Preparing for the Expensive Care of Horse Ownership

Heartworm antigen test

Pets can give you unconditional love and years of entertainment. However, it is important to remember that they are also living beings and they require regular medical care, just as humans do. In addition to regular feedings and fresh water availability, pets also require vaccinations, medical care, medications, and regular grooming. They also need ample exercise and weight control. Specific pets require specialized care, depending on their breeds. Horses, for example, need large areas of space and require extensive training for a high quality of life. Horses are unique and are also prone to certain diseases.

Expansive land requirements

Owning a horse without the appropriate amount of land can actually be bad for the horse?s development. Training and exercising a horse is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the horse?s optimal health. Proper exercise and training of the horse requires an expansive amount of land. They need supple amounts of space to run, graze, and trot through. Also, when you are training them to ride bareback or with a saddle, you will want large amounts of land.

Full time caregiving responsibility

Approximately 2 million people own horses. Owning a horse and providing it with food and shelter is not enough. Even occasional training and exercise is also not enough. Horses, unlike other animals, are a full time responsibility. They generally require the care and assistance of someone similar to a full time employment position. When the horse is not being taken care of, the stables require constant upkeep. Horses are usually in better health when they have clean and sanitary living conditions. These conditions can also prevent dangerous diseases among horses.

Horse medical care

Horses also need regular medical care in addition to their routine vaccinations. One of the common and troublesome diseases of horses is the equine infectious anemia virus. This equine virus can be tested with contract lab services, but often requires an equine infectious anemia virus antibody test on site. The contract vet professional will take samples of blood from your horse for the equine infectious anemia virus antibody test and send them out to a clinical diagnostics laboratory. If the antibodies show up in the test, your horse may be suffering from the disease or may be a carrier of it.

The equine infectious anemia virus antibody test is important to have as soon as any symptoms begin. When horses are exposed to equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), they may develop severe, acute signs of disease and die within 2 to 3 weeks. The blood of the virus is extremely infectious, making it highly probable that any other horses in contact also carry the virus. One fifth of a teaspoon of blood from a chronic case of EIAV during a feverish episode contains enough viruses to infect 10,000 horses.

Proper funding

In addition to the possibility of an equine infectious anemia virus antibody test and contract manufacturing services, horses can and do tend to be very expensive. Considering that they require large amounts of food, full time care, and regular grooming, all of these things can get costly. If you are looking for a pet within a low budget, a horse may not be the best option. Even contract laboratory programs can get very expensive, requiring the contract services of a vet professional. Horses also need replacement of shoes and other exercise equipment.

Pets have many advantages. Horses, for example, can teach child proper caretaker tasks, while also allowing them to train an animal. However, it is also important to remember that horses can be very expensive and are prone to certain animal specific diseases. Without a regular caretaker for the horse, these diseases may be overlooked and can severely harm the health of the horse. They can also spread the disease to other local animals, causing an outbreak of the EIAV virus.