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[intro music] Anne Lichtenwalner: Hi. My name is Anne
Lichtenwalner. I'm an Extension Veterinarian. I work for Cooperative Extension here at University
of Maine. As you can see, it's that time of year again. We wait all year for this beautiful
weather and all the green, but we also get our little friends, the flies and the mosquitoes
at this time of year. I'm here with some reminders about things you probably already know.
How do we minimize the impact of these little creatures on our animals, especially our horses?
Today we'll talk about minimizing mosquitoes, and black flies to some extent. We'll talk
about how you can minimize the impact they might have on your animals.
What do you do first? First, you try to reduce standing water on your farm. You can also
refer to some of our other extension materials on using pest management methods to decrease
them on your farm. Second, though, you can make your animals
a lot more comfortable if you'll do things like use fly masks on your horses. There are
also citronella‑based wipes and other things that can mitigate the tendency of the mosquitoes
and flies to bite your horse, especially when you're working with your horse or riding your
horse. You can also provide an environment for your
horse where they can get away from them. That might be some pasture with some uphill and
downhill areas. Especially later in the year, some shade, some wind protection and things
like that. Parts of it are pretty simple. Now, the other part, though, is really important.
You can quickly remind yourself to get on the phone to your vet, or to check your health
records for your horse. Make sure you've vaccinated them. They need to be boostered if they haven't
had their yearly booster. Some people like to go every six months for boosters.
What am I talking about for vaccines? Well, at least, you need to vaccinate for the encephalitis
viruses. Now, here we consider that to be Eastern Equine Encephalitis or EEE, West Nile
Virus, WNV, and we also usually will protect against Western Encephalitis Virus or WEE.
Those come in one shot, actually The other thing ‑‑ why not booster their
tetanus shot while you're at it? That's very, very common. It's all around, it's cheap,
and very effective to vaccinate for. Those are the basics. Wormers and other things,
of course. You need to talk to your vet about that. See what works on your farm. This is
just a reminder. Please, avoid loss of horses. Vaccinate per your veterinarian's instructions,
and just keep those mosquitoes and flies at a minimum.
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