Digital Coggins

Do you know what your Coggins test is for?  Many people don’t realize that the Coggins test actually checks for an infectious disease called Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA).  This disease is incurable, and is transmitted by biting insects.  Up to 30% of horses that contract the disease will die, and those that survive are carriers for life.  So it’s important to follow the law and get your horse a Coggins test whenever it is moving across state lines, going to an event, or boarding.  Each state has its own regulations, so be sure to ask your vet.  For example, New Hampshire requires proof of a negative Coggins test within the last 6 months, whereas many other states only ask for one within the last 12 months.

We use a digital system for Coggins (EIA) tests. This enables horse owners to view online and print their Coggins tests anytime that they are needed. We add photographs to the Coggins forms, so if you would like to send us photos of your horse ahead of time that would be very helpful! Otherwise our doctors will take photos when they are out to draw blood for Coggins testing.

Guidelines for taking digital photographs for Coggins:

• The images must be clear and in color.
• There must be three images, one of the entire left side, entire right side and one of the face, including muzzle and ears.
• Each leg must be visible all the way to the coronets.
• The horse should fill approximately 90% of the photo, minimal human content in photo.
• The horse should not bear wearing any tack or blankets (except halter or bridle).
• Ideally photo should be taken outdoors with the sun or light source behind the photographer.
• When taking side view photos, separate the legs to show markings inside the limbs.

Once you have your horses’ photos, you can email them to us. Please be sure to include your name, horses’ name(s) and where they are stabled. Ideally you should send medium size (640 x 480), low resolution photos. You can email them to us at: [email protected]