Horse Disease Basics

Planning a disease prevention program for your horse is an important aspect of owning a horse. Infectious diseases can result in increased veterinary fees, loss of revenue from sales and shows, and loss of use or death of the animal. Additionally, since many horses are kept as recreational animals and/or a member of the family, there is often an emotional cost when the animal becomes ill or dies. Routine health care and vaccination programs can help prevent horse diseases. A healthy horse free of disease is usually alert, active, and responsive to noises and visual stimuli.

Either a lethargic attitude or extreme excitability may indicate illness. Prompt treatment of horse diseases usually lessens the severity and duration of the disease.

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One basic component of any good horse health program is a complete vaccination program.  When designing a vaccination protocol, one should remember that the success of the preventative herd health program is no better that the health of the individuals within the herd.  The introduction of horses with unknown immunization should be restricted until proper confirmation of immunization or vaccination is done.

One common failure of a horse health program is inaccurate record keeping.  This documentation must be done to ensure success of the vaccination program.

Remember, vaccination does not offer immediate protection because the body takes 2-4 weeks to produce protective antibodies against the vaccinated disease(s).  First time vaccinations must be boostered with a second vaccination 2-4 weeks later to strengthen the protective response.