I believe that all horse health problems can be prevented, in one way or another (unfortunately, accidents do happen). Not only is prevention easier on the horse, it is also easier on your heart and your wallet. As they say, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' If you have any suggestions for this page, feel free to email me: ladyphase@hotmail.com.
Prevention will keep your horse from suffering most maladies, all of which can also be emotionally stressful to the owner and/or caretaker, especially those who have a close relationship with the horse. Also, some treatments can be costly, and considering that many horse owners already have strict budgets...well, need I say more.
It all starts from the beginning. First off, some health problems can be avoided by not breeding together horses with the certain genetic defaults that predispose horses to certain diseases and lameness. Proper prenatal care of mare and foal and then later, good management and training of the foal, can help avoid problems down the road (in the foal or the dam).
Proper feeding and nutrition helps a young horse grow healthy and strong, and helps keep a fully grown horse healthy and strong.
Proper exercise at all stages of a horse's life helps keep the animal healthy and strong. Not working a young horse under saddle until it is fully developed helps keep the animal strong and helps prevent problems from happening down the road. Then later on, the horse should only be given work loads that it is physically and mentally capable of.
Horses should be kept on good deworming programs, have all their vaccinations up to date, and have regular visits with the vet and the farrier. It is also a good idea to have your horse's teeth checked and taken care of because its digestive juices can't break down the cellulose in grass - that is done by bacteria in the horse's colon. If the horse cannot break down its food with its teeth properly, the bacteria in the colon won't be able to work on the feed well enough and the horse will get less nutrition from the feed. In addition to that, the fibrous material could get wedged in the intestines (which you can guess is not a good thing). Also, the teeth sometimes get worn in such a way that sharp edges develope and it could be painful for the horse to chew its food properly. Good horse management should always be practiced, it often keeps things from going wrong later.
More on prevention at another date. I will include more hows and whys, and in some cases just links to parts of websites that say this as well, or better, than I can. Soon I will be creating another section focusing on reproduction related problems (at first focusing on the foal, not necessarily the dam).
Manager/Owner Skills and Record Keeping
Four components to horse health management.
To see the section on lamenesses and injuries, go here. (Note: some of these are actually *diseases* that usually effect specifically the hoof/legs)
To see the section on diseases, go here.
Encephalomyletis, Rabies, Diarrhea, Tying Up, Bowed Tendon, Navicular, Bone Spavin, Wind Puffs, Ringbone, White Line Disease, Bruises and Abscesses, Exhaustion and Overheating, Gastric Ulcers, Proud Flesh (excessive granulation), Melanoma, Sarcoids, Anaphalactic Shock, Club foot, and sand crack.