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Why do we vaccinate in spring?

Or maybe you don’t!

We just have had the notice come out for herd health day, at the end of the months. Coggins required and 3 way for everyone, then owners can opt in for Flu, West Nile and Rabies.

Being this is my first year owning a PSSM1 n/P1 horse, thought I would check on a board I belong to, see what their thoughts were…well seems there are those that think all vaccines are bad, not surprised.

There are those who say that vaccinating everyone in the spring is bad, worst time of year to do it, just done for vets convenience. Only out vet is large animal, solo practitioner who is dealing with calving season, so I’m guessing that there are other times of year that would suit her better.

Leads me to wonder, vaccines in spring have always been the thing, and I have never questioned the timing before.

I do Potomac/West Nile/EWT in the spring because they are all much more common in the warmer months (except tetanus obviously, but it’s cheaper to give the combo). I do Rabies when the vet is out to do the Coggins which is in late winter or early spring. I do botulism in the late fall just before we start feeding round bales as that is when they’re most likely to encounter it. (My horses usually only get hay December-March or when trailering). And Flu/Rhino is required to be within 6 months so I typically do it March and September just because that’s how the show year goes for me. My vet recommends that they be done this way so that they are most likely to be effective when they are needed.

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Some vaccines, like Tetanus, can be done any time of year. But other vaccines relate to diseases spread by flying insects - which are most active late spring to early fall in much of the country. Also, for much of the country that schedule lines up with show season where risk of transmission increases. Therefore, it makes sense to maximize effectiveness of those vaccines relative to the season the disease spreads.

Once you’ve done that, some people don’t want to pay for multiple calls, and some people use the 5-way or 6-way shots so they are doing almost all of it at once anyway. We split vaccines spring and fall (and do flu/rhino twice).

And if you’re in a year-round bug area, you may consider giving an extra booster for those shots.

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I have always done shots both spring and fall. There are some shots (I forget which) that are best given in the fall, and others (for insect borne diseases) that need to be given in the spring before the insects come out.

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I have to do the insect borne diseases in the spring. No mosquitos here from late October through late April. And those vaccines have a six month window of effectiveness. So, I might as well do the Tetanus and Rabies at the same time, since the fall visits can be hit or miss on scheduling. Yes, my goal is to see the vet as little as possible.

The core equine vaccines are:

Eastern equine encephalitis
Western equine encephalitis
Tetanus
West nile virus
Rabies

EEE, WEE and WNV are all bug borne. Immunity granted by the vaccine doesn’t even last a year, so it’s important to vaccinate before flies and mosquitoes emerge. In some areas of the country, bug season lasts longer than the immunity and these must be done twice yearly to provide adequate coverage.

Rabies is mammal vectors. Bats, raccoons, etc. These animals are often less active in the winter.

Tetanus could really be done at any point, but is nearly always included in a combo vaccine with WEE and EEE.

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My current vet practice has wellness plans that cover everything I need based on my horses work level. Plus optimal times for vaccines. I trust that they understand the best times in the area better than I do. Plus makes it super easy to budget. I do the performance horse package since he was at a boarding barn and had horses coming and going.
https://www.totalequinevets.com/equine-services/menu-services/menu-column-3/wellness-packages

I have my core shots scheduled for next week for our herd of 5. Coggins as well.

We actually skipped fall shots last year :grimacing: our horses didn’t leave the property all winter and we don’t really have neighbors on any sides. All open pasture. She didn’t feel like it was necessary. Im hoping to ride more this year and possibly get out and show (pipe dreams !)

What shots are usually done in the fall? This is the barns/vets recommended cover for this year

Vaccinations / Tests
Required:
• 3 way (EEE, WEE & Tetanus)
• Dewormer
• Coggins test
Optional:
• Rhino / Flu *required if horse will be travelling
• Rabies *recommended if horse will be in pasture turnout at all
• West Nile *recommended

I always vaccinate in the Spring. My horses get EW-T- WNV. Since my guys are at home and have no contact with any other horses that suits us just fine.

When I boarded we had vaccination clinics at least 2 times a year. It was a big boarding stable and lots of horses coming and going so we did flu, rhino twice a year.

I kept up with the Spring schedule as I feel that I want the best protection when mosquitoes start.

Spring is right when/before all the fun bugs come back out for the year, and since many diseases have bug vectors Spring is the best time to get them done. Some places only do 1x yearly vaccines; my vet generally recommends a 5-way Spring shot (EEE, WEE, Tetanus, West Nile, and Rabies). There aren’t any other major diseases of concern in my area.

I’ve always done spring and fall shots in multiple far-flung states for the reasons others laid out.

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Because most of the diseases we vaccinate for are spread by insects and the vaccines should be given at least two weeks before the vector flies are present.

My vets don’t like to do everything in one go (spreading them out means fewer reactions) so we do the combination EWT/WN/rabies (the rabies is new this year) then I get Potomac and Flu done around two weeks later. Coggins is a blood draw that gets done either day.

When rabies was a separate shot I got it done late fall as the vet was coming for teeth anyway.

We do two sets prior to the ‘rain’ seasons. It stays warm enough here to have issues with insects up until January, so we like to have the extended protection. (the last month has been so awesome! haha).

We do a five way VEWT+WN in the spring and add Flu/Rhino on the ones who will be traveling. West Nile gets boostered 6 months later. We are in a very prevalent West Nile area and have had 2 horses get it, so we don’t mess around with that one. (Disclaimer: the first horse that got it was one dose in to the brand new vaccine back in the early 2000s when WN became an issue. The second horse had received his normal shots in the Spring, but his booster was delayed due to a new medication he was on - we were trying to get him stable on the new med before boostering him. In no way am I trying to say that horses were getting West Nile after vaccinating)

This year might be the first year in a long time that I have to booster flu/rhino. I haven’t had an extensive travel schedule in quite awhile. Not that it’s extensive this year, but it is spread out over more than 6 months, so the travelers will need another round.

Ours ended up getting the main round in the spring because that was the schedule the horses were on when we got them. But, again, we booster at least WN in the late summer/early Fall as well.

Coggins get pulled in February - this allows us to make sure the paperwork is back and correct( :expressionless: ) far before the time we may need it.