strangles confirmed and livery yard hell!!

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foxy1

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God this has to be the absolute pits of owning horses.....

I'm at a large livery yard which has been confirmed as having a strangles outbreak which is awful enough in itself but it seems that normally rational people have turned in to complete loonies!

I'm unfortunate enough to be one of three people who have bought a new pony on to this yard in the last three weeks and a witch hunt has now begun which would rival one from the middle ages.

Many of the other people on the yard won't speak to me and many more are b**ching behind my back.

I hasten to add the pony I bought to the yard isn't showing any symptoms but they (other livery owners) believe it could be a carrier.

I spoke to a vet this evening who said ANY horse can be a carrier even one that has been at the yard for 20 years, not to mention those that have been out competeing.

I absolutely dread going to the yard now. It's enough to make me want to give up horses.
 
I'm sorry to hear about the strangles. easier said then done but ignore the childish morons. I know it is prob an awful atmosphere but do what you have to do, put head phones on and listen to upbeat music and smile sweetly:D
 
People go nuts about it... and yet has anyone ever been on a yard with any idea on biosecurity when new horses come in? Cos I haven't.... and lets face it there's lots of more serious diseases than strangles out there (EIA anyone?)

Can you get the vet out and have them all scoped - ie the whole yard? It's the only way to know which is the carrier and get rid of the infection as far as I know.

<<<<<<<<<<recovery from nasty strangles vibes>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
Some of your fellow liveries are exhibiting symptoms of ignorance associated with peasants living in the Middle Ages! Ignore the thickos, music on, head up high, get your job done, two fingers to them and enjoy your horse!
 
Spudlet said:
People go nuts about it... and yet has anyone ever been on a yard with any idea on biosecurity when new horses come in? Cos I haven't.... and lets face it there's lots of more serious diseases than strangles out there (EIA anyone?)

Can you get the vet out and have them all scoped - ie the whole yard? It's the only way to know which is the carrier and get rid of the infection as far as I know.

<<<<<<<<<<recovery from nasty strangles vibes>>>>>>>>>>>>>>[/QUOTE


Unfotunately even scoping won't be conclusive.

I asked the vet if I could have my pony scoped to prove or disprove once and for all if he is a carrier but he said that even if they scope him and then find evidence of strangles bacteria, there is nothing to say he hasn't picked it up since he has been at the yard as there are confimed cases already.

Even if he IS the carrier there is nothing I could have done to prevent him coming in to contact with the other horses. There is no quarrantine period/area at this yard.
Click to expand...
 
No, but what I mean is that if they are all scoped you can treat any and all which have chondroids, stopping future re-infections on this or other yards. It's not anyone's fault that their horse is a carrier so no point in blaming people or trying to apportion blame, that's not what I meant:)

Yards do need to take disease control more seriously IMO though, god forbid something really nasty like African Horse Sickness should ever get into the country cos as it is, it could spread like lightening :(
 
Yes I have been on many yards over the years and I have never ever known of one or been on one that quarantined new horses past a couple of days for worming

This really brings home how easy it is to spread diseases and viruses
 
Well from my limited knowledge of strangles - everyone better start working together as you are all in it together and its a long haul.

People that go off hacking, competing or visit for lessons could all have infected the yard.

This is where a good yard owner/manager comes in to their own. They need to take responsiblity and organise the yard and which vets and what gets treated etc and keep everyone upto date with events.

Good luck - and no one would wish strangles on anyone, let alone themselves - stupid people
 
Sorry to hear about your problem, afraid it happens in most yards when this happens, as any one of them could have brought it back from a show, event such like, as not many people are honest when their animals have strangles until it shows and then it's always somebody elses fault. Many years ago it was a notefiable disease but for some reason dropped and now it's coming back big time
 
Yes we really need some co-ordination with monitoring new cases, where affected horses can go for leg stretches, where unaffected horses can be turned out away from ill horses etc. etc.

Unfortunately nobody is willing to be grown up and get together to make a plan of action. People are so busy back stabbing; I mean otherwise normal people who should have a resonable level of intelligence who have jobs like police officers and school teachers.

On top of which we have some very seriously ill horses on the yard, which needs to be our top priority collectively.

Very very sad.
 
Eighteen months ago I was on a yard with strangles, it was likely new one pony brought it but it equally could have been the horses out competing/hunting, who knows but it was no-ones fault. We were lucky, although everyone was upset at the situation we understood that we needed to work together to get through it, this took six months as one horse at a time became ill at beautifully timed three weekly intervals. However the ignorance and bitchiness I found outside the yard was outstanding. As a yard we researched the disease, were in frequent contact with the vet for advice and followed it to the hilt but it did not protect us from the lack of knowledge of others.

People say that she you should tell everyone so that they can avoid you but if you do speak out they verbally attack you or avoid you even in the supermarket or even spead malicious gossip on various websites. I know that this is all based on their fear and ignorance but they need get real and understand that no-one does this on purpose.

Good luck! I hope that your yard eventually understand that you need to pull together to get through this, after all no-one will be moving their horse until you get the all clear from the vet.
 
People get so neurotic and it really can be a case of a little bit of knowledge being a bad thing. One thing I did when I was on a yard where people were convinced that ringworm could be fatal!! was to get the vet involved. basically when the vet came to see horse (infected one) we briefly got everyone who was around together and the vet kindly agreed to fill everyone in on quarantine/risks/signs etc.. It really helped
 
@foxy1
What are the symptoms? I translated it from German (=Druse) does it have anything to do with an abcess under the throat?
My horse had this in December the abcess burst and the YO told me it was just dirt under his chin and not to call the vet.

So of course I got the vet and he gave my horse two shots of antibiotics in about 1 week 10 days but they didn't say it was strangles.
My horse has since then been really pooped I mean he acts like he is 30 years old.
Not sure if it is the same thing you had in your yard?
Quarantine for new horses is 24 hours in my current yard.
 
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Foxy1 I do feel for you, I run a yard and 18 months ago we got strangles the first time in 18 yrs and boy oh boy what an interesting time, we put a plan together with the vets and had a meeting, but one of the owners was so upset that her horse might die!!! that she could not attend! Therefore putting her horse at risk through sheer ignorance! I was lucky and I could seperate the mares and geldings to completley seperate yards. However have I had a slating from owners who left after the strangles. I was lucky that we kept the strangles to only 4 horses out of 20 and most of my owners were fabulous. Keep your chin up and rest assured it will and your pony will be fine eventually. Rise above it. x
 
I can understand people being annoyed at a stangles outbreak coinsidinng with the arrival of new horses on the yard, obviously they will point fingers at the people that own those horses but its a little unfair to be so mean when its not your fault.

The people that own the yard should have an isolation procedure to prevent such things happening. We have a minimum 2 week isolation period when any horse moves to the yard. We have 1 stable away from the main yard - a completly seperate building with a paddock. If the horses that come in show any signs of illness they stay in isolation until they are well. We have so far never had an outbreak of any contagious illness.

I would ignore these childish people, they will give up eventually!
 
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