Home     Articles    For Sale     Mares    Stallions    Our Dogs    Seramas   Contact us

Our Vaccination Schedule

I Am Ranch Miniature Horses is sharing with you what we do to maintain the health of our horses. This is not intended to direct you on how to care for your horse. The intent of this is only to share what we do, and raise questions for you. We advise you to consult your veterinarian before making any changes in your horse's health care. The information found on our website is not to supersede the advise of your veterinarian. I AM Ranch Miniature Horses cannot be held liable for the care of your horse(s).

I am not a vet. This is just the routine we have attempted to follow. I would talk to your vet for his recommendations and not just follow what you read here. Shot recommendations will also vary depending on where you live. I get asked by our buyers how we vaccinate and this is a page I can send them to.

As I read more and more on vaccinations and the mercury contained in them, I am beginning to question my below protocol. Click here to read a very good article by Depaulo Equine. One of the most enlightening facts in this article is that a pregnant mare can only get rhino one time in their life. " A mare can only abort the very first time that she is infected with the virus and only if she is pregnant at the time.  Once she has been infected, whether she is pregnant at the time or not, she will build antibodies to the infection and can NEVER abort from this disease again." 

In the article, he lists the core vaccines as the following: I think we will be narrowing down our immunization schedule of our mature horses to the core vaccines and only those that are in our area or in the areas that we travel to and through. Also, it sounds like I will be adding a tetanus toxoid shot to any horse that gets a deep cut or puncture.

• Rabies
• Tetanus
• Potomac Horse Fever - rarely fatal, but can cause laminitis
• Eastern (EEE), Western (WEE) and Venezuelan Encephalomyelities (VEE)

Here is the schedule we followed in the past.

Spring:     

            Flu (influenza) 6 months

            Encephalomyelitis (EEE, WEE) (annual) (I do not give Venezuelan here in AZ)           

            Rhino (biannual)

            Tetanus annual

            WNV

Fall                  

             Flu (influenza) 6 months

             Rhino (biannual)

Baby shots  

    If mom has been boostered while pregnant:      

• 6 months WNV (or Prevenile), 3-way: EEE, WEE (encephalomyelitis), Tetanus,  Strangles optional
• 7 months: (this is your booster since this is the first time for these vaccinations)  3- way: EEE, WEE (encephalomyelitis), Tetanus, Strangles optional, WNV booster if I did not give Prevenile.
• 11 months: influenza and rhino
• 12 months: influenza and rhino booster

    If mom has not been boostered, everything is the same except we move each set of shots up by one month.

Worming: (read more by clicking here)

• Adult horses:  I worm every 6-8 weeks and rotate yearly between the three types of wormers:

         1. Ivermectrin or Zimectrin

         2. Pyrantel   (Rotectin, Strongid paste)

         3. Benzimidazole (Panacur, Anthelcide EQ)

• Foals: I worm every 4 weeks with Panacur

Teeth: (read more by clicking here)

• Need to have a vet/dentist check 1 time per year for floating. I use an equine dentist from TX. He travels through and does a farm at a time.

Pregnant Mares: (read more by clicking here)

• I follow the same vaccination schedule as above. With our mini mares, I do not use pneumabort (the rhino shot)
• I only give killed virus, except I have used Prevenile (which is modified live)
• I wait 45 days after breeding to vaccinate. This decreases chances of a spontaneous abortion
• In the spring, vaccinate within 30 days of due date so that the baby gets the immunity from the mother.
• We worm pregnant mares on the same schedule as above, but also worm with Ivermectrin within 12 hours after foaling.

I AM Ranch Miniature Horses is sharing with you what we do to maintain the health of our horses. This is not intended to direct you on how to care for your horse. The intent of this is only to share what we do. We advise you to consult your veterinarian before making any changes in your horse's health care. The information found on our website is not to supersede the advice of your veterinarian. I AM Ranch Miniature Horses cannot be held liable for the care of your horse(s).