You asked, we answered! In this episode of our monthly series, Ask the Vet, Dr. Lydia Gray and SmartPaker Dan (while SmartPaker Sarah is on maternity leave) answer 5 new questions on topics like how to prepare your trailer in the event of a natural disaster, what is pigeon fever, what are summer sores and how to treat them, how long to ride a pregnant mare, Birdcatcher spots (what?) and more!

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Additional reading/watching material mentioned in the video:
Ask the Vet individual topics playlist
Ask the Vet blogs
Horse Health Library videos
Ask the Vet form
Disaster Preparation for Horses
American Veterinary Medical Association: Large Animals and Livestock in Disasters
Homes for Horses Coalition
Humane Society
ASPCA
Preventing Horse Barn Fires
Ready.gov
Red Cross Emergency apps

Questions answered in this episode:
1. In the event of a natural disaster, such as fire, hurricane, flood, etc., where you don’t have much notice before having to evacuate what do you like having packed in your trailer? We live in Southern California where we could be forced to leave due to fire with little to no warning. We are trying to decide what passed ownership papers and health records we should keep in the trailer at all times in case of an emergency.
2. How long can you ride a mare who is pregnant?
3. I was wondering, what is pigeon fever? From what I know it’s an infection? But what are the symptoms, where does it come from? Thanks!! P.S. Love the series!!
4. What are summer sores? And why do horses get them? I notice that some horses get them and others don’t. How would you treat them?
5. This summer, my horse has gotten like 25 little white spots (the diameter of a pea) all over his body. He has gotten a few of these in the past, but never so many. He’s a sorrel horse, so this seems unusual. The spots have no pattern and don’t show up anywhere particular. What could be causing these to appear?