Equine Vaccinations
Vaccinating your horse is the most effective way to protect your horse from many diseases. There are some general guidelines that you can follow but the best thing you can do is consult your veterinarian. Your vet can tell you which vaccinations are necessary based on where you live. He/She can also tell you how often you need to give all vaccinations based on information about threats or exposure.
Some of the vaccinations we need in our state are Tetanus Toxoid, Encephalomyelitis, Eastern, Western, Venezuelan, Influenza, Rhinopneumonitis, West Nile, Strangles and Rabies.
Dr. Brett Weseli, DVM, large animal vet at Animal Health Services in Columbus, Mississippi has the following suggestions for horse owners: Most horses in our part of the country need Tetanus Toxoid, Encephalomyelitis, (Eastern and Western), Influenza, West Nile and Rabies at least yearly. They may need them more often depending on risk and exposure.
Dr. Weseli also recommends Rhino and Strangles for horses who are at risk because of traveling or being exposed to a lot of different horses. Again, this could be once a year or several times a year, based on risk and exposure.
There are several websites that have guidelines for vaccinations for horses. We went through some of them and found a couple that you may find helpful.
www.dclahdvm.com/articles/vaccination.htm
Aaep.org is the American Association of Equine Practitioners website. It is very informative and they have a vaccination chart. The Davie County Large Animal Hospital website also listed above has the best vaccination chart we found. We found it very informative and also easy to read.
After you have done your research you should still let your vet help you decide which vaccinations will best protect your equine friends.
