how frequently do horses get sick?

I was born into Morgan horses. They are known to be a very healthy breed that has no hereditary sickness or disease. I own 25 Morgans horses. I also have had over 10 mustangs(2 at this time) & they are very very hardy! Both breeds do not get sick normally! I have had my horses get sick maybe 5 times or so. They are all bearfoot, no blankets, just a run in & I have 151 acres in WY & they all handle it well! Then I also have 1 acre in Vegas. So they handle the heat & the cold very well!

that isn't a stupid system if you understand it. the barn owners are being smart to rotate often so the horses don't turn their farm into a dust bowl. be glad that you have boarded in a place where the owners actually care. your horses will be fine. those people who say a grassless place is bad, don't know what they're talking about. Yes, horses are meant to graze on and off throughout the day, but they also are meant to travel miles each day. Domestic horses don't do that. they eat and get fat because most owners don't exercise them often enough. As long as the horses are fed 2 times per day, they do fine. grassy field or not. their systems are not that weak to be getting sick so easy. what would make them sick is if they ate rich grass 24/7. or if they were not fed at all in a dry lot and just ate the grass. I do think that you may want less food, though. grain twice a day is a bit much plus 2 flakes of hay at a time. grain is really only for very young or very old horses or horses who are being worked hard. most people overfeed their horses. stick with just the hay and the grass.

It depends on the horse. Some horses are hardier than others. We had something go through the field where I had my horses - probably brought in from the pony that came from the auction and was put in the field. My pony was the first to show signs - but she just looked off for a few days. My mare lost some weight and one other horse died.

The other horse was a bit underweight to begin with, so he probably did not have as strong an immune system. My friend has had over ten horses over the years and has never had a problem with sickness. She has some mineral imbalance and had some problems with this initially, but once she worked through it with her first horse, she knew how to feed the rest and has not had a problem since.

So, if the horse is in good health and getting proper nutrition, then it is likely he will not get sick.

There's no way to know.

For instance, I own three horses. The two mares have not required anything other than vaccinations each year. Our gelding had an umbilical hernia that required a $500 operation. Then last year we discovered he had ear problems, a type of tumor called equine aural plaques that grow back. The vet charges $60 to come out and remove them, so that will have to be done periodically throughout his lifetime. The gelding was the cheapest horse we bought (we paid $120 for him at an auction as a weanling) and now he is the most expensive horse we own.

So there's no way to tell what will happen. Good care can cut down on your vet bills, I believe.

Well, I've had my 2 horses for 25 years and they have been extremely healthy. I guess I could say that altogether I have had the vet out for illness about 5x's.

All animals will vary, just like people, some or more apt to get sick or injured than others, so it is really hard to tell.

Horses are really quite healthy one of the biggest problems is colic. If exposes to other sick horses say with equine flu, colds, strangles they will contract these. but as a rule in a years time out of the 4 I have I take them to the vet more for injury's or vaccinations and yearly coggins then for illness.

depends entirely unpon the individual horse - some seem really prone and others won't need anything. I have 3 horses and generally see the vet for something or another every 3 or 4 months, although if they get ill then you could have multiple visits in a short space of time

I have l0 exactly. We are around them daily and watch for any signs of sickness. We mix our own feed, and add a medicated pellet (as we did for our cattle). In the last 5 years, have had no vet calls at all. We have a occasional hoof or leg cut or sprain, but that's all. We do all our own worming, and vaccinations, and have been extremely lucky.

By the way, they are all pasture horses and do not stay in stalls.

I've had horses for 15 years. For most of that time I've had 3 horses, I've had as few as two but no more than four. In 15 years I've called the vet out 5 times for injuries and twice for colic.

1. Bucky put his leg through the fence and needed stitches,

2. Sahib bit T-Bars and tore a chunk out of his butt, needed stitches,

3. My Friend's horse kicked the crap out of Bucky and had the vet look at it - no treatment was necessary.

4. Bucky got something in his eye that needed doctoring.

5. Tavis got some wood shaving in his eye that needed doctoring.

Of the two times I had horses colic, one survived and is just fine and one had to be put down after staying up with him all night. That was rough.

I've had one horse that went lame and ended up that he had navicular syndrome (same one that died of colic later, he was 21 years old). That is in addition to the annual farm call that the vet does to give shots, pull coggins, and float teeth.

Injuries can be kept down by making sure the area the horses are kept is as safe as you can make it. Don't keep too many horses in a small space, keep nails and other sharp objects contained. keep fences and gates in good repair and don't store junk in the pasture. Design your pastures and pens in such a way that there are no small spaces where a horse can get trapped by a more agressive horse and injured. (just make sure there is an escape route) Some injuries can't be prevented but you can minimize them by using common sense.

In spring and summer the horses are on grass with no hay. In the fall when the horses are going to be transitioning from grass to hay I start putting a flake of hay in their stalls each night and morning. I do this for a couple of weeks before I place the first round bale out in the pasture. I believe that by doing this I minimize the chances that they will colic when they stuff themselves on the hay that first week. Like I said, use common sense and you can minimize injuries and vet calls.

It depends on the horse but not very often....mabey once a year. We have had one of our horses for a year and we olny had to take him to the vets once due to back and hock issues. And our other 4 have not been to the vets for anything but yearly shots close to two years.