Not trying to be a callus or negligent horse owner, but curious if at some point others have just stopped vaccinating older horses.
We have small closed herd… (5 total) no outside boarders, though two of the horses will be going away to shows, I plan on vaccinating the two that go away for shows, obviously pulling coggins as well. one of t he three remaining is possible pregnant ( long story will know for sure on march 6th), so she will be vaccinate and most likely have a coggins pulled. but I’m thinking the 23 yr old gelding and the 24 mare i may skip vaccinations… Both were vaccinated last year… so assuming that they should still have some immunity at this point. Add to it that the older mare really gets upset about the vet and shots, need some convincing that they really need vaccinations this year.
Barring a reaction to the vaccine that is life threatening, no. Continue to vaccinate with the core vaccines.
Rabies is fatal, across the board, and YOU can get it. Tetanus is a terrible, terrible way to die. Horses usually die of EEE, often survive WEE and WNV–but treatment is costly.
Skipping strangles, rhino, flu…go for it. Your show horses may bring those back, but in general it’s only inconvenient. Although be aware that if you, say, pop with a strangles on your property, show season is over.
If you travel to shows, I don’t consider that to be a closed herd. If you are that worried, I would at least run titers on them.
I was thinking of starting a similar thread recently but for different reasons. My older horse (21) and my older dog (13) both react to every single vaccine these days. The dog gets shivery and depressed and obviously feels like crap. Sometimes there are GI symptoms too. The horse spikes an immediate fever of 103+, feels super hot to the touch, and acts colicky. The horse’s first reaction was 5+ years ago. Since then he’s gotten Banamine with every vaccine, and that works for now but I feel like it’s only a matter of time before it gets worse. I already only give the vaccines that the vet thinks are worth the risk, and we spread them out.
I did a bunch of googling and it seems that with many equine and canine vaccines, there isn’t that much research on how long they last so annual vaccination has become the default but not for clear reasons. I wonder if it’s too much for their system after a while. It’s hard to gauge the accuracy of info on vaccines though because there are so many rabid anti-vaxxers. Can anyone more educated comment on this?
Which vaccines bother your horse, Libby?
My old mare get veeeeery sore with certain brands of EWT combo. I started breaking up her stuff–rabies, then EWT+WNV, then rhino/flu, all two weeks apart. And I use the Vetera stuff. No more soreness, no more problems. I have the vet do the rabies and I order everything else I need from United Vet and give it myself.
Often it’s not the actual vaccine, it’s the carrier. Vetera seems to cause the least insult.
I gave the 3 way this spring & vet did rabies have never vaccinated for WNV never have had an issue. Don’t vaccinate for flu/ Rhino or strangles never have had horses get sick with either. I do go to some gaming shows and group trail rides.
I would absolutely not stop vaccinating that herd - two that travel isn’t a closed herd, and you may have a foal on the way that will need to rely on herd immunity at least for somethings for a period of time.
I would only consider stopping vaccines if I had a horse that had truly severe reactions.
A closed herd only protects from what a horse can give another, not all other out there.
Our vets have vaccinated our horses up to 30 years old, as long as there was no good reason not to, like some mention horses that can have reactions to some vaccines.
I heard some new vaccinating protocols include some vaccines be given more often for older horses, because their immune system is not as good any more.
That is a question a vet needs to answer.
Vaccine protocols keep changing with new knowledge and new vaccines.
My sensitive 14 year old gets huge swellings from most vaccines. He is fine with the Vetera EWT WN and the combined Potomac Fever/rabies. I don’t give him rhino/flu. I do get a strangles blood test every few years. He is always positive now, so doesn’t need the vaccine. I would be afraid to skip any of the core vaccines listed by AAEP. At some point, we will know if the vaccines last longer than a year in older, regularly vaccinated, horses.
You might have a closed herd now, but once 2 start going out, it’s not a closed herd. It doesn’t mean only that outside horses come in 
You are essentially “bringing in outside horses” when you have your own go out to shows/trail rides/etc.
I would absolutely vaccinate everyone for flu/rhino since 1) you have horses who will be going to shows, and 2) you have a likely/possibly pregnant mare. They will need the regular vaccine, she will need the anti-abortion variety probably at least once, maybe twice depending on how pregnant she is. It’s generally not given after 9 months
Titers are notoriously unreliable for horses, so you will just spend a lot of money on something that’s not going to tell you anything.
As stated, at the VERY least everyone needs rabies and tetanus. Then whether you do EEE/WEE/WNV is up to you. EEE will almost always kill. The others may well kill the older ones, and at best may cost you a lot of $$ in treatment/support for the younger ones.
The mare absolutely needs a solid set of vaccinations as close to 30 days out from her foaling as you can manage.
Traveling horses can bring stuff back. Then an unvaccinated horse becomes a “disease reservoir” and a danger to other horses.
“Herd health” means the whole herd, not just some.
G.
A good amount of info from the AAEP:
https://aaep.org/horse-owners/owner-…ion-guidelines
Keep in mind that if you need to bring a horse to a vet clinic for emergency, treatment or advanced diagnostics, the clinic may require your horse to have specific vaccinations
Keep in mind that if you need to bring a horse to a vet clinic for emergency, treatment or advanced diagnostics, the clinic may require your horse to have specific vaccinations
Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like I will be vaccinating everyone. I’ve thought about pulling titers in the past but heard they aren’t necessarily reliable, and by the time you are done with them, you might as well have just vaccinated.
I still vaccinate my 27 year old gelding (who has been vaccinated religiously for his entire life) but I have scaled back on it quite a bit. I also only give one vaccine at a time and space them about 3-4 months apart. He just can’t handle them like he used to and this seems to be a good alternative when trying to continue vaccinating the older guys. (I actually prefer spacing them on the young healthy horses too if possible.) He has a really tough time with the rabies vaccination …pretty substantial vaccine reaction and it also makes his immune system flare really bad, causing his breathing/allergy issues to be even worse in the summer. So for that reason I have opted to vaccinate him every other year and to do it in the fall - the vet gives him IV banamine along with it to help him deal with it better. I did pull titers for rabies the first year that I decided to skip his rabies vaccine and for what it’s worth, his titer count was very strong. I know there’s arguments both ways but I look at it like this – he could die from rabies, and that would really suck. He could also die because he founders from all the steroids I might have to give him so he can breathe in the summer, because of the rabies shot that I gave him. So there’s that. There are other horses in the barn who leave the farm so I do give him rhino/flu 1x year and he also gets EEE/WEE/Tetanus 1x year. This seems to be a good compromise for him at this point in his life and my vet, who has treated him for years, is ok with this.
I would have to look it up since it’ s been so long. The first time he had a reaction I called the vet’s office to find out exactly which brand and lot number was given so I could avoid it next time. Then it happened again and the vaccine wasn’t even for the same disease, so it seemed like his reaction was more generalized but yes, it could be the carrier. Since then we have used Banamine to be safe and he hasn’t had any reactions. So it’s hard to tell at this point. I’m just worried that at some point as he ages the Banamine will stop helping enough. 
I always have vaccinated my older horses. Talk with your vet.
On the mare that is difficult, if she is really difficult, you might do vaccines coincident with teeth floating where you are sedating her. My vet doesn’t love doing that for most horses, but for my difficult mare, it seems to be better for all of us if she is sedated for the second needle stick of the day. Or you can just use dormorsedan gel before the vet arrives to take the edge off her.
Interesting that the AAEP link says: “If Potomac Horse Fever has been confirmed on a farm or in a particular geographic area, it is likely that additional cases will occur in future years. Foals appear to have a low risk of contracting the disease. Vaccination against this disease has been questioned because field evidence of benefit is lacking. Proposed explanations for this include lack of seroconversion and multiple field strains whereas only one strain is present in available vaccines.” Most practices in this area consider that a core vaccine.
When my Paint gelding hit 20 the vet suggested doing the core vaccines only: Eastern, Western, Rabies, Tetanus, and West Nile. Same vet has done his annual vaccines since 2001. He was exposed to strangles when it went through the barn a number of years ago, so that went off his vaccination list then. He is boarded outside 24/7 and doesn’t do any traveling. It’s a pretty quiet barn, we don’t have people who show and there aren’t many horses going in and out, so I am comfortable with that.
Where you are located, I would at least think about Rabies and Tetanus. Flu and Rhino have short duration, and just a bit inconvenient. A lot of barns do not vaccinate for Strangles, ever. EEE/WEE/West Nile would be location dependent. There areas prone, and anything else is freak. If near a high mosquito place that there have been cases in the past, do it. If you are a few miles from the Potomac river, I would do that, but I was about 20 miles away, and almost no one vaccinated for it.
As for the Rabies and Tetanus. Humans have been tested to need it every 10 years, or possibly even immunity for a lifetime. Rabies in dogs are proven to last 3 years. Horses have not been tested $$$$ for either, but more than likely longer coverage than a year.
My guess is the “local” reaction many of you are seeing may be due to brand, what vaccine specifically, and or LOCATION OF INJECTION. Some vets seem to have a lot of reaction, some none. Each prefers a “location” Something to think about. Chest muscle, lower muscle next to tail, or side of “thigh” have had FAR fewer reactions than neck.
