Which strangles vaccine do you get? This is for horses ages 5 and 7 with unknown vaccine status.
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Take professional advice: ask your vet.
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This. My mare was inoculated as a six month old. Strangles did break out at my previous barn, and my current horse had virtually no side effects thanks to the vaccine. I should note that it killed a horse and another horse almost died. My horse was the only one that had minimal side effects, e.g. ran a low fever and some mild nasal discharge. Her lymph nodes were never enlarged.
That said, there are some vaccines that only a vet should advise on (strangles titer due to previous vaccine or exposure), and this is one of those situations.
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This!
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Thanks, my vet left the area so I really don’t have anyone I can trust at the moment. This clinic sends out interns to do routine appointments so I don’t always know if they are the best ones to ask.
In that case call the clinic and ask their advice. Interns are great but not who I would take advice from for a strangles vaccine.
Technically they could run titers and go from there.
Here is a great article on it: https://equine.janssenvetclinic.com/strangles-detail/
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Disclaimer: I am not a vet, and this should not be considered professional veterinary advice. 
I personally only vaccinate for strangles in my young horses (1-3), with the initial and booster doses, in the fall or winter before I show them for the first time. I do not have a fully “closed” herd - I haul out for lessons and the occasional show, vets & farriers visit here of course, and I’m a nutritionist so occasionally visit other barns for work myself - but I don’t have horses coming and going on this property frequently. I do have broodmares, and my vet will not administer the IN strangles vaccine (the only one recommended these days - the IM one is much less effective) to horses on the same property as pregnant mares, since it is a modified live vaccine. So I have to board the youngsters out for a month or so to coincide with their strangles vaccine, or time it for when they go off to be started under saddle. Back when I boarded in busy lesson/show/boarding facilities, I vaccinated for strangles every year.
I personally am not comfortable giving the strangles vaccine to an adult horse with an unknown history, due to the risk of pupura hemorrhagica in horses that have previously had strangles and are subsequently vaccinated for it. If your horse is a QH, it’s also a good idea to check whether it carries the MYHM gene prior to administering a strangles vaccine, too.
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Thanks! I have a closed herd at home too but unfortunately the trainer I am sending the horse to requires the strangles vaccine. The clinic only carries the IM vaccine. I had a horse die from complications of strangles a few years ago but it doesn’t make me want to jump out and vaccinate, considering the risks involved. I hate this disease, mainly cause people are so irresponsible or don’t take it seriously.
