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Welcome to Pre-Vet School

General vet-check

If your horse is healthy and has had good results in the last competitions, you
may be wondering why you should call your vet. The truth is that no matter
how healthy your horse seems to be, he should get a general vet check at least
once a year to check that everything is in order, and that your horse has no
pain on his legs or back. Veterinarians went to vet school for at least ten years,
and know how to perform tests that reflect if your horse has a pain that you
wouldn’t normally notice. Remember that a small leg or back pain is easier and
even cheaper to cure if it’s caught early.

Checklist

Vaccines  Talk to your vet to know what vaccines your horse should get.

Deworming  Every six months

Farrier Every six weeks

Dentist  Once a year

General vet-check  At least once a year

Common non-infectious diseases

Colic

Dr. Worth (2010) defined colic as “a generic
term for a gastrointestinal tract upset, one of the
most commonly experienced equine health pro-
blems and a leading cause of death in horses”.
Colic is a very painful disease, and is usually cau-
sed by either excessive gas, cramp, or blockages
of the gastrointestinal track (Worth, 2010).

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