Calling all Friesian Owners

[ladipus]

I’m the proud new owner of a lovely Friesian gelding! …this is completely all new uncharted territory for me! That being said -I’m told that they have a lot of sensitivity to things- In particular vaccines… was advised to pre treat with banamine and that the vaccines should be split up and flu/rhino should be given at a different time than the others …was also advised against giving the botulism vaccine as they have had clients give it and their horses died as a result …so…tell me about the important things for their care.

Also what does everyone feed their Friesians ?!? It’s my understanding that they need low starch/sugar and added fat to their diet …mine came with his feed from previous owners …they fed him Tribute Kalm N EZ Pellets , Tribute K Finish(extruded fat nugget) and they add Equine Total Gold oil (soybean & fish oil, as well as MVP Mag 5000. Any other advice recommendations greatly appreciated!

[FjordBCRF]

@ladipus

I’m the proud new owner of a lovely Friesian gelding! …this is completely all new uncharted territory for me! That being said -I’m told that they have a lot of sensitivity to things- In particular vaccines… was advised to pre treat with banamine and that the vaccines should be split up and flu/rhino should be given at a different time than the others …was also advised against giving the botulism vaccine as they have had clients give it and their horses died as a result …so…tell me about the important things for their care.

Congrats on your new horse! Not a Friesian owner…but I have a very vaccine reactive Fjord gelding that presents in the way of high fevers that last a good 48 hours after vaccination.

Through ongoing trial and error, he does not react to the intranasal flu/rhino which isn’t uncommon. We split off rabies last fall and it was the same reaction to that as it was the 6 way in the spring, and rabies/potomic the fall before. He gets fevers in the high 104’s when the banamine starts to wear off. We decided after last fall, splitting wasn’t doing us any good because he would have to go through the reaction cycle more often.

This spring, we are trying the Zoetis core vaccine and IN flu/rhino which will we only do once a year if it goes ok. I keep detailed records of the times and amounts of banamine he gets and fevers so hopefully that will be a little more dialed in this spring. It doesn’t do us any good to pre treat since the fevers don’t start immediately so its just a wasted dose or two of banamine which he needs more post injection. I also put him on Zyrtec which I can’t really tell if it helps or not, but it can help with allergic reactions to some degree depending on the horse.

Are you able to ask his sellers about any vaccine history and any past reactions he may have had? I’d start there if that’s an option. If not, see what your vet recommends.

[lenapesadie]

I have a Friesian cross. He’s not had any sensitivity to vaccines, but he does do well on lower NSC menu. Mine eats a RB and a boatload of good hay. He does have (managed anhidrosis) and I understand that’s not uncommon for Friesians. So watch out for him over heating in summer

[ladipus]

The people I bought him from imported him from the Netherlands…only vaccines that they give over there is tetanus…so that is the only vaccines he’s ever had …the people I bought him from have been importing /selling Friesians for 10+ years …what works for them is Zoetis Core Eq Innovator and Zoetis Fluvac Innovator given at a different time.

[ladipus]

Ok …I’m thinking of switching him to Hygain Zero or their new balancer Meta Safe as that’s what I have most of my others on!

[sigrid.sijtsma]

Congratswith your black boy,=.

In the netherlands we vaccin, tetanus & influenza. thats 1 vaccin.

Friesians have a few things in health.

It is estimated that half of the Friesian horses are carriers of unwanted hereditary defects that lead to serious health problems, such as ruptures in the aorta or a dilated and less mobile esophagus.

The fact is that inbreeding within the population of Friesian horses has increased too much in recent decades. And that is the cause of the increase in hereditary defects in our Friesian horses. These hereditary defects are dwarfism, hydrocephalus, oesophageal paralysis, aortic rupture, tail and mane eczema and eye disorders.

good luck with you horse…