March Kicks off Vaccination Season! Safeguard Your Equine Partner

Guelph, ON – Mar. 3, 2025 Equine Guelph’s Vaccination Equi-Planner is a cutting-edge healthcare tool designed to help horse owners protect their valuable equine partners. This innovative tool provides a starting point to discuss a comprehensive vaccination schedule with your veterinarian that will be tailored to each horse’s unique needs, aiming for optimal health and performance.

Provide Protection for Your Partner

Investing in a horse is a significant commitment, both emotionally and financially. With the Vaccination Equi-Planner (TheHorsePortal.ca/VaccinationTool), horse owners can help protect their partners by planning timely and appropriate vaccinations. The nominal cost of vaccines, far out weight the financial loss that could be incurred from devastating diseases. Not to mention the downtime required to recover from an illness, the horse’s suffering and the rider sidelined from saddle time.

Each year, Equine Guelph declares March as Vaccination Education Month. Before the vector-borne diseases get their wings, it is a good time to visit the Vaccination Equi-Planner (TheHorsePortal.ca/VaccinationTool) and Sickness Prevention in Horses course – both kindly sponsored by Zoetis.

“Vaccination is an incredible tool for enhancing a horse’s level of protection against infectious disease. Zoetis’ portfolio of equine vaccines can be tailored to meet the needs of YOUR horse, with products providing coverage against core and risk-based diseases in a range of convenient formats designed to elicit optimal levels of protection,” says Tamara Quaschnick, DVM, Veterinary Services Manager, Zoetis. “Your veterinary care team can help you best utilize this tool, ensuring that your horse is getting the right coverage at the right time.”

What to Expect from Vaccination

Vaccination is a crucial aspect of equine healthcare, and the Vaccination Equi-Planner makes it easier than ever to stay on top of your horse’s vaccination schedule. Here’s what horse owners can expect:

Customized Vaccination Schedule: The tool generates a personalized vaccination plan based on your horse’s age, location, and lifestyle, which helps guide decisions for the right vaccines at the right time. Vaccines do not provide immediate protection; it can take days or weeks for a horse to develop optimal immunity after vaccination, so timing is very important. Planning ahead will allow vaccines to be given well in advance of the next stressor such as travelling. There are also windows of time before competitions for the administrations of vaccines to be aware of.

The frequency of your vaccinations or boosters will depend on the aforementioned factors. There are also special circumstances to consider, such as an extended vector season or even a significant wound if it is incurred over 6 months after a Tetanus shot. The length of your show season may also necessitate a booster of certain shots to maintain optimal immunity.

Disease Prevention: Vaccinations help protect horses from a range of infectious diseases, including West Nile Virus, Equine Influenza, Rabies, Eastern/Western equine encephalitis and Tetanus, reducing the risk of illness.
Peace of Mind: While no vaccine boasts 100% immunity, horse owners can rest assured that they are taking proactive steps to maintain their horse’s health, minimizing the risk of unexpected veterinary expenses. Vaccines significantly reduce the risk of disease which means if a vaccinated horses does get sick, they will generally experience milder symptoms and recover more quickly.

Working closely with a veterinarian to develop and maintain a vaccination program is an important step for optimal equine health. In addition to core vaccinations, your vet will know what diseases are endemic and emerging in your region. It’s important to monitor your horse after vaccination and consult your veterinarian if you notice any reactions. Severe reactions to vaccines are rare but can occur. These may include allergic reactions, abscesses, hives or difficulty breathing. Most horses tolerate vaccines well. Mild reactions such as muscle soreness, swelling at the injection site, or a mild fever are usually short-lived and resolve on their own. Be sure to mention to your vet if your horse has had reactions to vaccinations in the past.

Equine Guelph’s Vaccination Equi-Planner (TheHorsePortal.ca/VaccinationTool) is a handy tool for any horse owner, providing a simple and effective way to manage your horse’s healthcare. By investing in regular vaccinations, you are helping protect your horse as well as their longevity and performance.

Effective disease control also relies on good biosecurity practices, such as proper hygiene, quarantine protocols for new or sick horses, and minimizing exposure to disease vectors

“Vaccination is important,” says infection control expert Dr. Scott Weese, “but it can’t be the whole disease control program. Vaccination plans must be implemented alongside other infection control and biosecurity practices for best effect.”

For more information about the Vaccination Equi-Planner healthcare tool, visit TheHorsePortal.ca/VaccinationTool.

To make sure you are doing everything to optimize your infection control strategies, sign up for the Mar 31 – Apr 7, Sickness Prevention in Horses online short course on TheHorsePortal.ca

Notes to Editor:

Equine Guelph is the horse owners’ and care givers’ Centre at the University of Guelph in Canada. It is a unique partnership dedicated to the health and well-being of horses, supported and overseen by equine industry groups. Equine Guelph is the epicentre for academia, industry and government – for the good of the equine industry as a whole. For further information, visit www.equineguelph.ca.

Story by: Equine Guelph

Photos: (images available upon request)

Photo Credit: Jackie Zions

Photo Caption: Vaccination Equi-Planner makes it easy to start conversations with your vet about immunization plans.

Web Link(s):

Story web link: https://thehorseportal.ca/2025/03/march-kicks-off-vaccination-season/