SmartPak Monday Morning Feed: Ask the Vet, December Edition

Hey, just because it’s the holiday season doesn’t mean that SmartPaker Dan and SmartPak Staff Veterinarian Dr. Lydia Gray are taking a break: the latest Ask the Vet video is here!

Sure, the rest of the world might be all sugarplums and stockings hung by the fire — but as you and I both know, horse ownership doesn’t take a holiday vacation, and neither should learning more about horse health! Dan and Dr. Lydia Gray are back for December with a fresh new round of horse health questions as submitted by fans, and this is a great roundup with tons of information.

Strangles, influenza, commercial vs. herbal dewormers, choosing the right supplement and more: questions on all of these subjects are answered in this month’s video!

Questions answered in this episode:

1a. There was an outbreak of strangles at horse shows in my area and a horse at my barn got it before moving to my barn 3 weeks ago and now multiple horses have it. I’m thinking about moving my horse to a new barn, but I’m not sure when it will be safe to do so considering the disease stays with the horse for a while after the horse no longer shows symptoms. What would your recommendation be for moving?

1b. Our barn recently got a new horse who is a carrier of strangles and a few of the horses have been infected. What would you recommend to clean everything and what would you get rid of and replace (i.e. halters, leads, water buckets, etc.)? Also, I heard horses can be carriers of the bacteria for a long time (sometimes years) after they are fully recovered. What would you do if that was the case and are there any further cures to preventing that?

2. What is equine influenza? What can we do to treat it?

3. Are there any herbal wormers, supplements or ways to keep a horse healthy and worm-free? I know there are chemical commercial wormers, but is there another option?

4. At what age should a horse get their first set of vaccinations?

5. How do I know what supplements to start my horse on?

Have your own questions you want to get answered in a future episode? Ask anywhere on social media using the #AskTheVetVideo hashtag! Bonus: if your question is selected, you’ll get a SmartPak gift card. SmartPak: rewarding those unafraid to ask questions.

You can also ask your question using the official Ask the Vet form: http://pak.horse/2gkBThy

Go SmartPak! And go riding.