A successful horse farm depends on good health

Hanover Shoe Farms traces its origins back to the early 1900s , and the Standardbred breeding farm continues to this day. The historic farm encompasses more than 2,400 acres in and around Hanover, Pa. It is home to nine stallions, 336 yearlings and more than 500 broodmares. In 2001, the farm set the all-time breeder earnings record regardless of breed. In 2012, the farm set a new record for breeders’ earnings.

Keeping that operation running smoothly requires wellness and efficiency. It depends on Courtney Pink, DVM, the resident veterinarian at Hanover Shoe Farms for the past five years.

“You have to have good overall health so that the broodmares can have good, healthy pregnancies,” Dr. Pink said. “They need a healthy inter-uterine environment to have a healthy foal and a much better product to help the overall farm.”

Like any large breeding facility, Hanover Shoe Farms treats for respiratory infections each year. In fact, Dr. Pink is typically treating one or two cases at any given time, due to the sheer size of the farm.

To get the broodmares back to good health, Dr. Pink says she reaches for Excede (ceftiofur crystalline free acid) Sterile Suspension first to treat respiratory infections on Hanover Shoe Farms.

In horses, Excede is indicated for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections caused by susceptible strains of Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus). By providing 10 days of therapy in just two treatments administered four days apart, veterinarians can optimize compliance and convenience. Compare that with a competitive antibiotic, which requires 10 daily doses.

Daily antibiotic administration can disrupt schedules and cause added stress for the horse, as well as for those administering the medication. Market research has shown that many people often find administering antibiotics to their horses difficult and time consuming.

“Now that I use Excede, it’s great because I still check on the horse every day for the course of the treatment,” Dr. Pink said. “But I only have to give two shots to the horse, which makes the whole environment a lot friendly, happier, and the horses don’t hate me as much. The biggest benefit for using Excede is that it cuts down on my workload and time spent on each individual case.”