Man standing beside a chestnut horse grazing in a sunlit field with trees in the background.

Vaccines

Infectious disease risk is everywhere — mitigate risk and help protect your horse from preventable disease with a comprehensive vaccine protocol.

Person preparing a syringe with a vaccine in a veterinary setting, surrounded by medical supplies.

Why Are Vaccines Important?

Horses are susceptible to infectious diseases that may be transmitted by many things in their environment, including other animals. Infectious disease can lead to poor performance, long-term health issues and even death.

Thankfully, vaccination is an efficient and effective method of protecting horses against infectious diseases. Vaccines safely mimic exposure to the infectious organism, without risk of infection, so the horse's immune system can recognize and fight off the organism, if exposed in the future.

Your veterinarian is your best resource to create an effective vaccine protocol for your horse.

Learn More About Vaccines

Common Equine Vaccinations

Vaccines can be split into two categories: core and risk-based.

Talk to your veterinarian to determine the right vaccines and vaccination schedule for your horse’s needs.

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Core Vaccines

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP^®) recommends core vaccinations for all horses to protect from diseases endemic to a region, those with potential public health significance, and/or those posing a risk of severe disease.¹

Core vaccines in the U.S. include tetanus, eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE), western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE), West Nile virus (WNV) and rabies.

Risk-Based Vaccines

Risk-based vaccines are those recommended by a veterinarian for a specific horse, based on their individual health history, region, contact with other horses, the horse’s job and risk they will be exposed to these diseases.

Risk-based vaccines may include equine Influenza virus (EIV), equine herpesvirus 1 and 4 (EHV-1 & EHV-4), strangles, Potomac horse fever, botulism, leptospirosis and equine viral arteritis.

Build Your Vaccine Protocol

Every horse’s needs are different, so there is no ‘standard’ vaccination protocol all horses must adhere to. Each year, horses should be evaluated on an individual basis to determine the vaccine protocol that fits their needs. It is highly recommended that all horses are vaccinated against the core diseases listed above. Additional risk-based vaccinations should be determined with your veterinarian’s counsel.

Learn More About Vaccination Strategy

Mastering Infectious Respiratory Disease

In this segment of "Mastering Equine Health," Scott Hancock, DVM, Professional Services Veterinarian, Boehringer Ingelheim, talks about the clinical signs of these three common infectious respiratory diseases: influenza, herpesvirus and strangles, and explains the importance of working with your veterinarian to determine the most appropriate protocol for your horse. 

Mastering Vector-Borne Disease

In this segment of "Mastering Equine Health," Robert Keene, DVM, Professional Services Veterinarian, Boehringer Ingelheim, shares information about vector-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus and Eastern, Western and Venezuelan encephalomyelitis; insights about how devastating these diseases can be; and how a proper vaccination protocol can help protect horses against these diseases.

Two horses standing in a grassy field near a river, one with a white marking on its forehead.

Manage Disease Risk

Beyond the crucial protection that vaccination provides horses, you can also help reduce the risk of illness and the spread of disease by keeping a well-maintained environment. You can support good barn biosecurity by:

Isolating sick horses from healthy ones
Cleaning and disinfecting equipment regularly
Quarantining new horses joining the barn

While barn biosecurity can’t guarantee your horse will never get sick, it will help reduce risk and prevent spread.

Learn How to Improve Barn Biosecurity

Equi-Jec vaccine range for horses, including syringes and packaging for various health needs.

Convenience and Protection in One Shot

For horse owners choosing to vaccinate horses themselves, EQUI-JEC^® vaccines deliver over-the-counter options to protect against common infectious diseases.

Learn About EQUI-JEC Vaccines