Equestrian Network Magazine

Transporting Large Distances

by Douglas Novick, DVM

Photo courtesy of Azevedo Transportation

There are several things to consider when transporting your horse for long periods of time and large distances. First, if you are crossing state lines, you will need to have a health certificate. This certifies that your horse is not bringing any contagious disease into the new state. To obtain a health certificate you need to have your veterinarian examine your horse. He or she will then issue the certificate. In addition, many states require that your horse be vaccinated for certain diseases. Most states also require that your horse be recently tested negative on a Coggins test (the test for Equine Infectious Anemia). The health certificate is only good for 30 days so the examination needs to be performed close to your departure time.

During the trip offer water to your horse every three hours.

The second consideration is health risks to your horse. The biggest problem seen in long distance travel is impaction colic. The second biggest problem is respiratory tract infections. Impaction colic is caused by manure drying out and forming a blockage in the large intestine. The reason this problem occurs in horses being transported is thought to be a decreased water intake during the trip. To address this problem, here are three suggestions. During the trip offer water to your horse every three hours. Horses may decrease significantly their water intake if the water tastes differently from what they are used to drinking at home. Therefore, before your trip put a small amount of vinegar in your horse's water. Then, while you travel and during the first few days at your new location continue to add a little vinegar. This will make all the water taste relatively the same. Finally, if your trip is more than 10 hours long, I suggest having the veterinarian out to administer a gallon of mineral oil via a nasogastric tube. The mineral oil will help keep the manure soft decreasing the chances of an impaction.

The second problem associated with long distance travel is respiratory infections. In studies of severe pneumonia in horses over 70% of the patients had recently traveled for long distances just prior to becoming infected. This association on respiratory infection and travel is known as "shipping fever" among cattleman. Shipping is highly stressful and may lower a horse's resistance to viral diseases. For this reason, making sure your horse is well vaccinated for Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis is critically important. Bacterial infection secondary to viral infections quickly follow. This leads many veterinarians to give departing horses a dose of penicillin at the time mineral oil is administered just prior to long distance travel.

The chances are that most horses will not have any problems on any particular trip. The problem is that a few horses will have problems. The strategies above are designed to minimize the risk of your horse becoming one of those few.

Dr. Douglas Novick is a veterinarian in the San Francisco Bay Area who limits his practice to the treatment of horses. His special interests are equine sports medicine, equine dentistry and equine reproduction. An experienced horseman of over 30 years, Dr. Novick has treated horses in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1988. Prior to that time he treated racehorses and performance horses while on staff at the New Jersey Equine Clinic, a six-veterinarian racetrack and surgical referral practice. Dr. Novick is a graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina where he was graduated with honors, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. Dr. Novick has been featured for his work, in preventing horse theft by implanting Identification Microchips, in numerous publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, Horse Illustrated, Horse Show Magazine and the Quarter Horse Journal. His primary practice area includes Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda Counties. He can be reached for appointments at 1-800-998-4650. You can reach Dr. Novick via -email care by e-mailing to drdoug@novickdvm.com He lives with his family including 2 boys and 1 girl at Ridge View Farm along with 4 horses, 15 goats, 2 dogs, 3 rabbits, and 4 cats.