Rufus and Flax have never been Flu Vaccinated – they get their Tetanus as per, but I ever started them off in life with the Flu program. This year there is a Flu epidemic in horses that grumbles on. Rufus and Flax have been, until this year, pretty isolated from other horses but this year I have started riding again and they meet up with and call in on other horses and other yards – mostly a stable population of horses in this area – at the moment most of the ones I am familiar with have been here a while too, and as luck would have it right now many are getting on and not ridden so much.
However in amongst us are folk who compete at various levels and disciplines and who partake in hunting and point to pointing and we have one vet practice – these are not hobbies – they employ people – whatever the business or private purpose of the horses – they vaccinate as per the requirements of their disciplines and their activity supports a wider industry – as does my equine activity and my two ponies.

These other horses are moving around and may come into contact with Flu and bring it back. Flu is not fun. So, I have decided that Rufe and Flax now face an increased risk; Rufus and Flax now come into contact with them – allebiet in passing.
It is also true that last winter one local yard was targeted by hideous people dumping a, pathetically poor, herd of horses. overnight, into a field with some of theirs. The health risks are still unknown to the recipients; the sickly dumped horses had to be euthanised. This kind of thing happens. They could have chosen my field and Rufus, and Flax would not have been vaccinated. It was a wake-up call to all of us locally who take these things seriously.
I am also aware, following the recent spate of nasty txts over Bud’s death. that people are vastly ignorant at times, and it occurs to me that if one of our local yards actually had a case of Flu there might be a witch hunt against unvaccinated horses and ponies in the wider area herd – even if they had not left the farms.
Am I giving in to potential bitching in the future? Not so much – I genuinely believe that now is a good time to vaccinate for the reasons stated above and I believe that bitching occurs anywhere and quite often when people are scared – or scare themselves – into being too frightened to take responsible action or are so egocentric they believe they are right without research or fact-finding or are, in fact, just plain trouble making.
So putting my money where my mouth is and my two will be vaccinated now – and again in four weeks and then every six months. Because their health matters to me as does their quality of life.
Am I worried about this?  I am not a liar; yes. I do not want them to be poorly because of the vaccination but like human Flu Vaccination I have to conclude that these things are tested and that a possible small bout of snivels is better than Flu.