Ten Ways to Keep Your Horse Healthy

In This Chapter

• Reducing your horse’s stress
• Scheduling an annual exam with your veterinarian
• Engaging in routine care
• Recognizing the importance of daily exercise and good feed
• Trying out joint nutraceuticals

Even if you do everything right, your horse may someday get sick. But the better you treat her on a daily basis, the less likely that is to happen.

In this chapter, we give you the top ten things that you need to do to keep your horse happy and in good health. Follow these guidelines and you reduce your chances of having to deal with equine illness.

Minimize Stress

Horses are watchful creatures, and some are downright nervous. It’s understandable if you look at their history: horses evolved as prey animals over eons. The habit of looking over their shoulders is genetically ingrained in them.

Consequently, horses are more prone to stress than a lot of other creatures. Many horses get worked up when they’re placed in new situations. Most get upset when they’re taken away from other horses. Some become overwrought when they’re asked to ride in a trailer. Others get stressed when they’re taken to shows and competitions.

Warning!

Stress is bad for horses, just like it is for people. Too much stress can cause the following problems in your horse:

• Diarrhea
• Digestive tract ulcers
• Compromised immune system
• Bad behavior
• Depression

Remember

Keeping stress completely out of your horse’s life is almost impossible. The activities that owners ask their horses to partake in do put some pressure on them. But you can certainly keep stress to a minimum. Here are a few pointers to keep your horse relaxed and happy:

- Take care of her health by following all the advice in this chapter (and in this book, for that matter!).

- Don’t ask her to live without another horse as a companion; if you can’t afford more than one horse, consider boarding a friend’s horse on your property, or keeping your horse at a boarding stable or friend’s house.

- Be patient when you’re riding or training her, and seek professional help if necessary.

- Try to see the world from her perspective (such as understanding that horses are prey and herd animals).

- Prepare her for new experiences by slowly introducing her to them.

- Let her be a horse. Give her time to unwind and just hang out, doing what horses like to do: grazing, being around other horses, rolling, and running loose in a big paddock or pasture.

Be aware that horses stress easily. Even if yours doesn’t show it outwardly, she may be internalizing her stress. Keep her mental health in mind at all times, and you’ll be sure to keep her stress to a minimum. See Chapter Connecting Your Horse’s Behavior to Health for more information about the connection between your horse’s mind and health.

Schedule an Annual Vet Exam

When money is tight, the first thing that horse owners often give up is having a well-horse exam every year. After all, if your horse is feeling fine, why have the vet come out?

Just like humans need to see their doctor every year for an annual checkup, horses need to see the vet every year. Although your horse may seem healthy, your vet can determine whether or not a problem is lurking undetected.

Remember

When you call your vet out for an annual exam, one of the first things that he or she checks is your horse’s teeth (we talk about teeth in more detail later in this chapter). He or she will also listen to your horse’s lungs and heart.

The vet will also ask you questions about your horse’s appetite and manure, his performance when asked to work, and other basic questions. This is the time to let the vet know if you’re seeing anything unusual, or if you have any concerns about your horse. If something seems amiss, your vet can follow up with whatever tests are deemed necessary to help get to the bottom of your horse’s condition. You can also use this time to discuss your horse’s vaccination and deworming program (which we discuss later in this chapter), and have shots given if they’re due. (In fact, many owners schedule their horse’s annual exam around the time vaccinations are needed so that the vet can give these at the same time that he or she conducts the exam.)

You may also want to consider having your vet draw blood and run a full blood count on your horse. This test allows your vet to see how well your horse’s organs are functioning, whether he has any issues with white or red blood cell count, and a host of other things.

By having your horse checked out once a year, you’re sure to stay on top of his healthcare. You also build a rapport with your veterinarian, who will be there to help you and will already know your horse in the event of an emergency.

Have Your Horse Vaccinated Annually

Horses are susceptible to a whole host of infectious diseases, many of which can kill them. Fortunately, veterinary medicine has developed vaccines for many of these diseases, making it easy for horse owners to protect their equine companions.

• The vaccines regularly given by veterinarians may include the following:
• Equine encephalomyelitis
• Influenza/rhinopneumonitis
• Tetanus
• West Nile virus

In addition to these vaccines, your veterinarian may recommend others specific to your area of the country and your horse’s circumstances.

Remember

The veterinary community is currently revising some of its long-standing vaccination protocols. Many vets are recommending vaccination less often than in the past. Nevertheless, having your horse inoculated against common horse diseases every year is still important. Discuss a vaccination protocol with your veterinarian and stick to it. Your horse’s life depends on it. Check out Chapter Getting Up to Speed on Routine Care for more information on vaccinations.

File Your Horse’s Teeth Regularly

Horses have amazing jaws and teeth. They’re strong enough to grind down the most fibrous of plant materials in a short amount of time. The catch is that, in domestic life, a horse’s teeth need special care.

In the wild, horses manage to wear down their teeth evenly as they chew, probably because of the varied plant life they ingest. When living with humans and eating the same type of feed over and over, however, their teeth develop problems. Molars in the back of the horse’s jaw wear unevenly, leaving points on the outside and inside of the teeth that can cut into the horses’ cheeks and tongue when she chews. Hooks can also form on the molars.

Warning!

All this causes the horse to chew her food improperly and predisposes her to infections in the mouth, as well as the development of more complicated dental/oral problems. These situations may lead to problems such as weight loss or poor overall body condition, colic (see Chapter Tackling Common Ailments for details on colic), choking, or sinus infections, as well as misbehavior when a bit is in her mouth.

The best way to remedy the situation of unevenly worn teeth is to have the points filed down as often as your veterinarian recommends it. The best person for this job is an equine veterinarian. Vets are trained to file teeth correctly and to also examine the horse’s mouth for other issues, such as an abscessed or loose tooth.

Take Good Care of Your Horse’s Hooves

If you watch horses play or run, you get a good sense of how important their feet and legs are to them. Nature built them to stand almost all the time, and to move swiftly in a moment’s notice. Without healthy hooves and legs, a horse isn’t all he should be. In fact, without healthy hooves and legs, your horse may end up unable to be ridden or even function as a pasture ornament. Horses need to be able to stand and move in order to survive.

As a horse owner, you have an obligation to keep those hooves and legs in good condition. You do this by providing quality hoof care on a regular basis. As with feed, this isn’t an area to skimp on. Find a good farrier and stick to the hoof-care schedule that he or she gives you. (For details on how to best care for your horse’s hooves, see Chapter Getting Up to Speed on Routine Care.)

Deworm Regularly

Internal parasites can wreak havoc with a horse’s internal organs. The sight of a domestic horse who hasn’t been dewormed for much of her life is a sad one indeed. Horses who are infested with internal parasites have a shortened lifespan; these parasites literally suck the life out of them.

Deworming is easy to do thanks to many different deworming products now available to horse owners. These dewormers aren’t expensive and they’re easy to administer to your horse. You can buy them at your local tack and feed store, through mail order catalogs specializing in equine products, or through the Internet.

Your veterinarian is your best friend when you’re developing a good deworming program. The frequency of deworming and the type of dewormer that you use is dependent on your horse’s age, how she’s kept, and the area of the country where you live. Ask your vet to provide you with a good deworming program, and stick to it. Your horse will be all the better for it. For more details on internal parasites and deworming, see Chapter Getting Up to Speed on Routine Care.

Exercise Daily

Horses were designed to move all day long, taking little steps as they graze. When kept in stalls or paddocks, horses tend to stand around a lot. This puts pressure on their joints, tendons, and ligaments because it’s unnatural. It also reduces the motility of the horse’s digestive system.

Remember

By getting your horse out of his stall or paddock every day and getting him to move around, you’re providing his legs with the movement that they need to stay healthy. You’re also helping your horse’s circulation, and stimulating his digestive system. All this adds up to a horse who has a healthier body that will stay in good working order for a longer period of time.

Daily exercise also does wonders for a horse’s attitude. Horses who are cooped up in stalls or paddocks become bored. Some get depressed. Others develop stable vices (see Chapter Connecting Your Horse’s Behavior to Health for a description of these unfortunate behaviors). Just about any horse who is regularly cooped up in a stall and doesn’t get out much will be unmanageable or difficult to ride on the rare times he does get to come out. In fact, lack of exercise is one of the leading causes of training and behavioral issues in horses used for recreational riding. Getting your horse out once a day for some exercise and mental stimulation helps him stay sane.

Chapter Exercising for Health has the scoop on exercising your horse to keep him healthy.

Feed Quality Food

You are what you eat, even if you’re a horse. Feed your horse quality food and you have a healthier horse. It’s very simple.

Horses need roughage to stay healthy, and that means hay or pasture. It can be frustrating to spend your money on hay or to slave over your pasture and see it vanish so quickly, coming out the other end as loads of poop.

Because of this, one of the toughest aspects of horse ownership is resisting the urge to buy cheap hay, graze on not-so-good pasture, or purchase low-end grain or commercial feed. Horses are expensive, and horse owners often look for any way they can to save money.

Warning!

But saving money on your horse’s feed is pennywise and pound foolish. Your horse won’t stay healthy if you don’t provide her with good nutrition. Not only will her general condition suffer, but she may also become ill from eating hay or grain that’s moldy, or pasture that’s contaminated with toxic weeds.

Always buy the best hay or grain that you can afford and that’s appropriate for your individual horse’s needs, and work hard to keep your pasture producing quality grass. For details on how to judge the quality of feed, see Chapter Your Hungry Horse: Feeding Fundamentals.

Keep Your Horse at an Optimum Weight

Nothing is sadder than seeing a horse who’s grossly underweight. Seeing such a noble creature with all his bones protruding is incredibly depressing. But just as depressing to those who know horses is seeing a horse who’s grossly overweight. Fat horses have owners who mean well, giving them as much food as they’ll eat in the hopes of keeping them happy. The result is an animal whose joints and ligaments are being unnecessarily stressed, and who’s at risk for laminitis. (See Chapter Tackling Common Ailments for details on this disease.)

Remember

Use the guidelines in Chapter Your Hungry Horse: Feeding Fundamentals to determine how much your horse should eat every day. Keep a close eye on his weight, and if he’s getting too thin, ask your veterinarian about the best way to increase his dietary intake. After a physical exam to help rule out medical causes, your veterinarian can recommend changing the amount of food that you give your horse or possibly a change in type of food. If he’s getting too fat, reduce his grain intake and/or increase his exercise. If you aren’t sure whether your horse is too fat or too thin (or if you see changes in body condition despite food and exercise being the same as before), check out Chapter Sizing Up a Healthy Horse and consult with your veterinarian. Keeping your horse at the optimum body weight increases his chances of staying healthy throughout his life.

Use Joint Nutraceuticals

Although it hasn’t been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in clinical studies, anecdotal evidence has shown that joint nutraceuticals containing glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) may help a horse’s joints stay healthy.

You can find a vast array of products containing these ingredients in tack stores, in equine product catalogs, and online. Selecting the best one can be tricky because no real guidelines exist on how to pick these products. Ask your veterinarian for guidance. He or she may have experience with some of the products that are out there, and will most likely have an opinion on which one you should use for the best results.

For more information on joint nutraceuticals, see Chapter Checking Out Complementary and Alternative Therapies.

by Audrey Pavia with Kate Gentry-Running,DVM,CVA