What vaccinations can i give my horse myself

If a horse is going to react to a vaccine, it typically occurs quickly and requires immediate action from your veterinarian. Mild soreness or swelling at the vaccine site within a few hours, however, might be normal. Approximately 48 hours following vaccination, any mild swelling or stiffness should be substantially improved or completely resolved. Work with your vet to develop a vaccination program individualized to each horse on your property. The ultimate goal is to keep your horses healthy and protect them from preventable diseases.

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Typically the injection site is not aseptically cleaned, although we attempt to pick a cleaner spot of dry skin on the neck and wipe off any visible debris or dirt. There is no significant increase in infection rates with this as compared to a more thorough site preparation.

In fact, studies have shown that a simple swabbing of the area with an antiseptic agent has little effect on the cleanliness of the site, unless the area is scrubbed with an antiseptic soap for several minutes, and rinsed with alcohol. This is of course impractical in most situations. It is more important, therefore, that the syringe and needle used to administer the vaccine be sterile and handled properly—do not put your finger on any part of the needle except the hub at the bottom when injecting.

Where is the best place to administer the vaccine? To locate the best spot, put the heel of your hand at the junction of the shoulder blade and the neck, midway between the crest and the point of the shoulder. The best injection site would be underneath your fingers. There should be a nice area of flat muscle there. See picture. Many people will pinch a small amount of skin and place the needle directly adjacent to the skin tent.

Although not strictly necessary, this can help keep you steady if the horse moves a little, and in some cases can distract the horse slightly so they notice the needle less. Insert the needle typically a 1. This will ensure the needle will not shift during the injection, and that the vaccine is administered deep into the muscle. Also, the custom of sharply tapping the neck before placing the needle can make some horses more adverse to the injection process.

In other words, vaccines are meant to reduce an animal's risk of getting sick, and if they do get sick after vaccination, then the severity of the disease should be lessened and they may be less contagious.

The vaccine is usually a modified, weaker version of the disease you are trying to prevent. Now your horse is armed with a defense system ready to go if they do encounter the actual disease! Vaccines are created for specific diseases for a few different reasons. A disease might have a high fatality rate, such as tetanus. Or a disease might be highly contagious and easily spread from horse to horse, such as influenza or strangles. Finally, a disease may have the possibility to spread across different species these are called zoonotic diseases , such as West Nile Virus or rabies.

Core vaccines are vaccines that every single horse should receive, every year. Risk-based vaccines are vaccines that you may or may not administer to your horse, depending on a variety of factors location, travel expectations, odds of exposure, etc. The table below lists the vaccines available for horses:.

The short but frustrating answer to this is: it depends! Keep in mind that for previously-vaccinated, adult horses, the vaccines listed above need to be given on either an annual or semi-annual basis in order to be most effective. For example, if your horse received their rabies vaccine in the fall, then they do not need to receive the rabies vaccine the following spring, since the rabies vaccine is given on an annual basis.

The vaccines that SHOULD be given in the spring are the ones that prevent against diseases spread by insects such as mosquitoes. As the weather warms up, insects reemerge, and the risk of being infected by diseases that they carry will increase.