Instructions
Keep your horse up to date on its immunizations. Check with your vet to determine what diseases are a threat in your area, and make sure your horse has a routine checkup once a year. Worm your horse regularly to prevent internal parasites, and float its teeth when necessary to ensure that it can chew its food and receive proper nutrition.
Feed your horse a well-balanced diet, complete with essential vitamins. Make sure that it receives enough roughage to promote healthy digestion. Consult your veterinarian about providing a nutritional supplement containing immune-boosting ingredients such as transfer factor, which may augment a horse's production of natural killer cells.
Give your horse plenty of exercise to promote blood flow and keep the immune system vitalized. Let your horse graze outside regularly, allowing it to move constantly rather than keeping it stationary in a stall. Grazing also allows mucus to drain if you do not feed your horse on the ground.
Groom your horse regularly. This not only promotes circulation, but it also gives you a chance to catch any bumps, bruises or lameness, which you can treat immediately instead of letting them fester into larger problems.
Keep your horse in a clean environment with good ventilation, warmth and adequate fly control. Flies are vectors of many diseases, so use fly spray and fly catchers to keep their population to a minimum. In the winter, you don't necessarily need to keep your horse inside with a blanket, but if you do, do it consistently. Abrupt changes can shock a horse's immune system and weaken it. Keep the dust in the barn to a minimum to keep your horse's nostrils clear, and if your horse lives in a stall, change its bedding every day to keep its living conditions sanitary.
Have your farrier regularly check your horse's feet, and shoe or trim them. If your horse is sore from badly fitting shoes, overly long hooves or a hoof infection, it won't be able to exercise, and this will weaken its immune system.
How to Increase the Immune System in a Horse
In order for your horse to perform at its full potential, it must be in peak condition. Maintaining your horse's immune system is a vital component of horse ownership, contributing not only to its athletic abilities, but also to its appearance, temperament and general well-being. Supporting your horse's immune system requires preventative and proactive measures. Simply giving your horse an immunization or a balanced diet will not suffice on its own. You must address all the factors contributing to your horse's health to sustain and fortify its immune system.