All yards should have biosecurity measures in place to protect themselves and other horses in the area or at competitions.
Prevention is always better than cure and it is important to follow strict rules to ensure the safety of the horses in your yard.
1. Quarantine
New arrivals should be quarantined for at least two weeks before mixing.
2. Equipment
Have separate feed, mucking out and grooming equipment for quarantine and non-quarantine areas. Disinfect equipment and transport when returning from an event. Virkon or Steri-7 are good disinfectants.
3. Looking after the horses
If possible, have separate people caring for the different areas, if this isn’t possible ensure hands are washed, PPE is used and clothes are changed before dealing with other animals.
Carry out regular temperature and symptom checks on all new horses and know what is normal for your long standing horses.
4. Vaccinations
Ensure horses are vaccinated against Equine Flu. If you have horses regularly leaving the yard to go to competitions, consider vaccinating against EHV as well. If you have breeding mares on the yard we would strongly recommend vaccinating for EHV.
5. Your vets
Your vets will be happy to discuss bio security and quarantine options so involve them and get their input
In the event of an outbreak at your yard try to have one vet dealing with the affected horses, this is not always possible in big livery yards, but by minimising the number of people in and out of the quarantine area, you will limit the potential spread of the disease. It also reduces confusion as there is one cohesive plan for the whole yard.
What to do if a horse develops symptoms
In the event of a horse developing symptoms for EHV, Flu, Strangles or any other highly contagious disease, horses should immediately be put in isolation. No horses should be arriving or leaving the yard and visitors should be strictly limited to absolute necessity.
Have a plan in place to set up an isolation area should you ever require it.
The perfect isolation set up
- Well separated from other stables and horses, so infected and uninfected horses aren’t sharing the same air space.
- Visitors to the stables can be controlled easily.
- If multiple horses are in quarantine, they ideally shouldn’t be able to touch each other’s noses.
- Cleaning facilities for hand washing and disinfecting.
- Talk to your vet about the best disinfectant and the correct use. There is no point having disinfectant and then using it ineffectively.
- Use water buckets that can be disinfected – don’t using a water drinker system which could potentially spread infection through the yard.
- Space for biosecurity items, such as PPE, disinfectants, footbaths etc.
- Have a separate muck heap, if access is usually through the non-isolation stables.
Obviously not all yards will have the space or facilities to create the perfect isolation area, but speak to your vet and they will be happy to help you create the safest plan possible.
Ensure everyone is aware of the yard’s biosecurity plan, so isolation or quarantine can be implemented speedily if necessary.
