Vaccinations lapse and (possible) unusual vets' response?

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Ginge Crosby

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So a liveries horse had run over it's yearly booster (last done in aug 2012 with prequenza). Horse was 'started over' early Nov this yr. When livery called in to book 2nd jab 3-6wks after the one in Nov, was told by the head vet not to bother throwing her money away as he was only a couple of months (3) overdue, horse has a good track record of vaccinations and providing the horse wasn't going to be exported then he is 'medically covered'.

Now I wasn't present for this conversation, part of me is wondering if he was just saying to her 'look your horse doesn't do anything' (it's laminitic and never leaves premises), 'chances of him catching flu or tetanus are tiny so there's no point wasting your money on vaccinating'. If she was keeping horse at home then fine, she can choose to vaccinate or not, although its a risk I have never taken with my own.

However, yard policy is that all horses must be vaccinated and up to date. A couple of the horses are out competing almost every weekend, with a radius of up to 150 miles away.

I'm going to have a chat with the vet tomorrow just to see what the situation is.
My main question is, If the horse would be medically covered, where exactly is the cut off point of him not being covered? (i.e why do we bother with yearly boosters if we could all do 15-monthly boosters instead). Genuinely interested, if indeed this is his response and that livery hasn't got the wrong end of the stick. Has anyone else had a similar response from their vet?
 
The Jockey Club has set down the rules for vaccinations, and other sporting bodies (BHS/RC for example) have chosen to follow them too. They have stipulated the number of days between 1st, 2nd and third jabs which we all follow - but my vet told me that they don't actually match the drug manufacturer's requirements which is bizarre, no? And going a few months over with an older horse is unlikely to result in the horse catching flu, so I can see where the vet is coming from.

So I would agree in principle with the vet - older ponies have a higher degree of immunity anyway, tetanus is only necessary every two years, and so if the pony never travels and competes it would be very expensive to start the whole lot again for a pony going nowhere when it is covered medically as he says.

But of course if the yard policy is that it has to be up to date, then it has to be up to date. It is hard to make exceptions unless the yard changes its policy to saying those that don't compete don't need to be absolutely to the day.

And discuss...
 
It's more the yard policy side of it i'm worried about tbh, as you've said, when you start making exceptions it all becomes a bit sticky.

I have said to the livery i'll ring the vet and get his version of the conversation, but warned her that she should expect to have to finish the 'start over' course because of yard policy rather than the outcome of the call. I don't generally have dealings with this vet, I use the other practice in the area, so I may see what my regular vet thinks too. If I have the same opinion from both, that horse is covered, then it's something I need to have a think over. I agree, it would be a waste of money for the sake of a policy when medically the horse would be covered. But that said, I accidentally let mine slip, was due in feb, got restarted in april and my own vet did not say to me that he'd be covered. But maybe the other vet is more open about saving customers money?? hmm.

I don't really fancy changing the policy that way as it leaves it open to abuse and more yard politics, it's either everything is vaccinated or nothing is vaccinated. Any changes like that would be discussed between myself (YM) and the YO.
 
DuckToller said:
The Jockey Club has set down the rules for vaccinations, and other sporting bodies (BHS/RC for example) have chosen to follow them too. They have stipulated the number of days between 1st, 2nd and third jabs which we all follow - but my vet told me that they don't actually match the drug manufacturer's requirements which is bizarre, no? And going a few months over with an older horse is unlikely to result in the horse catching flu, so I can see where the vet is coming from.

So I would agree in principle with the vet - older ponies have a higher degree of immunity anyway, tetanus is only necessary every two years, and so if the pony never travels and competes it would be very expensive to start the whole lot again for a pony going nowhere when it is covered medically as he says.

But of course if the yard policy is that it has to be up to date, then it has to be up to date. It is hard to make exceptions unless the yard changes its policy to saying those that don't compete don't need to be absolutely to the day.

And discuss...
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This
 
I read the manufacturers recommendations and went with this [15 months]: horse never goes anywhere, there are two tetanus types, one is every two years and the other is three years, so it depends which one your vet practice uses.
I would usually have vet out once a year/fifteen months for the teeth, and fit jabs round that.
I don't think many yards look at your passport to check.....
 
MrsD123 said:
I don't think many yards look at your passport to check.....
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That's just it - I do. They provide me with passport on arrival for me to photocopy, then whenever vaccs sheet is updated they do me a new photocopy of that page. Not all yards in the area do check, but I know the one she came from was very strict on vaccinations too.
Will chat with the vets tomorrow and go from there.
 
In my opinion the required vaccination intervals are an attempt by the drugs companies to boost profits. Of course the horse is medically covered for both flu and tet if it was last done 15 months ago.

I wouldn't risk vaccinating a laminitic, especially if it was only done a few weeks ago, but that's another issue.

The tricky thing in this situation is do you make an exception this time because the pony is medically covered and therefore doesn't pose a health risk, or do you stick to your current policy so there's no wriggle room in the future.
 
If your biggest concern is breaking the yard rule for one then, if questioned, say that it's a one off because the horse never leaves the premises & is a laminitic & therefore vaccinations carry a higher risk for it. Better yet ask the livery not to say to the others & keep quiet yourself!
 
Nari said:
If your biggest concern is breaking the yard rule for one then, if questioned, say that it's a one off because the horse never leaves the premises & is a laminitic & therefore vaccinations carry a higher risk for it. Better yet ask the livery not to say to the others & keep quiet yourself!
Click to expand...

This ^^

I've been told by my vet when I let my mares vaccinations slip that if she did nothing 34 days late was not a problem but if I want to compete then I'd be better restarting as affiliated eventing/SJ/dr and indeed my local RC require vaccinations to be in line with jockey club rules.

However I was at a yard where owner kept and checked passports as you do. There was a shire and an ancient pony who did nothing and were purely pets. However the yard owner insisted that these animals were vaccinated in line with rules which I thought was ridiculous. Their horse IMO was more at risk of mine giving it flu than vice versa and they had tetanus up to date. I'd be tempted to keep it all quiet or review your policy for horses that never leave the yard.
 
I think we over vaccinate our horse and dogs etc.

They could go longer, some thing once they;ve had the first 3, they are covered for life.

But for a competing horse, they must have a full record with no gaps.


As this horse never leaves the yard, i think it will be fine.
The other horses thay do leave the yard and compete should be fine too.

but speak to your vet
 
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