Preventative care: keeping your horse well

Know what's normal

You can only spot that something is wrong if you know what is right for your horse. World Horse Welfare gives these usual ranges for a healthy adult horse at rest:

Foals' values may be higher, and every horse is a little different. To find your own horse's normal, World Horse Welfare suggests recording all three every day for a week while the horse stands calmly at rest, then taking the average. The British Horse Society also says to know what is normal for your horse, because healthy temperatures vary between individuals.

Knowing your horse's figures helps twice over: you notice a small, out-of-character rise sooner, and you can tell your vet what is normal for this horse, not just for horses in general. Daily care explains how to take each one.

The daily check

Horses should be visited at least once a day, and ideally more often, says World Horse Welfare. Each visit, check:

• Is it sound? Watch it move.
• Both eyes, and the body and legs for injuries, lumps, swellings or heat. Grooming and picking out the feet are good moments to do this.
• Is it eating and drinking normally, and passing droppings and urine as usual?
• Is it behaving as usual? Changes in behaviour can be the first sign of a health problem, or of something wrong in its environment.

If you suspect something is wrong, World Horse Welfare's advice is that early intervention is key: call your vet. In an emergency, always call your vet.

Pain doesn't always look like lameness

The British Horse Society lists behaviour that can point to discomfort when it's seen repeatedly, over a sustained period. At rest, look for an uncharacteristic change in attitude, always resting the same leg, moving around less, a dull expression with a low head, lying down more, or objecting to having the feet picked up. Under saddle, look for repeated mouth opening, ears pinned back, head tossing, tail swishing, bucking, or resentment at being tacked up or mounted. If you notice these, contact your vet.

The BHS also suggests filming your horse while it is sound, trotting up and down on a firm, flat surface and on each rein on the lunge, so you have a record to compare against later.

Plan the year

World Horse Welfare's top ten health essentials, and its free Annual Horse Health Plan, cover the routine visits every horse needs. The plan is a record you can keep through the year, and share with your vet at vaccination time.

• Vaccinations. Flu and tetanus should be part of every horse's annual plan. See Vaccinations.
• Worm control. Base worming decisions on test results, planned with your vet or a qualified prescriber. See Parasite control.
• Teeth. A qualified equine dental technician or a vet at least once a year, more often for some horses. See Dental health.
• Feet. A registered farrier on average every 6–8 weeks, more often for some horses. See Hoof care.
• Tack. Horses in ridden work should be seen by a qualified saddle fitter every 6 months, or more often if they're growing or changing shape.
• Weight. Fat score regularly and use a weigh tape or weighbridge. Horses that are overweight or underweight are more likely to have other health problems. See Weight and fat scoring.
• Environment. Behaviour such as crib biting or weaving should be taken as seriously as physical illness. Every horse needs forage, the company of other horses and freedom to move.

Keep disease out: biosecurity

Biosecurity means the everyday habits that stop infections reaching your horse or spreading from it. The BHS stresses keeping them up all the time, not just during an outbreak, because a horse can be infectious before it looks ill: often the only early sign is a raised temperature.

Every day

• Each horse has its own grooming kit, buckets and tack. Clean feed bowls and water buckets at least weekly.
• Don't share water away from your yard. Ideally each field has its own water supply: strangles bacteria can survive in water for a few weeks.
• Avoid nose-to-nose contact with other horses, including over boundary fences. Well-spaced double fencing helps.
• Wash your hands before and after handling horses other than your own, and disinfect boots and change outer clothes after visiting other yards.
• Keep vaccinations and worm control up to date for every horse on the yard.

New arrivals

The BHS advises quarantining every new arrival for at least 21 days, with no direct or indirect contact with resident horses. A horse can look healthy and still carry disease. Some infections, such as equine herpes virus, can be reactivated by the stress of moving yards.

• Keep the new horse in a separate area, or at least an end stable with an empty stable beside it.
• Give it its own water supply and its own muck heap.
• Take its temperature daily.
• Check its vaccinations are up to date, and ask your vet about tests, such as a strangles test, and about whether it could bring worms onto your pasture.
• Make sure it can still see other horses, and use enrichment such as hay balls to keep it occupied.

Away from home

World Horse Welfare suggests taking your own water and buckets to events, not letting your horse touch noses with strange horses, and making sure any trailer or hired lorry has been cleaned and disinfected. Watch your horse's temperature, pulse and breathing more closely for a few weeks after any trip.

If a horse seems unwell

Many infectious diseases look alike at first: a fever above 38.5°C, dullness, not eating, a cough or a runny nose. If you suspect an infectious disease:

1. Isolate the horse straight away, away from the others.
2. Call your vet.
3. Tell your yard manager, so the rest of the yard can be protected.

British Equestrian advises ringing your vet immediately if your horse's temperature goes above 38.5°C. World Horse Welfare adds that infections such as strangles and tetanus can be fatal, so call your vet at the first sign.