Strangles in Herts

Its the moving horses about that is the issue, the second case is following "moving a horse so it was safe"
 
More information on location of outbreaks would be good - perhaps a sticky would help too? How do you get TFC to do this for us?

Somewhere where we can post confirmed cases.
 
where about in herts/south bucks?

I am meant to be going on the west wycombe sponsored ride on Monday and our YO does not like us going to events if strangles is about for obvious reasons and of course I don't want my pony to catch anything nasty either.

It seems to be endemic though as there seems to some every year or so locally.
 
Crumbs not heard at all and i am very near by, does anyone have more details, as strangles does not worry me as such it is the not knowing and the darn hush hush about it all.
if people were more open about it and dealt with it in a sensible fashion there would not be such worry about the condidtion
 
The yards affected by strangles are in Sandridge. Only ONE yard is confirmed to have it and the affected horses have been isolated.

There is a LOT of scaremongering going on and yes, strangles is serious but it is transfered by direct contact and not a horse sneezing two miles away and being carried in the wind.

It's that time of year that, due to the weather - very mild. There are lots of bugs floating about resulting in coughs and sneezes. Not every cough and sneeze is strangles.

The moral is, be safe when you're out and about. DO NOT let your horse sniff noses with any other horse - even if you know them, DO NOT let your horse eat grass at shows / out hacking and DO NOT share waterbuckets and troughs at shows, and follow basic hygene procedures like disinfecting stables, mucking out tools and grooming kit 'occasionally'.

Get out, have fun but be safe and sensible.
 
CBFan said:
The yards affected by strangles are in Sandridge. Only ONE yard is confirmed to have it and the affected horses have been isolated.

There is a LOT of scaremongering going on and yes, strangles is serious but it is transfered by direct contact and not a horse sneezing two miles away and being carried in the wind.

It's that time of year that, due to the weather - very mild. There are lots of bugs floating about resulting in coughs and sneezes. Not every cough and sneeze is strangles.

The moral is, be safe when you're out and about. DO NOT let your horse sniff noses with any other horse - even if you know them, DO NOT let your horse eat grass at shows / out hacking and DO NOT share waterbuckets and troughs at shows, and follow basic hygene procedures like disinfecting stables, mucking out tools and grooming kit 'occasionally'.

Get out, have fun but be safe and sensible.
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Thank you, a bit of sense rather than hysteria.
 
CBFan said:
The moral is, be safe when you're out and about. DO NOT let your horse sniff noses with any other horse - even if you know them, DO NOT let your horse eat grass at shows / out hacking and DO NOT share waterbuckets and troughs at shows, and follow basic hygene procedures like disinfecting stables, mucking out tools and grooming kit 'occasionally'.

Get out, have fun but be safe and sensible.
Click to expand...

**Applauds some more**

The only other thing I would say is, if you are introducing new horses onto your yard, keep them separated from the other horses for a couple of weeks, especially if they are from places where they may have been in contact with lots of horses from different places (such as many dealers' yards, for example).
 
Spudlet said:
**Applauds some more**

The only other thing I would say is, if you are introducing new horses onto your yard, keep them separated from the other horses for a couple of weeks, especially if they are from places where they may have been in contact with lots of horses from different places (such as many dealers' yards, for example).
Click to expand...

Applauds even more!

I at one time I kept my horses on a large commercial livery yard, riding school, stud and competition centre. A case was confirmed so we swabbed every horse on the yard and isolated those infected, 8 in total, we then managed them plus the horses that had been in direct contact with, with "barrier care" and no further horses were infected, so 8 out of a total of 140 horses and those 8 had all been turned out together. My point here is that even on a large yard it does not necessarily "sweep through the population" Yes it is nasty but people get way too paranoid about it and you don't have to hole up for the duration as long as you use your common sense.
 
Spudlet said:
**Applauds some more**

The only other thing I would say is, if you are introducing new horses onto your yard, keep them separated from the other horses for a couple of weeks, especially if they are from places where they may have been in contact with lots of horses from different places (such as many dealers' yards, for example).
Click to expand...

Ahh good thinking batman! Forgot that one but yes, it should go without saying really - sadly I know it doesn't.

I have just 'escaped' a yard temporarily, not that far from the affected yard and OMG the hysteria that this bout of strangles has caused is beyond belief. We had strangles a few years ago and unfortunately Y/M didn't isolate affected horses and therefore it contunued to spread and it took us 4 months to get clear of it. HOWEVER even so, not all horses on the yard got it and even those that showed SOME symptoms - sore throat, clear runny nose and or high temperature were found NOT to have Strangles. All affected horses were treated with Antibiotics and made a full recovery. Only one was hospitalised as he had 'full blown' strangles and nearly didn't make it - mainly because diagnosis was delayed by at least 24 hours.
 
Hi dianchi,

Where did you hear about the two yards? and can you give us any more information on location?

I was planning to get out and about quite a bit over the next few weeks (XC schooling, sponsored rides etc) and it would be good to know what the deal is so to speak. :)

Thanks
 
Every year, there is always quite a lot of strangles in the Herts/Bucks area. Ask any vet and they'll tell you - but what they won’t tell you is which yards are affected!

All we can do is be vigilant and take precautions as suggested, otherwise we'd all stay at home and never dare to go out. Taking your own hay and water to shows and not allowing horses make contact is common sence and important I think.
 
I think part of the reason people get worried about it is that best practice is often not followed. Yards are not open about having it and sometimes people on yards with it still continue to compete or move their horses.

People should be careful at all time when going out and about but if they know there is strangles locally then it helps people make informed choices about taking their horses to shows etc.

Also farriers should be told too so they can take the necessary steps to prevent it spreading such as shoeing these horse last on the round and perhaps disinfecting their tools.
 
Why do people feel the need to scare the bejesus out of everyone??!!! Herts is a blooming big place and many of us keep our horses in Herts and compete in Herts. All well and good posting there is strangles but could we actually have some more info?
 
lochpearl said:
Why do people feel the need to scare the bejesus out of everyone??!!! Herts is a blooming big place and many of us keep our horses in Herts and compete in Herts. All well and good posting there is strangles but could we actually have some more info?
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Read back through the thread...

As for farriers etc taking precautions, I think it is fair to say, and my experience suggests that most ARE very careful in such circumstances and do affected yards last on their round where possible. It's not worth it for them not to really is it. But seriously, we had it and the farmer was going too and fro from our yard to the next, every day in his tractor and it didn't get spread so chances of vehicular transfer are slim don't you say??
 
I agree, that to prevent the spread, the whereabouts of yards that have it should be made public information, but the vets wont identify who's yards they are currently treating for strangles, leaving that up to the yard owners themselves, who usually just go very quiet.
 
I have heard that there are three cases at a yard near St Albans/Wheathampstead. One suspected case (blood tests have been carried out) at a yard up the road and another case at a yard that is nearer to Hatfields -St Albans. Local shows such as Oaklands have cancelled but up to Friday last week Pony Club was still on at Patchetts!!!

Rumour has it that the yard didn't stop movement of horses until 3 days after it was confirmed but that could just be a rumour :mad:
 
CBFan said:
Read back through the thread...

As for farriers etc taking precautions, I think it is fair to say, and my experience suggests that most ARE very careful in such circumstances and do affected yards last on their round where possible. It's not worth it for them not to really is it. But seriously, we had it and the farmer was going too and fro from our yard to the next, every day in his tractor and it didn't get spread so chances of vehicular transfer are slim don't you say??
Click to expand...

I did read the thread and the poster has not confirmed the area. Who said I commented on people being careful and how yards deal with it? I said that I would rather people were factual about comments rather than just blanket covering one or two incidents. Your farmer seems very lucky and quite frankly it is not a risk most of us would want to take!
 
I dont it is spread by cars etc that people worry about it is farrier touching horses or getting horse slobber on them and then going to another yard without washing hands/changing clothing or cleaning the rasps etc that could spread it. If a yard is not being open about there being a problem a farrier might not know and be able to take the precautions.

CBFan said:
Read back through the thread...

As for farriers etc taking precautions, I think it is fair to say, and my experience suggests that most ARE very careful in such circumstances and do affected yards last on their round where possible. It's not worth it for them not to really is it. But seriously, we had it and the farmer was going too and fro from our yard to the next, every day in his tractor and it didn't get spread so chances of vehicular transfer are slim don't you say??
Click to expand...
 
Quite a few others have, though I posted a link that confirms a case in Flaunden.

lochpearl said:
I did read the thread and the poster has not confirmed the area. Who said I commented on people being careful and how yards deal with it? I said that I would rather people were factual about comments rather than just blanket covering one or two incidents. Your farmer seems very lucky and quite frankly it is not a risk most of us would want to take!
Click to expand...
 
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