Over Vaccination

So much of horse care has changed over the years as more information becomes known. One example is worming. Instead of doing one program for all horses, a lot of owners run fecals and personalize worming for each horse's needs. On the other hand, vaccinations have not changed and have even increased.
Years ago when we were dealing with Sherman's sarcoid, Joyce Harman told us not to give him vaccinations. Since he was not healthy, he should not get shots. We ran titers ( a serological test for antibodies) on both Barry and Sherman to see where they were for protection. When we found they were protected, we did not repeat vaccines for a few years. This is a practice we have continued with the horses we own now.

Rosemary was vaccinated during her pregnancy so that she could pass the necessary antibodies onto Roscoe. Though the vaccines were needed, they did have a negative effect. Her "scar" turned into a growing sarcoid. You all know the battle that followed. When we vaccinated last year, she did not get any shots. Unfortunately Winston did just before his laminitis diagnosis. He also has a history of carcinomas and a few of those appeared during the last year.
One thing we do not give to any of our animals is the flu vaccine. They have found it is not effective and can be more stressful to the animal. I know most people are stuck with boarding barn requirements, but if more people question over vaccination there is more chance for change. Changing barns caused us to change vets which means we have to explain all over again. That combined with seeing a recent article Joyce wrote brought the issue to the forefront for me. I think it is something we all need to read about and process. Think about the last time you got vaccines. Did you get all the types every year and maybe even twice a year? Probably not. Have you noticed that even though you live on one coast your horse still gets the other coasts encephalomyelitis

vaccine too?

We monitor our horses' food, shoes, turnout, blanketing and worming, but we blindly follow a generic vaccination plan.  Take an hour and read Joyce's article here. It will help explain the side of vaccines we don't see and will show alternatives to the traditional methods.