Help evaluate and understand your horse’s risk for disease.

These guidelines can help you decide which diseases to vaccinate your horse against. Photo courtesy of Zoetis.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Zoetis

We all know it’s important to help protect our American Quarter Horses against disease with annual vaccinations. However, as horse owners, it’s also crucial that you understand the specific diseases you need to protect your horses against and when.

To help evaluate what diseases to vaccinate your horses against, the American Association of Equine Practitioners has published guidelines that you can discuss with your veterinarian. They break these vaccinations into two categories: core and risk-based. Core vaccinations are those that every horse should receive at least annually, while risk-based vaccines are recommended for horses with particular risk profiles, depending on their age, geography, housing or function.^{1 Read the rest of this entry »}

Follow these grooming tips to help maintain horse health.

Get into a daily grooming program to make your horse’s coat shine and keep him in the best of health. Journal photo.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Farnam

Whether you show or not, good grooming is an important part of horse ownership. In or out of the show ring, when your horse looks good, you look good.

Most horses enjoy the attention of regular grooming and look forward to the daily ritual. It strengthens the bond between horse and owner. Additionally, grooming your horse on a regular basis gives you a chance to spot minor scratches, rashes, cuts or swelling before they become major problems. Read the rest of this entry »

How immunomodulators can help decrease upper respiratory disease in horses.

Using an immunomodulator can help mitigate the effects of equine upper respiratory disease, particularly in these high-risk settings. Photo courtesy of Zoetis.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Zoetis

Travel, unfamiliar environments, exposure to other horses, breeding and competing are all things that can cause stress to your American Quarter Horses. And often, a stressed horse can lead to a sick horse – particularly upper respiratory disease, caused by equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 – and add stress

for you.

Because many horse industry events feature intermingling of large populations of horses with unknown health status, outbreaks of infectious equine respiratory disease can occur, with major financial implications. Using an immunomodulator can help mitigate the effects of equine upper respiratory disease, particularly in these high-risk settings. Read the rest of this entry »

Zoetis combination vaccines can help protect your horse from this and other diseases.

All unvaccinated horses can be at risk of developing tetanus, an often deadly disease. Photo courtesy of Zoetis.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Zoetis

Your American Quarter Horses can be at risk for many diseases, such as West Nile, eastern and western equine encephalomyelitis, rabies, strangles and tetanus. Fortunately, annual combination vaccinations can help reduce your horses’ risk of developing tetanus, as well as other core diseases.

All unvaccinated horses can be at risk of developing tetanus, an often deadly disease. It’s caused by a potent neurotoxin produced by the anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria, Clostridium tetani, typically found in the digestive tract of many animals and in the soil.¹ It’s not contagious among horses or people, but disease occurs when Cl. tetani enter the horse’s body via puncture wounds, open lacerations, surgical incisions or exposed tissues.^{2 Read the rest of this entry »}

To safeguard horse health, horse owners should be wary of unapproved drugs.

UlcerGard (omeprazole) and GastroGard (omeprazole) are the only products FDA-approved to treat and prevent equine stomach ulcers. Photo courtesy of Merial.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Merial

The recent human meningitis outbreak, caused by the injection of contaminated compounded steroid products prepared by the New England Compounding Center,¹ has put compounding pharmacies into the headlines. With a death toll reaching 39 and a reported 656 cases nationwide as of late December,¹ the outbreak has raised questions in consumers’ minds about drug safety.

But it isn’t just human drugs consumers should be concerned about. Compounding pharmacies prepare drugs for horses, as well. In 2009, a vitamin and mineral supplement prepared by Franck’s Compounding Lab in Ocala, Florida, included an excessive amount of one ingredient (selenium) that resulted in the death of 21 polo ponies.² In other cases of questionable drug safety, illegal products that claim to be “the same as” name brand drugs are marketed to consumers, sometimes with devastating results. In 2006, a reported six horses died as a result of using an illegal clenbuterol product.^{3 Read the rest of this entry »}

Safeguard horse health by educating yourself about genetic disease tests available through AQHA.

Genetic tests can be used to help breeders and owners identify affected horses. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Thanks to decades of research, we now know that defects in inheritable genes are responsible for some of the diseases that afflict some American Quarter Horses. The effects of these diseases are wide-ranging, from mild and manageable to severe and terminal. Passing these diseases on to successive generations often causes unnecessary suffering and also leads to financial losses for breeders.

Fortunately, genetic tests have been developed to help breeders identify affected horses, allowing them to make better decisions and avoid perpetuating these traits. AQHA offers a panel test for five genetic diseases – glycogen branching enzyme deficiency, heredity equine regional dermal asthenia, hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, malignant hyperthermia and polysaccharide storage myopathy. Read the rest of this entry »

Make vaccinations a part of winter horse health and show preparation.

Whenever you expose your horses to other horses, you pose a risk to their health. Photo courtesy of Pfizer Animal Health.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Pfizer Animal Health

As you prepare your horses for winter shows, you should expect to bring home only one thing – the grand prize, not a sick horse. Unfortunately, shows have become a breeding ground for disease transfer.

Recent national events have been linked to disease outbreaks. Last year, 90 confirmed cases of equine herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) were traced to the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships, which was in Ogden, Utah, in May. The outbreak of EHV-1 after this event resulted in the euthanasia or death of 13 horses and the cancellation or rescheduling of horse shows and competitions throughout the western states.^{1 Read the rest of this entry »}

Using an intranasal vaccine can help prevent this complicated disease.

Strangles is a highly contagious disease that may be present with no outward clinical signs in a persistent carrier. Photo courtesy of Pfizer Animal Health.

From AQHA corporate partner Pfizer Animal Health

Having to diagnose a disease with no signs is something every horse owner wants to avoid. In the case of strangles, that’s exactly what you might be facing.

The disease caused by Streptococcus equi, more commonly known as strangles, is a highly contagious upper respiratory infection that is most common among young horses. Symptoms usually include fever, difficulty swallowing, abnormal breathing, nasal discharge, swelling and/or abscesses of the lymph nodes.¹ The disease can spread quickly in a stable or in a show setting, and it is easily transmitted through direct animal-to-animal contact or by objects – buckets, bridles or the hands of the caretakers – that may have come in contact with infected horses. Read the rest of this entry »

Think about horse health when you’re preparing to haul your weanling.

Traveling safely with a weanling takes some preparation, but it is worth it to keep your baby safe. Journal photo.

By AQHA Professional Horseman Jack Brizendine with Larri Jo Starkey in The American Quarter Horse Journal

It’s a long way from Lincoln, California, where I fit my halter horses, to any of the weanling futurities

or the AQHA World Championship Show.

Through the years, I’ve learned how to travel long distances safely with a baby. Everything I’m going to tell you is something I’ve learned the hard way, through a baby becoming injured, stressed or dying. Read the rest of this entry »

The right vaccine at the right time can help your horses stay healthy.

Older horses are more likely to transmit the virus without showing signs of infection. Journal photo

From AQHA Corporate Partner Pfizer Animal Health

In the midst of winter, equine respiratory disease, specifically caused by equine herpesvirus, should be top of mind for horse owners. It’s three times more likely for equine respiratory disease to be rhinopneumonitis due to EHV than to be flu caused by equine influenza virus.¹ Respiratory disease caused by EHV occurs most often in autumn and winter in weaned foals and yearlings.

EHV is a common virus that occurs in horse populations worldwide. Older horses are more likely to transmit the virus without showing signs of infection. The two most common types are equine herpesvirus Type 1, which causes abortion, respiratory disease and neurologic disease; and equine herpesvirus Type 4, which usually causes only respiratory disease but can occasionally cause abortion. Both EHV-1 and EHV-4 infect the respiratory tract, and they can spread via aerosolized secretions from infected coughing horses or direct or indirect contact with nasal secretions, causing disease characterized by fever, lethargy, anorexia, nasal discharge and cough.² Although EHV-1 causes outbreaks of abortion, EHV-4 has been associated with only single occurrences and is not a risk for contagious abortions.³

Read the rest of this entry »

Tips to ensure horse health during cold weather.

Take a few extra precautions with your broodmare during the winter months. Journal photo.

From AQHA Corporate Partner Pfizer Animal Health

Keeping mares healthy throughout pregnancy is important for the delivery of healthy, happy foals. For owners of American Quarter Horse mares waiting for the spring foaling season, it’s crucial to remember to take extra care of these mares during the cold winter months.

Winter care for pregnant mares should focus on maintaining healthy nutrients in their diets and ensuring that mares are maintaining their current body condition. They will no longer have the nutrients in lush grass to supplement their diets, so ensuring that they have adequate, good-quality hay can help them maintain optimum body condition. You might need to adjust the amount of grain they are given if they are not able to maintain an adequate body condition on a hay-only diet. Also, make sure they have enough clean water. Horses will consume more water if it is kept around 45 degrees F. If this is not feasible in your barn, make sure that any ice is removed at least twice daily. Your veterinarian can help determine what body condition your mare is in. Keep in mind that pregnant mares will need extra feed during the last trimester.^{1 Read the rest of this entry »}

Is this warm treat beneficial to horse health?

There are pros and cons to feeding your horse bran mash during the cold winter months. Journal photo.

By Dr. Thomas R. Lenz in The American Quarter Horse Journal

During these cold, dreary days of winter, a common discussion around the barns in this area is whether or not horse owners should provide their horses with a bran mash daily, weekly or at all. So I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the benefits and problems of feeding bran.

Wheat bran is a fluffy, low-density feed that is similar in nutrient content to oats. It has one-half the density of whole oats, around one-fourth the density of corn or wheat and about four times the phosphorous content of most grains. It’s relatively high in vitamins such as niacin, thiamin and riboflavin, but much lower in B vitamins. It is somewhat palatable to horses, once they’ve become accustomed to it, but expensive for the nutritional value it provides. Read the rest of this entry »