Horse Health/Client Information

In this section you will find recommended guidelines and other helpful information important to your horse's health.

Vaccination Guidelines

• Bi-annual vaccines (spring and fall recommended)
  • Eastern/Western Encephalitis
  • Tetanus
  • West Nile Virus
  • Rhinopneumonitis/Influenza
• Annual vaccines
  • Rabies
  • Strangles
  • Potomac Horse Fever (only based on need/location)
• Foals/Broodmare vaccines
  • Foals from vaccinated mares should receive initial vaccines at 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.
    Foals from unvaccinated mares should receive initial vaccines at 3 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.

  Vaccine	Foal	Broodmare
  Eastern/Western Encephalomyelitis	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Every 6 Months, boost 30-45 days before foaling date.
  Tetanus	Antitoxin 12 hours post foaling. At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Annually, boost 30-45 days before foaling date.
  Rhinopneumonitis	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Every 3 Months, boost 30-45 days before foaling date.
  Influenza	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Every 3 Months, boost 30-45 days before foaling date.
  Rabies	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Annually, boost 30-45 days before foaling date.
  Potomac Horse Fever	Consult With Your Veterinarian	Consult With Your Veterinarian
  Strangles (Intranasal)	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Consult With Your Veterinarian
  Pneumabort-K	Foal Does Not Receive	At 5th, 7th, and 9th month of gestation.
  West Nile Vaccine	At 4 months of age, followed by boosters in 4 weeks.	Every 6 Months, boost 30-45 days before foaling date

• Each horse should be evaluated based upon his/her use and potential exposure to other horses and wildlife. All pregnant broodmares should be booster-vaccinated at approximately 10 months of pregnancy to insure adequate immunity and passage of immunity to the foal via colostrum. They should also receive pneumabort-k vaccines at 5, 7 and 9 months of pregnancy.
  
  

  LINK TO AAEP'S VACCINATION RECOMMENDATIONS

Easterwood Equine Hospital Deworming Program

• Plan 1:  Recommended Plan
  • Submit manure (less than 24hrs old) for fecal egg count (FEC) testing every 3 months and deworm or don’t deworm accordingly based on the veterinarian’s recommendations.  Fecal egg counts allow us to determine what type of worms your horse has, how many, and how many eggs it is shedding.  We can then target the wormer based on your horse’s individual needs.  In herd situations these FEC’s allow us to tell which horses may be shedding the most worms and potentially contaminating the pasture with the most worm eggs.  Some horses may not need worming based on their FEC at the time, so it may save you some money on wormer in the long run.  If you cannot submit manure every 3 months, we recommend that you deworm at least twice per year (Equimax in the late fall after the first frost; Quest Plus in the late spring/early summer when the temperature has been greater than 85 degrees for 2-3 days in a row).
    
    
  • Fecal Egg Counts cost about 25 dollars at our clinic.
    
    
• Plan 2:  If doing the Fecal Egg Count is not feasible or practical
  • Deworm every 8 weeks using a rotational plan.  Rotate between ivermectin, pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole, and moxidectin/praziquantel.  It is still a good idea to submit 1-2 fecal samples per year to make sure your program is effective.
    
    
  • This is a good plan for young horses 2 months old to 18 months old.
    
    
• Plan 3: Daily Dewormer
  • Use daily dewormer like Strongid C2X combined with spring and fall paste worming with an ivermectin product (Zimectrin, Equimax).
    
    

• Important facts and management tools:
  • Not all horses carry the same worms or have the same worm burden.  In fact 35% of the horses in a given herd are responsible for 85% of the pasture contamination with internal parasites.
    
    
  • Worm resistance to dewormers is a reality.  Resistance to products like Panacur and Strongid is greater than others like Ivermectin or Moxidectin.
    
    
  • Resistance develops by using the same dewormer over and over again, and often at lower than effective dose levels.
    
    
  • Fecal egg count testing is the best way to determine what type of worms your horse is harboring and how many.  This test can be done at Easterwood Equine Hospital on one fecal ball that is less than 24 hours old.  The results of this test allow us to specifically select the dewormer and schedule.
    
    
  • It is always good to follow up your dewormer by doing an effectiveness test (repeat fecal egg count) two weeks following dosing.
    
    
  • Horses with a low fecal egg count do not necessarily have to be dewormed.  In fact some studies have shown that a small amount of worms may be beneficial to the horse by stimulating better GI immunity.
    
    
  • Young horses under 18 months of age should be monitored closely for the presence of roundworms and dewormed accordingly.
    
    
  • Strategic deworming based on fecal egg counts is the best plan for your horse.
    
    

• Management tools:
  • Keep paddocks, pens, and pastures as free of manure as possible.
  • Avoid feeding on the ground especially around manure.
  • Don’t overgraze or overcrowd pastures.  Horses cannot avoid manure piles they normally would.
  • Harrow pastures only in the summer when the sun can kill any parasite eggs.
  • If possible, rotate pastures to be vacant for two months during the summer.