Do you vaccinate your horse(s)? *poll*

Do you vaccinate your horse(s)?

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JoJo_

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My new boy hadnt been vaccinated for a long time before I bought him. I was quite shocked by this as I thought everyone vaccinated. The dealer was selling on behalf of his owner in Sussex and said a lot of people dont bother vaccinating as its expensive especially if you have a lot of horses. And people who dont venture out of their yard. But Cooper had been going dressaging for the past year.

So I thought i'd do a poll. If you dont vaccinate could you tell me why please? :)
 
I vaccinate my daughters pony as she goes to pony club.
But I know a lot of people who dont vaccinate if their horses/ponies never go off the yard, they view the risk as so minimal.
But I dont know anyone who takes their horse out and about that doesn't vaccinate x
 
i do vaccinate now, but when i had my own private yard with my just my own horses coming and going i didn't bother. it a was a risk i took but as none of the horses competed and only joe let the yard hacking we felt the risk was so minimal. as soon as we moved to a commercial yard he was vaccinated as the risk is a lot higher with horses coming and going, and did the odd yard show, so mingled with strange horses
 
Have you seen a horse die of tetanus? I have (as a child in SA). It is not nice.

Flu - ok take the risk. Tetanus. No. The bacilli live in the ground you cannot gaurentee to be tetanus free.

Not work the risk.

Not ever.
 
I vaccinate my pony as she goes out and about and does a bit of endurance.

I did vaccinate the big chap but one year he got very ill after worming/vacc and reacted again the next year. ME type recurring virus.low white cells etc.

Vet (Royal vet college) advised us not to vacc for flu him any more (he only goes for occasional hack with our (vaccd) pony and they live at home) and just to do tetanus, so thats all he has.

ETA Im with Shay, theres no excuse for not vaccing against tetanus, thats cruel IMO, given how easily horses pick up a thorn puncture, they could suffer an agonising death. Flu is responsible to do if your horse mixes with others eg at a livery yard or competing or hacking.
 
My vet has strongly advised against vaccination. Last time it made my horse incredibly ill. Fortunately I had meds to hand which allievated the worst of it.

Now we will vaccinate against tetnus every three years or in emergency. Not flu. There hasn't been a flu problem for over 60 years. If there is in the future we will think again. But probably test for antibodies or similar if possible first. Not worth risking her life.
 
The horses that compete are vaccinated to the required level.

The ones that don't compete are vaccinated to a level decided on following discussions with my vet and various other senior equine vets and also people who work developing vaccines ie nothing like as frequently as the manufacturers state but definitely enough to keep up their resistance.
 
missyme10 said:
But I know a lot of people who dont vaccinate if their horses/ponies never go off the yard, they view the risk as so minimal.
But I dont know anyone who takes their horse out and about that doesn't vaccinate
Click to expand...

This.

I vaccinate all if any are going out but as none are going out the risks are now minimal.

If any start going out again they will all be vaccinated again.

Its a bit like having your Hep B jabs. How many of us have had those and kept them up to date? My tetnus ran out last year but I haven't gone back to get another.
 
I don't understand anyone who keeps a horse or pony and who doesn't vaccinate against tetanus. There is no excuse unless against veterinary advice. Flu is optional but I choose to vaccinate mine.
 
I always have done as a matter of course- they were on livery with horses coming and going so I always played it safe. Never had a reaction until I had my new horse done last week at the same time he was being micro-chipped.

Within a few hours of being done he was as stiff as a board- walking sideways, couldn't put his head to the floor to graze or have his tea....muched away at his haynet though. He was fine after a couple of days of bute but it wasn't nice to see. I think I will have them done again.....although theres only the 3 of them now on my land, they still do go to shows and I hack out with friends who are still on livery or at private yards with other horses.

When he's due his booster in a months time I will ask the vet to jab him inhis bum and leave me some bute;)
 
Yes, both of mine are. They were done on friday in fact. £111 for two!! And that's a shared visit, although didn't get the bill of the visiting vet, so am asking for a copy of the invoice, as I think me and my friend both got charged full whack for the visit, as hers was £67 for one vacc.:rolleyes:
 
Mine are done for tetanus only. Only Henry ever leaves the field regularly and this is for a hack in a remote area. He gets the jab every 4 years officially, although it is believed that beyond a certain age, animals (including humans) have 'lifetime immunity', so I don't know if he'll have another one done - he's nearly 19 and had his last one last year.

You can in theory choose to have a titre done on a a blood test, to check if immunity is still strong. However, it would cost more than the jab for most animals, so I'm guessing this is why nobody bothers! I recently had a titre done for my Hep B status, for which i was vaccinated 11 years ago. It was still high, but the buggers had given me a booster anyway, whilst waiting for the results, as I handle human tissue. Ouch!
 
I only vaccinate for tetanus, and that's every few years. My pony doesn't leave the yard and by the time I get my boy back from loan he probably won't be leaving the yard either as I don't really want to compete him anymore. However the next horse I get will be a competition horse so will of course be vaccinated religiously.
 
I vaccinate everything I'm responsible for - kids, dogs, horses and me. :D

Although I can't have tetanus vaccinations but I would never not do the horses - far to horrible to contemplate the alternative.
 
Yes, kids, dogs and horses all vaccinated!

I'm surprised at how many people don't though, especially riding schools I know the horses don't go anywhere and it's expensive to get them all done.

x
 
Vaccinations are all up to date, done annually as it is a requirement of the livery yard.

TBH, for what it costs and for the peace of mind I'd do it as I want to know my mare is protected as much as possible against tetanus for those little bumps and scrapes these equines seem to acquire.
 
Vaccinate all of mine, always will and that includes my 2 veteran ponies who never leave the field (so doubt they'd catch flu). My horse is vacc'd every 6 months at the moment for FEI rules which is annoying and expensive!
 
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