Quarantine do people stil do it?

[blitznbobs]

Totally pointless .. on any yard where horses are allowed off to compete.. I wouldn’t send a horse to go thru quarantine... most things are air transmitted anyhow... they don’t quarantine children when they join a new school where the risk of infection is loads higher and I’ve had loads more problems with kids getting sick than horses getting sick

 

[Coblover63]

All new horses on my yard have to go into isolation for a fortnight. And I'm not on a posh yard, I just have a sensible YM. Yard had strangled a few years back, before she was appointed, so its always been her rule. If we have other horses we have to do them first and the newbie last. All other liveries know not to touch etc. It works very well.

 

[oldie48]

It's noticeable that many of the EI outbreaks originate from unvaccinated horses imported from Ireland or recently acquired horses. I've never quarantined horses but they have always been vaccinated prior to me buying them. A friend who has a livery yard does quarantine for two weeks in a box some distance from the main yard but still in view and in a paddock on it's own but again in view of other horses. Not perfect but better than nothing I think.

 

[Peter7917]

Never, I don't think I would go to a yard that insisted on it either. Three weeks of solitary confinement for a herd animal? No thanks.

 

[ycbm]

All new horses on my yard have to go into isolation for a fortnight. And I'm not on a posh yard, I just have a sensible YM. Yard had strangled a few years back, before she was appointed, so its always been her rule. If we have other horses we have to do them first and the newbie last. All other liveries know not to touch etc. It works very well.

Does anyone ever take their horse off your yard to a hunt meet, farm ride, long distance, clinic, competition, or for any other reason to another horse centre?

If so, are they quarantined when they come back?

 

[Coblover63]

Does anyone ever take their horse off your yard to a hunt meet, farm ride, long distance, clinic, competition, or for any other reason to another horse centre?

If so, are they quarantined when they come back?

Only if they have touched noses or eaten/drunk from shared facilities. We are all very careful to keep our distance. We are currently confined to base with the flu scare.

 

[blitznbobs]

Do u all keep yourselves locked up during a human flu epidemic?

 

[Leo Walker]

This is quite interesting for me as I am currently working out the logistics for a new horse to come home here. We have our own herd of currently 4: 2 are turned away all winter in another herd that is a closed herd. 2 remain here at home for the winter and are ridden regularly - out and about. None of these are vaccinated 6 monthly but the 2 that are kept in over winter have annual boosters. At the moment, because of flu, we are not going anywhere with any of them and are considering leaving the 2 turned away horses where they are until flu outbreak is properly contained although that will be hugely disappointing for 2 members of the family. I am looking at buying a youngster and am wondering how 'safe' (relatively - young horse will have been bought out of a very experienced yard that I would imagine is far more on the ball than me) it will be to introduce a new horse at this time. I wouldnt want to quarantine a horse 'properly' as I can only imagine this would cause problems. On the other hand I don't want to risk flu or strangles either of which are possible! How is the best way to go about this?

Strangles blood test for the new one and 6 monthly flu vaccination for everyone.

My yard now asks for a strangles blood test but thats it. Realistically thats about all you can do as horses are coming and going competing and hacking etc all the time.

 

[MagicMelon]

I personally dont quarantine a new horse but then I keep my horses at home so its not like a livery yard with horses coming and going etc. I've also never bought from a dealer or in fact anyone who has had their horse on livery. All mine have been long-term privately owned so came from very small private yards. I dont know if that minimises risk, I imagine it must to a degree. I turn the horse out split by electric tape with my other horses the other side, this is purely for them to meet safely first then I'll let them out together as soon as they settle down (usually after 2 or 3 days).

I'm not concerned about flu really since thats always on the go, I believe we've only heard about it at the moment purely because its affected the racing industry. My only worry really is strangles.