No matter how conscientious you are as an owner, there will most likely be a time when your horse requires medical attention.

The best approach to managing your horse’s health is to have a good understanding of what is considered “normal.”

A healthy horse will have alert eyes and ears, a shiny coat and an active tail, steady gaits, regular eating habits and an interest in the activity around him.

When the eyelid is pulled down, the membranes should be moist and pink. His urine and feces should be passed without effort and be free from any blood or pus. Fecal consistency will change with the diet, but it should be neither too loose nor too dry. Any deviation from normal should be more closely examined.

Normal resting temperature for a horse is 99 to 100.8 F, pulse rate 32-44 beats per minute and respiration 8-16 breaths per minute. Being able to measure these and identify when there is a deviation from normal is the first step in good horse health, and a five-minute check when you enter your horse’s stall will quickly tell you if there is a problem.

Any lameness or health issue that is causing the horse pain should be referred to a veterinarian as quickly as possible. A delay in treatment could mean the difference between a complete and speedy recovery and a more serious, long-term problem. Using common sense when handling and caring for a horse will help prevent most problems.

Every barn should have a first aid kit to deal with any minor cuts and injuries. A basic kit would include antiseptic spray, such as Antisep 2 percent or iodine spray, wound dressing or gauze, elastic or self adhesive bandages to wrap legs or hold dressings in place, an ice pack, scissors and a thermometer. This simple kit will help you deal with any problem until a veterinarian can be reached.

Common Diseases and Ailments

Parasite Control

One of the most crucial aspects of your horse's health is the control of internal parasites. Parasites are one of the most costly and harmful afflictions. Infestations can lead to colic, anemia, diarrhea, poor growth or weight loss, reduced stamina and decreased performance.

Whether you have one horse or one hundred, you should have an effective parasite control program in place. The goal of this program should be to decrease the transmission of parasites between horses and the environment.

The program should be aimed at controlling:

• Large and small strongyles in all horses
• Ascarids in yearlings and younger horses
• Bots in all horses after the first hard freeze
• Other parasites that may be a problem in a particular area or with individual animals

A good control program has four aspects:

1. The choice of dewormer
2. The administration schedule
3. Non-dewormer management practices, i.e., pasture rotation
4. The monitoring of results so that the program can be monitored

Choice of Dewormer

There are five major chemical classes of wormers: (1) avermectins, (2) organophosphate, (3) tetrahydropyrimidines, (4) benzimidazole and (5) piperazine. These drugs all have similar efficiencies and resistance, and it is often recommended that a wormer from a different class be used on a rotating basis.

Recent studies have shown that there is little difference between a rotational program and one that uses the same dewormer for an extended period of time.

Eqvalan and Quest contain ivermectin and moxdectin respectively, and are considered to be avermectins. The Mira all in one, Mira paste wormer and Safeguard are from the benzimidazole class. The Mira all in one also falls into the organophosphate class because it contains Trichlorfon. Piperazine can be purchased as a soluble powder and mixed into the feed or water.

As long as the product remains effective you should develop a program, with the help of your vet, that best suits your farm.

Administration Schedule

There are three different types of administration schedules used in controlling parasites. Most commonly used is an interval-deworming program that involves treating every two months.

In some cases, where there is a particularly great problem, a non-avermectin dewormer can be used once a month with an avermectin every two months. It should not be necessary in most cases to treat every month.

A seasonal deworming program, which involves treating at critical times of the year, can be used for mature horses but is not recommended for horses less than one year of age.

Seasonal programs involve treatment in the spring before grazing begins in the pasture, in the middle of the summer and in the fall following a hard freeze. This type of program is not effective for young horses because ascarid, strongyle and bot control are necessary in young horses at all times.

It is also important not to use a method on young animals that would cause a sudden parasite kill. Slow-kill dewormers are less likely to cause complications such as impaction colic and stress on the animal.

Continual deworming programs involve the continual feeding of low amounts of deworming  medications. This method may prove to be of questionable value, however, as many small strongyles develop a resistance to dewormers used in this manner.

Consult your veterinarian to be sure you are following the proper program for your farm.

Environmental Control

Administering a dewormer is just part of a good parasite control program. Management practices should also be implemented with the goal of minimizing the amount of fecally contaminated feed and water the horses ingest.

There are a number of ways this can be accomplished:

• Minimize the consumption of feed from the ground.
• Remove manure from stables, paddocks and small pastures frequently.
• Let manure compost for a year before spreading it on horse pasture. This ensures that the heat of fermentation has killed all parasite eggs and larvae.
• Do not allow pastures to become overgrazed. If horses are forced to graze forage close to the ground and around fecally contaminated areas, ingestion of eggs and larvae is more likely.
• Harrow pasture to break up fecal matter and expose larvae to heat from the sun. Do not harrow in damp weather as this only disperses the infective larvae over a greater area and will not kill them.
• Keeping horses off pasture for 4-12 months ensures that parasite larvae are dead. Cooler, damper climates may require a longer time period as parasite eggs may survive even very cold winters.
• Keep new horses or horses returning to the farm isolated for 7-14 days, treat them with a non-benzimidazole wormer, and vaccinate them if necessary. Most infectious diseases are contagious 7-14 days before clinical signs are observed. Isolating new animals will help to ensure the good health status of your herd.

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Infectious Diseases & Vaccinations

A good vaccination program is another important component of maintaining your horse's health.

The vaccinations given will vary from region to region based on a number of factors including: the prevalence of a disease in a region or on a particular farm, the number of horses on a farm and their use, the degree of confinement and the amount of contact with other horses.

Like feeding and deworming programs, the vaccination program will need to be adapted and updated to maximize the herd immunity. At the very least, horses should be vaccinated for tetanus toxoid and encephalomyelitis every spring.

Mares and stallions used for breeding and animals used for competition will require vaccination for influenza, rhinopnuemonitis, strangles and perhaps Potomac Horse Fever (check with your local show secretary for specific requirements).

Recommended Vaccination Schedule