Preventative Health Care
Our Philosophy
At Pacific Crest Sporthorse, we believe that the best way to treat a sick horse is to prevent him from becoming sick in the first place. And we want you to be worry-free regarding your horses routine preventative health care needs. Our goal is to stay abreast of current developments regarding vaccination, parasite control strategies, lameness prevention and basic health care. We pay close attention to current research, and make sure your horse benefits from the most up-to-date recommendations available.
Benefits
Between grazing in the pasture, traveling to shows and the stress and strain of daily training, your horse is constantly exposed to a variety of health threats. Our preventative medicine program consists of detailed vaccination and deworming protocols, strategies to preserve soundness and readily available consultations on basic husbandry, including nutrition, housing, and turn out. The benefits of a carefully constructed preventative health care plan are clear:
- Boost your horse's immunity and prevent infectious disease
- Prevent spread of disease to other horses
- Prevent colic, weight loss and unthriftiness due to internal parasites
- Protect your horse's joints and soft tissues from injury
- Insure optimal nutrition for overall well-being
- Prevent injury
Basic Preventative Health Care Services
As a client of PCS, we can help you with every aspect of your horse's care. We offer not only automatic preventative health care programs for large boarding barns and training stables, but also carefully monitored reminder systems for the individual horse owner. If you have questions regarding your horses routine care, our doctors strive to be readily available any time you need us. We are always simply a phone call away.
Vaccination
Vaccination protocols are most effective when tailored to your horse's particular situation. Because of on-going vaccine research, there are often new vaccines or new recommendations for vaccine use. At PCS, we evaluate your horse's circumstances before deciding which vaccines suit his particular needs. We choose our vaccinations carefully, taking care to minimize the risk for side effects while making sure your horse is adequately protected against disease Our basic vaccination recommendation includes the following:
- Spring: Tetanus
- Eastern and Western Sleeping Sickness
- West Nile Virus
- Intranasal influenza
- Fall: Rabies
- Intranasal influenza
- Based on need: Rhinopneumonitis
- Potomac Horse Fever
Deworming
Our current recommendations for deworming protocols are based on recent information about changing parasite populations and concerns about dewormer resistance. We recommend an individually tailored deworming schedule that is carefully monitored for effectiveness using routine fecal egg counts. The following outlines the two deworming protocols we currently advocate for mature horses.
Modified Interval Deworming
Spring (March/April)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with moxidectin/praziquantel
- Check fecal egg counts on all horses with EPG;200 prior to deworming
Summer (June/July)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with EPG 200 (dewormer choice based on fecal exam)
Fall (September/October)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with ivermectin
Winter (December/January)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with EPG 200 (dewormer choice based on fecal exam)
Daily Deworming
(Recommended for horses maintained on pasture in groups to minimize parasite egg contamination of pastures)
- Daily administration of Strongid C (Pyrantel Tartrate)
Spring (March/April)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with ivermectin/praziquantel
- Check fecal egg counts on all horses with EPG 200 prior to deworming
Fall (September/October)
- Check fecal egg counts
- Deworm all horses with ivermectin
- Check fecal egg counts on all horses with EPG200 prior to deworming
Maintaining the Performance Horse
Many hard working equine athletes seem to benefit from a variety of supplements or medications designed to help support joints and soft tissue structures. We advocate regular use of medications such as Adequan or Legend or varying schedules according to your horse's needs and can help you design a program best suited for your situation and your horse's training and competition schedule. We can also help with regular soundness evaluations and monitoring of your horse's condition in order to determine additional steps you might consider to insure your hard working horse stays as sound as possible.
Basic Husbandry Consultation
We believe that no question is too small to ask, and pride ourselves on our availability. If you have a question, a doctor will be available to discuss it with you, usually that very day. We are up-to-date on horse issues such as nutrition and behavior, and we are happy to discuss basic farm management issues, such as arena footing, pasture management, and fencing.
Beyond the Basics
We work closely with the areas top farriers, alternative therapists, and even equine facility designers. We can help you establish solid relationships with all of the individuals who can be a part of your horse's health care team. Whether it's shoeing, saddle fit or footing concerns we're here to help. And if we don't know the answer, we are happy to point you in the direction of someone who will!
