Keeping Your Horse Healthy and Happy

Make sure your horse has space to lie down. It is commonly known that horses can sleep standing up. However, they can only sleep very lightly this way. Horses need to lie all the way down to achieve deep sleep. Make sure that there is plenty of space in your stable or barn, so that your horse can lie down and rest.
Visit your vet every 6 to 12 months. Regular veterinary care helps to catch any health problems before they become serious. Find a good equine vet and visit them one to two times per year. Important elements of these visits will be vaccines, dental care, and deworming. While deworming treatment can often be administered by the owner, left undiagnosed the presence of worms can lead to:

Provide vaccinations. In addition to regular check-ups and deworming, horses also need annual vaccinations. These vaccinations can prevent a host of serious illnesses and diseases, and making sure your horse has been vaccinated helps to keep the whole horse community safe. Your vet may want to vaccinate your horse for:

Take care of your horse’s feet. The basics of trimming and shoeing are not breed-dependent, but every horse (whether it wears traditional horse shoes, hoof boots, or goes barefoot), requires the services of a good farrier. About every six months, your farrier will examine your horse’s conformation, gait, and general movement. The farrier will then trim and/or shoe the horse’s hooves based on the natural angles.
A good gait can be preserved or ruined based on whether or not you provide adequate hoof care
Care for your horse’s teeth. Your horse’s teeth should be examined every 6 to 12 months by your horse’s vet. Horse teeth continue to grow over the course of a horse’s life. As such, they can be prone to developing sharp points and/or uneven wear. See your horse’s dentist to have the teeth “floated” (or smoothed down), and examined for other dental problems.