Maintaining a good Immune System

One needs a good horse in order to compete at the highest level. Apart from that, a good horse must be in tip top condition to deliver his best performance. A healthy horse should be the responsibility of the owner; they need to be monitored for any changes in their behavior, performance and appearance. While a horse owner can devote his time in making sure that changes are being monitored, it still helps to take extra steps in preventing any health problems from arising.

There are many different areas in horse health care that owners should pay attention to, but some owners may take for granted the horse’s immune system. Sure vaccinations are important, but most horse owners stop at initial vaccinations and assume that the horse is already protected for life. Some vaccinations may need to be given every year to ensure optimum health defense. For this reason, you need to consult your veterinarian about the different vaccinations update. Then, there’s horse worming as well.

Avoiding Resistance to dewormers

Apart from giving updated shots for your horse, deworming is another issue. There are various horse worming products that can give your horse protection from different parasitic problems. There are three major classes of dewormers developed to combat different kinds of worms, namely macrocyclic lactones (i.e. AbIver™),  and benzimidazoles (i.e. AbFen™).

The use of these chemical wormers should be guided by the veterinarian. In the past, rotation of these chemical classes may be required to successfully target different worms. But now, the new practice of worming is to give the right wormer to target the parasites that are found in your horse. The presence of the type of parasites in your horse should be confirmed by fecal egg count tests. Before, the treatment of parasite infestation is aimed toward their complete elimination but this time, if your horse has an insignificant worm burden, you can usually let it pass as it cannot affect your horse to a severe level. This is also a practice researchers suggested to avoid drug resistance development.

Control flies in the Barn

Other than updated vaccinations and deworming, fly control should also be part of your overall health care plan for your horse. Flies are disease-carriers that not only brings nuisance to you and your neighbors, but to your horses as well. Fight flies with proper manure management, trapping devices, chemicals, and even other bugs that eat flies.

It is also important to feed you horse a balanced diet to help him avoid diseases. Changes in the normal function of the digestive system can have an effect on the immune system and makes the horse more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

You horse deserves to be in a healthy state. Give him the chance to deliver his best performance. When it comes to ensuring good health, always work with your veterinarian and use products trusted by many horse owners.

Your horse's health should be an owners first priority.
Your horse's health should be an owners first priority.