
No matter whether your horse is for recreational or commercial use, it must be in good health for optimum performance. Your attention and care towards your horse are certainly reflected by its health and well-being. Addressing horse health is not limited to vaccination and deworming, but a comprehensive plan for handling any sudden disease outbreak and other health issues. Coming up with a good preventive care program may save you a good amount of time and money in the long run.
The popularity of horse riding as a sport or pastime is increasing day by day, indicating more horses are being imported in most of the countries in Europe. This increasing number is posing threats to both new and existing horses. The threats we are mostly concerned with are infectious diseases. However, there are non-infectious diseases as well as malnutrition, genetic diseases, autoimmune diseases, etc. In this article, we will consider general principles for preventing common equine diseases.
How diseases spread
There is no question of spreading non-infectious diseases. However, if the disease is caused by an infectious agent, there is a certain risk of catching a disease from living or non-living subjects contaminated with the agent. Various modes of disease transmission include-
- Direct contact between same species (i.e. horses).
- Direct contact with other animals like pets, humans, wild animals.
- Insect bites. Some insects are prone to carry certain infectious agents.
- Droplet infection. Coughing, sneezing, may release water droplets containing infectious agents which if inhaled by other horses, can cause

