Dr. Ketzner says, "The core vaccines that every horse should get include rabies, West Nile virus, Eastern and Western encephalomyelitis and tetanus toxoid. There are other vaccines that horses can get as well, kind of administered on a at risk basis including those for strangles, equine influenza and equine herpes virus."  Dr. Karissa Ketzner with Dakota Hills Veterinary Clinic says routine vaccinations are very important in horse healthcare.  Ketzner says even though horses are quite big, they're often forgotten about.  Ketzner says, "A lot of people don't realize that they need to be boostered on a yearly basis or especially for the tetanus to be boostered more frequently if the horses get injured."  Ketzner says one area that's often overlooked is a horse's mouth.  Ketzner says, "Improper dental care I think is one of the major ones. Horses teeth erupt throughout their entire lives and because they chew from a side to side motion and their lower jaw is narrower than their upper jaw they tend to form sharp points on the outside of their upper teeth and the insides of the lower teeth so without filing those points off they can get cuts and lacerations to the inside of their check and to their tongue as well so routine dental care is very important in these horses."  And dental care isn't the only thing that you should pay attention to when it comes to your horse's health.  Ketzner says, "Routine de-worming is very important because horses have internal parasites. It's important to check their fecal egg counts to know how much parasites they're shedding and everything and to determine what the appropriate de-wormer is to use."  Ketzner says the generalized care for your horse can be done at home but as far as taking care of their teeth that requires the horse to be sedated which needs to be done by a veterinarian.

Tessa Thomas