The Basics to owning a horse part 3. Veterinary Needs, farriers & vaccinations.

Welcome back to part 3! We have covered saddle fit, we have covered pasture and shelter, & we have covered feed. So for the last & final read, we will be discussing vet needs, emergency treatments, farriers and all that jazz! So lets get into it!

Vets are important for many different things when it comes to horses. Such as, teeth floating, vaccinations, yearly checkups and so much more! Horses need vaccinations typically twice a year. However, if your like me, and only have one horse on the property, they are fine getting vaccinated and checked only once a year due to the non exposer to other horses and contagious diseases. The essential Equine vaccinations consist of strangles vaccine, rabies vaccine, tetanus vaccine, West Nile Virus vaccine and so on! Though again, vaccines like strangles are not necessary if you only have one horse ON THE PROPERTY. A good vet should always tell you the proper vaccination for your specific horse.

Teeth are obviously an important thing when it comes to horses, as are many other things! Teeth floating is a necessity! When a horse gets their teeth floated, the vet will drug the horse to relax their body. Note that when a horse is drugged it is important to never let the horse lay their head on you. When the horse relaxes their head on you when drugged, the brain says, "oh I can fall now!" causing the horse to become weak on their feet and maybe even collapse on you. Another important thing when caring for a drugged horse is to never let them eat or drink for the next hour. Though your vet should always remind you of this. When the vet Floates the teeth, they use an object that looks like a drill with a giant sand paper bit. They use a machine type thing to hold the horses mouth open to reach the drill into the back of the mouth and sand down the back teeth. This typically needs to be done every 1-2 years. The cost of a teeth float average from $80-$200 per horse depending on your vet and location. Though it is expensive it is definitely not something you want to cheap out on!

Farriers: hard to find, hard to pay. Farriers are very hard to find and sometimes very overpriced due to their work. Farrier visits vary price wise depending on what you need done, the horses temperament, and the area your in. A basic trim for a barefoot horse costs roughly $30-$70 in the USA. For a shod horse, it may cost somewhere between $100-200 depending on the type of shoe, area your in, & how many feet you need shod.

I hope this series helped you on growing your information on horses needs! Be sure to like this if you enjoyed it and subscribe for my monthly newsletters by filling out the form below this page!