Protecting Your Horse’s Health
With heightened concern about horse health due to contagious diseases, we would like to offer the following suggestions to reduce your horses’ risk of exposure to serious diseases of equines.
We recommend the following steps for those of you traveling with your horse:
- Monitor horses for clinical signs and take and record the temperature twice daily.
- Anything greater than 101.5 is considered a fever.
- Immediately isolate any horse(s) showing clinical signs.
- Implement movement restrictions until the situation is evaluated.
- Contact your veterinarian to evaluate your horse and to propose a comprehensive biosecurity protocol.
- Increase biosecurity measures that include extensive disinfection of surfaces and equipment that come in contact with affected horses.
- Wash or sanitize your hands between interacting with horses.
- Take time while filling water buckets and feed tubs, do not cross contaminate.
- Minimize the use of shared equipment and tack.
- Make sure your horse is up to date on vaccinations.
- Establish communication with all parties involved.
Click here to read a one page handout from Dr. David Smith, NY State Veterinarian, about basic biosecurity when returning from horse events. In the handout, there are a few good links to AAEP and USDA websites with additional resource information.
