Our policies
We provide a wide range of professional services to meet your needs. We promise to provide every service with a smile, and to your highest level of satisfaction. Here you will find practice policies and updates.
We believe in transparency and open communication. The policies on this page will be beneficial for our company and our clients.
We understand that with growth comes change. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. We are always available to answer your questions and discuss any concerns you may have. Our website is actively updated to ensure you have access to these changes and any upcoming news.
Active Client Status: each of your horses should be seen once a year for vaccinations by one of our veterinarians (minimum requirement is a rabies vaccine administered - read on below)
Medications: medications being picked up or shipped are to be paid for prior to leaving the office. Special order medications should be paid for prior to order and are non-returnable items.
Online pharmacy order requests will be charged an Administrative Processing fee prior to approval.
Payment at Time of Service: we are working towards full pay at time of service. Please be prepared with a card on file with our office or a check/cash in the field.
Pricing: equipment, product, medication, laboratory, and service prices have increased for our practice therefore increasing costs for our clients. Unfortunately, we cannot absorb the increase in prices for the practice without price increases for clients.
Rabies Vaccines
Why is rabies vaccination so important to us here at South Carolina Equine Associates? We’re glad you asked!
What is rabies? Rabies is a neurologic disease caused by a virus that can be spread from mammal to mammal, and all mammals are susceptible. Typically it is spread through bite wounds but can spread through contact with saliva or direct contact with mucosa.
Horses are particularly susceptible to rabies due to their lifestyle – unlike many of our canine and feline friends, horses typically live outdoors for most or all of the time, meaning they are exposed to wild animals that may be passing by. In 2023 alone, there were 78 confirmed cases of rabies in the state of South Carolina, of which raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes were the most common species to be affected. Horses interact commonly with these species due to their outdoor lifestyle.
One of the challenges about rabies in horses is that the clinical signs of rabies in horses vary significantly. While rabies is relatively uncommon in horses, rabies can mimic the signs of colic, which is the most common equine emergency. Additionally, if the horse is displaying more neurologic clinical signs, these signs are often non-specific and indistinguishable from other equine neurologic diseases. Rabies in horses is always fatal.
For veterinarians, the fact that rabies can mimic signs of colic is one of the biggest reasons that horses unvaccinated for rabies could pose a risk to us and to you – to investigate a colic, a veterinarian will often inspect a horse’s gums, perform a rectal exam, and pass a nasogastric tube, all of which exposes veterinarians to horse saliva and mucous membranes. This the main reason we require rabies vaccination to see your horse for an emergency, we want to keep everyone safe!
Luckily the rabies vaccine in horses is very effective! This is one of the reasons rabies is so uncommon in horses, is because widespread vaccination has done an excellent job protecting our equine family members. After vaccination, horses reliably maintain protective immunity from rabies for one year. Additionally, the rabies vaccine is very safe and side effects from vaccination are rare. Per South Carolina state law, rabies vaccination can only be performed by a veterinarian, so please reach out to us if you have any questions or are interested in vaccinating your horse for rabies!
Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), and West Nile Virus (WNV)
My horse never leaves the property, does it really need vaccinations? Yes!
Did you know that some of the most severe diseases in horses are transferred by mosquitos? Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), and West Nile Virus (WNV) are all viruses that are transferred by mosquitos that can cause swelling of the brain. EEE and WEE are commonly referred to as “sleeping sickness” because horses often become profoundly depressed. Horses affected by EEE, WEE, or WNV may exhibit abnormal behavior, head pressing, ataxia, fever, and they may become comatose and unable to rise. Horses affected by EEE may die suddenly without any signs of disease.
These diseases are extremely severe. In unvaccinated horses, WEE has a fatality rate of 20-40%, WNV has a fatality rate of 30-40%, and EEE has a fatality rate of 98%. Because this fatality rate is so high, we consider EEE to always be fatal in horses. If a horse survives WEE or WNV, depending on how much damage the brain and spinal cord have incurred during the course of disease, they may retain neurologic deficits for life.
Do these diseases occur in South Carolina? Yes. Two unvaccinated horses (one in Sumter County and one in Lee County) died of EEE in August of 2023, confirmed by Clemson University, and one unvaccinated horse in Charleston County was euthanized due to WNV in January 2024, confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
Can humans contract EEE, WEE or WNV? Yes, however they cannot contract these diseases directly from horses (humans can only become infected from mosquito bites.) Please contact your physician if you have any questions regarding how these diseases may affect humans.
Luckily, vaccination is very successful at preventing disease in horses from EEE, WEE or WNV. After vaccination from EEE, WEE or WNV, horses reliably retain protective immunity for 6 months. Because here in South Carolina we have mosquitos all year round, we recommend vaccinating for these diseases every 6 months. If you are moving to South Carolina from up north or are wintering with us here in South Carolina, this vaccination protocol may be different from where you lived previously. If you have purchased or obtained a horse from up north, and they are moving to South Carolina, please see when they were last vaccinated for EEE, WEE or WNV and booster if necessary.