Immunisation advice

Vaccine Fact Sheet

Vaccine schedules change regularly so please check with your competition regulators to make sure you are up to date.

Towcester Veterinary Centre’s equine vets routinely vaccinate horses against:

Equine Influenza 

• A virus affecting the respiratory system, resulting in a high fever, runny nose, and cough.
• Typically affects young horses.
• Rarely fatal, however, it can be a very debilitating disease.

Initial course of 3 vaccinations (2nd vaccine: 21-60 days after 1^st vaccine; 3^rd vaccine 120-180 days after 2^nd vaccine) with boosters every 6 months or annually depending on competition requirements.

Tetanus 

• Caused by production of endotoxins by the bacteria Clostridium tetani.
• Following a wound, if unvaccinated or overdue, horses must be given a tetanus antitoxin injection urgently to prevent tetanus infection.
• This is usually a fatal condition.

Initial course of 2 vaccinations four weeks apart with boosters every other year.

Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) 

• Usually given to breeding stock.
• Common virus worldwide.
• EHV-1 causes respiratory disease in young horses, paralysis in all ages/types, and abortion in pregnant mares.
• EHV-4 causes a less severe respiratory disease, and occasionally abortion.

Pregnant mares – Vaccines at 5, 7 and 9 months of pregnancy.

Respiratory protection – Initial course of 2 vaccinations four weeks apart with boosters every 6 months.

Strangles

• A bacteria affecting the respiratory system, resulting in a high fever, snotty nose and swollen lymph nodes.
• Highly contagious and can be spread horse-to-horse or via contact with infected material on people or objects.
• Rarely fatal, however, it can be a very debilitating disease.

Initial course of 2 vaccinations four weeks apart with boosters every 6 months.

If you’d like to know more about equine immunisations, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and ask for advice from our equine team.

Contact us about your horse’s vaccinations.

Towcester Equine Vets Worming Options

Worms in horses can cause serious problems, including (amongst others) diarrhoea, colic and weight loss. Now is the time to be thinking about your equine worming schedule. To help you understand why, we asked Abi Jennings, one of our equine vets, to explain a little bit about the Towcester Equine Vets worming programme.

Review your current equine worming programme

Taking a little time to review your worming programme will almost always pay dividends, as a seasonal check will ensure that you are using the most suitable equine worming products at the most suitable time of year.

Adopt a seasonally targeted approach

A seasonally targeted approach will be beneficial for every horse, pony and donkey because Anthelmintic (de-wormer) resistance is an ever-present threat that we are now encountering on a more frequent basis. Routine use of de-wormers is now an out-dated and irresponsible approach. Whilst targeted use of the right wormer at the right time is now at the forefront of the decision-making process we go through.

Towcester Equine Vets Original Worming Programme

Towcester Equine Vets now recommend using a targeted deworming programme. We only treat those horses that are identified as requiring deworming, through the use of faecal worm egg counts (WEC) and other diagnostic testing. This approach can help reduce the use of drugs by up to 80%.
Whether it be for your yard or for individual horses, our worming programme can be tailored to best suit your needs. We have developed the programme to make monitoring and managing your horse’s worm burden as easy and simple as possible. The programme is made up of four elements:

1. Three faecal worm egg counts
These should be performed every 2-3 months throughout the Spring and Summer months, e.g. March, June, September.
Horses only need to be wormed if high worm egg burdens are identified – saving money on wormers and reducing resistance to the drugs we have available. Results are usually reported via email the next day, along with veterinary advice on the best wormer to use, if needed.

2. Equest Pramox
To be used in late autumn, targeting tapeworm and encysted redworm (larval stages) that cannot be measured by faecal worm egg counts. Young horses, those with a history of a high tapeworm burden or colic may also require worming for tapeworm in Spring.

3. Equisal Tapeworm Saliva Test
To be used in late Spring, this is an easy to perform test that owners are able to do themselves. Samples are analysed by an external laboratory to identify those horses with a higher tapeworm burden despite deworming over Winter, so they can be treated again if required. It is often useful to combine this with a faecal worm egg count at the same time, so the most suitable product can be selected depending on both results.

4. Use of a worming year planner
To help you keep track of when faecal worm egg counts and worming treatments are due.

Annual cost: £81.60 per horse inc VAT

NEW FOR 2025 – The ‘Wormer-Free’ Monitoring Programme

Alongside our existing worming programme, we are pleased to introduce a wormer-free monitoring programme. We aim to help you monitor your horse or pony’s worm burden and manage them appropriately to enable the lowest use of drugs possible. Whilst maintaining your horse’s health, this programme follows latest veterinary advice to promote responsible use of wormers and reduce the risk of resistance developing.

The wormer-free monitoring programme includes:

• Three faecal worm egg counts
Monitoring of adult roundworms and redworms every 2-3 months throughout the Spring and Summer grazing season. Collect your faecal samples and either drop them into our Plum Park or Onley clinic, or post to us. Results will be emailed within 24 hours, along with veterinary advice on whether to worm and what product is most suitable.

• Annual Equisal saliva test kit
Monitoring of tapeworm burden performed at the end of the grazing season in Autumn. This is performed by owners and sent off to the lab.

• Annual blood test for redworms
Monitoring of juvenile, encysted redworm burden via a blood test performed by the vet in late Autumn.

Alongside testing, veterinary advice is always available to help you manage your horses and aim to maintain a completely drug-free worm management strategy.

The package doesn’t include:
• Any wormers required depending on the results of faecal worm egg counts.
• A repeat Equisal saliva test to use in Spring if required (depending on Autumn result).
• Visit charges to perform the redworm blood test; this can be done on our discounted zone visits, at the clinic, or at your yard on a day or time of your choice with a normal visit fee.

Annual cost: £129.60 per horse inc VAT 

This programme is great for low-risk horses such as those in a stable herd, with good pasture management and no history of worm-related colic. We recommend speaking to one of our vets if your horse is under 4 years of age as this may not be the most suitable programme for them; our targeted worming programme remains available for £81.60.

Find out more

If you would like more information on our programmes available or want to pick up a ‘Worming Pack’ today, please contact the clinic on 01327 811007 or 01788 52300.

Abi Jennings BVM BVS (Hons) MRCVS

Protect your horse against sycamore poisoning (Atypical Myopathy) this autumn

One of Towcester’s equine vets, Gwen Davies, shares some important seasonal information on Atypical Myopathy.  Discover what it is and what you need to do to prevent or deal with the symptoms of this life threating condition. 

What is Atypical Myopathy?

Atypical Myopathy, also referred to as Seasonal Pasture Myopathy, is a rare but often fatal muscular condition seen in horses and ponies in the UK. It is caused by ingestion of sycamore seeds, seedlings or leaves, which contain the toxin Hypoglycin A (HGA).

Atypical myopathy It is most commonly seen in horses grazing bare pasture in the autumn when the sycamore seeds have dropped, or in the spring when the seedlings are growing. Some individuals seem to be more susceptible than others, especially young adults, but several horses in the same group grazing the same pasture can be affected.

If you suspect your horse has ingested sycamore seeds/leaves or if you spot any of the clinical signs below, please contact our vets immediately.

Contact our equine vets now

What are the symptoms of Atypical Myopathy (Sycamore Poisoning)?

• Weakness and difficulty walking or even standing
• Stiffness
• Muscle tremors
• Profuse sweating
• High heart rate in the absence of exercise
• Difficulty breathing
• Depression and low head carriage
• Brown or dark red urine

Can we treat Atypical Myopathy?

Affected horses can deteriorate within hours, and prognosis is generally poor. For this reason, veterinary assistance must be sought urgently for suspected cases.

Intensive treatment is critical to maximising the chances of survival, including intravenous fluid therapy, glucose and vitamin supplementation, pain relief and nursing care.

Horses that remain standing, eating and survive for 10 days are more likely to recover.

How can you prevent Atypical Myopathy?

The safest method of prevention is to remove toxin-containing seeds and seedlings from the environment to stop ingestion. During the autumn months clear sycamore seeds from pastures or fence off areas where sycamore seeds have fallen. Be  aware that even fields without sycamore trees can still have seeds blown over. During spring, the most up to date recommendation is to mow and dispose of all sycamore seedlings. Some herbicides are available on the market to kill sycamore seedlings, but it has been found that the toxin can remain in dead seedlings for many months, so these must still be disposed of appropriately.

Other ways to reduce the risk include supplementation of forage if the pasture is bare, ideally feeding hay/haylage off the ground (using mats, tubs or feeders), and limiting the grazing time to less than 6 hours per day.

For more information or if you have any concerns reading sycamore seed ingestion, please don’t hesitate to call the practice on 01327 811 007 and speak with one of our veterinary team.

Gwen Davies BVMedSci BVM BVS MRCVS is one of Towcester’s team of equine vets, you can find out more about Gwen and our other equine vets on our Team pages.