Horse Health | Horse Racing Free Tips

Should A Horse With An Unknown History Be Vaccinated?

If a horse is bought at a sale or an auction and his vaccination history is unknown, what is the best approach for administering routine shots? Should he be given boosters, assuming he has been vaccinated previously? Or should he be given shots as if he has no vaccination history at all? Do titers need to be pulled to see what, if any, diseases he is immune to? These are all important questions that can greatly affect a horse's health and safety.

It's best to treat a horse with no vaccination history as if he has never received any vaccines, administering both shots and their routine boosters, reports EQUUS magazine. Administering additional doses of most vaccines is not harmful, with one exception: The strangles vaccine.

In rare instances, horses that have had strangles before, or those that have been repeatedly vaccinated for strangles, may develop a potentially serious complication if administered the vaccine again: purpura hemorrhagica. This abnormal reaction is when the blood vessels of the head, legs and abdomen swell.

Owners of horses with unknown vaccination history would be wise to draw a titer to see if the horse has antibodies to the organism that causes strangles before administering the vaccine.

Horse Owners: Input Needed On Blanketing Preferences

To blanket or not to blanket – that is the never-ending question facing may horse owners. Wright State University is looking for responses to a blanketing survey to help researchers better understand horse owner's blanketing and management practices during winter months. If you:

Are over 18
Own one or more horses (if you own more than one, please respond with the majority of the horse's care in mind)
Live in the United States or Canada

Please click here to take the brief survey. Wright State asks that horse owners respond only once. The survey will be open until January 5, 2021. Results will be summarized and shared at a later date.

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Flaxseed Oil Boasts Measurable Horse Health Benefits

Supplementing oil to a horse's diet can be done with a variety of oils for a multitude of reasons, but a recent study has found that feeding flaxseed oil to horses is a healthier option than feeding soybean oil.

Common oils fed to horses include soybean, corn, rapeseed, fish and flaxseed. The quality of the fat used is important in equine nutrition. Flaxseed oil is high omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and has a good ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. However, excess intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids may increase the risk of oxidation reactions, which can lead to imbalances and oxidative stress, which can be harmful for the horse.

Drs. Iwona Sembratowicz, Grzegorz Zięba, Ewelina Cholewinska and Anna Czech wanted to test if supplementing a horse's diet with flaxseed oil reduced oxidative stress and positively influenced blood biomarkers.

The scientists used 40 healthy horses in the study: 20 mares and 20 stallions. The horses were divided into two similar groups; they were stalled separately and kept in light work. All horses received hay and oats with a ration balancer in their morning feed. Both sets of horses were orally administered oil via a syringe after their morning meal: The control group received soybean oil and the experimental group received the same amount of flaxseed oil.

After 60 days, blood was drawn before the horses ate breakfast. The study team found that the horses fed flaxseed oil had better lipid profiles, improved blood parameters and better antioxidant mechanisms than those horses that were given soybean oil. The flaxseed also significantly lowered plasma glucose levels and increased antioxidant indices and red blood cell indicators.

The scientists concluded that switching a horse from soybean oil to flaxseed oil was beneficial to its health.

Read the study here.

Prisma Partners With B.W. Furlong & Associates, Company To Receive Inaugural Imaging System

Prisma has come to mutually agreeable terms with B.W. Furlong & Associates to be the recipient of Prisma's first robotic imaging system. This agreement represents a significant milestone that validates the equine veterinary community's demand for Prisma's novel technology that produces full-body imaging of a conscious and standing horse.

“Our strategy in establishing relationships with some of the country's largest and most prestigious practices was twofold,” said Michael Silver, Prisma's founder and CEO.

“Firstly, these practices were an invaluable resource during the early development process that ensured that the system would work well for the equine patient. Secondly, as we approach commercial readiness, we want to have a few early systems out in the field to ensure they will function perfectly prior to scalable operations. Meeting or exceeding our customer's expectations is of paramount importance.”

Prisma and B.W. Furlong have been in discussions for nearly a year, during which time the advancement of the system's development and functionality were able to be demonstrated and documented.

“It's undeniable that Prisma's system's capability to perform distal limb and head C.T. imaging of a conscious horse, plus image the axial skeleton and abdomen represents a material advancement for equine diagnostics and their health and welfare,” said B.W. Furlong's founder Brandan Furlong, MVB MRCVS. “We've been able to monitor and vet the progress of the system's development and are excited by the prospect of getting their inaugural system. We're equally enthusiastic about having this technology to perform more comprehensive diagnostics and deliver exceptional patient care.”

Silver estimates that the system will be ready for installation by late 2021. Prisma is in discussions with several other top veterinary practices as additional potential candidates to receive one of its early systems.

Learn more about Prisma here.

Learn more about B.W. Furlong here.

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