Does everyone have their horses Flu and Tet jabs done?

yep. every year they are both jabbed , my new 19 year old is up to date as well.
Like to be safe than sorry, and now I have done all I can to protect them.
 
kharber21 said:
Hi, ive had my horses jabs done every year since he was a foal for the past 8yrs, I had to as he was showing.
Now ive just booked him in to have all his jabs and teeth done next week, but I dont show him anymore and my mum has raised a point of does he REALLY need his jabs? after all humans have theirs done every 10-20 yrs or so!

Dont get me wrong I know jabs arn't just done for the showing records and actually have a purpose but do you think they are vital?
I dont like the idea of pumping loads of rubbish in him.

:)
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always have ours done.
 
When I was a kid, we only had our ponies vaccinated for flu to go to camp - no other reason. Tetanus is a different matter, of course.

All the horses I owned in the past came with upto date flu jabs, and I continued with them. However, the ponies I have now have only ever been vaccinated for tetanus and I probably won't have them flu jabbed unless they start doing RC or PC again, because it is expensive to start the course from scratch.

Needless to say mine are not on a livery yard!
 
Does it make me a cruel horse owner that I am very reluctant to have my horse jabbed? My old YO was in charge of her vaccinations whilst she was kept there, and I paid the money for them to get done the next time the vet was at the yard... but apparently they didn't get done? Didn't notice 'til I moved my horse and had a look at her passport and saw no stamp?

Since then it's been at the back of my mind anyway, she's kept in a field I rent, no horses coming or going etc. But I'm just not in the position to be restarting all her vaccinations from scratch seeing as they got messed up before, especially due to the ridiculous call out fees! To be honest, it's not really crossed my mind that they were that important when not competing... but I think I will think again about at least getting her tetanus jab.

Just to clarify... I'm not some kind of cruel person or anything :) Bonnie is very well loved and looked after :)
 
It is incredible that anyone doesn't vaccinate for Tetanus, or isn't aware of the dangers. I absolutely always jab for Tet, and you can get it seperately to flu.

Am more lax about flu, I do dislike the idea of using chemicals etc. unless absolutely neccessary. I stopped vaccinating my old pony when she stopped competing - I figured she was probs immune to everything under the sun. Still did tet tho. Just had my youngster done for flu, in the wildly optimistic hope that he will go out competing this Winter, he was tetanussed as soon as possible after I had him. He had never had a jab when I bought him, it leaves me cold to think of the possible outcome.
 
both horses compete so yes and my mare is in foal so i have said she needs to be done to. however when joe wasn't competing his jabs lapsed for 2 yrs
 
Not sure about it in England, but all horses in France must have up to date vaccins, especially for shows, also We are all issued passports by the Haaras nationaux which includes a complete log where all the vaccins have to be detailed and stamped.
You can have a very hard time selling your horse over here if it doesn't have the required papers and vaccins needed.. Also I have noticed when going to any show/outing or moving yards you can be asked to see the complete log of all the vaccins which MUST be up to date and also My vet is very picky about the date, so same date every year he marks it in advance so never forgets. I actually forgot one year and ended up taking him to the vets in the trailor to have his vaccins done, they were about a month and a week out from the original vaccins - got a right *******ing from the vet!
 
I used to have both of mine done every year. But one year my older chap had flu and tet vacc and then worming within a few days of each other. Then came down with virus and was very poorly for weeks, and then it kept recurring for months and then flared up every so often.

On that basis I now use worm counts and blood tests for worms, and only worm if needed, and the older chap now just has the tetanus. Vet agreed it was sensible since for him the side effects of the jab were much worse than the illness would be, and also he lives at home and only occasionally hacks, and then with one other vacc'd horse.

My younger girl has flu and tet, but only cos we have to cos she does endurance events. If it wasnt for that I would do tet only with her. Not a fan of the flu vacc after watching my horse turn into dull skin and bones, it took several years to get on top of it.

But if competing or on a livery yard I think you have to do it as the flu would spread like billio
 
IMO it is absolutely vital to vaccinate for tetanus at the very least. If you dont vacc for tetanus you really are putting your horse at unnecessary risk. Having seen a friends pony die of tetanus many years ago I would always vaccinate. If your horse isnt competeing and you are still doing Flu and tet then letting it go a few wks over will still mean your horse is covered for disease, but tetanus is due approx every 2yrs(18-30mths depending on manufacturer) so probably the sensible idea is to vacc for that only.
 
My two that go out and about have flu & tet. Their shetland companion just has tet every 2 years. I would never skip tet vac - it is only every 2 years, so hardly a great outlay in terms of time and money.
 
Yes - mine are at home and even the ones that go nowhere are vaccinated, it would not even enter my mind not to, I have seen a horse die from Tetanus and believe me, it was not a nice death.

On another point, your insurance could be null and void if you do not vaccinate, I know it is one of the terms of mine (NFU).
 
As Sirena has just stated CHECK your insurance policy! Most will have this requirement!

Vets in newmarket are seeing an 'alarming' new trend of horses with tetanus whereby owners 'don't renew' the jabs.

Working in one of the Top Equine hospitals it beggars belief that 'owners' whether they 'think' that they are being 'hippy' following the trend of the MMR vaccinations for children saying no to chemicals in their horse!

There is nothing hippy or trendy telling someone that their horse will die due to them not doing their annual vaccinations nor when their Insurance won't pay out on the emergency admission to the hospital as cause of death will be stated 'due to tetanus caused by lack of annual vaccinations'

Please do not run the risk of your best friend becoming ill. Although you cannot vaccinate against EVERY equine flu strain just having the flu vac will be enough to prevent most.

Yes some will argue that their horses have had an 'allergic reaction', but then their vets will have given that owner a written vets certificate stating this.
 
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