccinated, which has gone over two years without follow-up vaccination, should have the vaccine plus a booster in three to four weeks to assure effectiveness of that vaccine.

3. Pregnant mares should be boostered for all their vaccines excluding rabies and intranasal strangles 4-6 weeks prior to their foaling date. This will ensure the best immunity to the foal.

4. Foals should begin their vaccinations at four to six months of age for most vaccines. Influenza and Rhino should be boostered in foals at 9-10 months of age. All vaccines must be boostered three to four months after first vaccination.

Parasite Control

Horses are very susceptible to internal parasite infections. Using a combination of management practices and preventative medicine can prevent parasites in horses. Some of the management practices that will help reduce the numbers of parasites in the environment are:

• Adequate pasture acreage – approximately 1.5-2 acres per horse is ideal
  
• Pasture rotation – this is done by dividing the pasture up into several lots and then switching the horses to a different lot each month. Horses should be given a paste dewormer prior to rotating pastures. While the horses are not on a particular lot that lot should be mowed and then fertilized to increase pasture viability.
  
• Mixed grazing – this is done by grazing ruminants (cows, sheep, goats) and horses in the same pasture. The other animal acts as a vacuum, consuming the parasite eggs that are not harmful to them, as they are to the horses.
  
• Composting Manure – this is done by making a compost pile with manure instead of spreading it immediately on the pasture the manure is composted for 3-6 months and then spread. The heat from the compost pile will then kill the eggs of the parasites.
  
• Use fly spray liberally to keep away flies and mosquitoes that spread parasites, and pick stalls frequently.

We recommend that all horses be on Strongid C, a daily dewormer. This is a pelleted dewormer that is placed on the horses feed once a day. The horse will still need to be dewormed twice a year with a paste dewormer, as directed. Please contact us for more information.