Strangles precautions

smiggy

smiggy

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A livery yard,riding stables down the road from us has a confirmed case of strangles. They are far enough away not to be an issue on the whole BUT one of their main hacking routes is a bridleway that runs between two of our fields, one of which is my main grazing field with seven horses in.
Do you think I should assume that they will be responsible and keep horses on site or would it be sensible to ask them to please be careful about riding out, there are two other fields with horses along same route.
I don't want to pester them as obv have enough to deal with at the moment.
 
smiggy said:
A livery yard,riding stables down the road from us has a confirmed case of strangles. They are far enough away not to be an issue on the whole BUT one of their main hacking routes is a bridleway that runs between two of our fields, one of which is my main grazing field with seven horses in.
Do you think I should assume that they will be responsible and keep horses on site or would it be sensible to ask them to please be careful about riding out, there are two other fields with horses along same route.
I don't want to pester them as obv have enough to deal with at the moment.
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Were abouts are you based ?
 
Most yards will have a procedure to follow, no ins or outs, try to keep your horses in another area, thing about strangles is not all horses show signs, and can be carried by us, its a matter of clean, clean, clean, foot baths, dry hand wash for all, shower and wash clothes straight away, tyres on cars/vans disinfected, follow vet advise. If you do contact other yard do so by phone..
 
I wouldn't assume the yard will be responsible either and not ride along the footpath, and there are no legal rules regarding strangles to not move horses/ ride out etc etc its all done on how responsible the infected yard feels. If I were you I would move the horses next to the path to be on the safe side :)
 
I would run a strip of leccie fencing along the fence about 3-4 metres in and fire it up, hoefully thatll help keep your field guys safer
If you plan to ride the bridle way, which i would seriously think about . you will need to be careful that your horses dont come in to contact over the fence, and remember it is also spread by coughing with the virus being airbourne in the particles expelled. That said you dont know whats standing Round you at shows and in showfields and we dont all worry to much about that.
I would just be really careful with no grazing off site at shows and in the surrounding area, no sharing equipment or allowing patting by folks at shows etc, and speak to your vet to see if you need to go down the route of a disinfectant mat for entering your property as a precautionary measure, i think this is probably unlikely, but worth asking if theyre as close as you say.
Hopefully the yard will take good bio security measures themselves, you could find out by phoning and asking if any animals will be in the field bordering the bridleway and getting into a chat with them about how dificult a time it is for
them, asking what theyve had to do to keep things under wraps.
If theyre decent folks they should reassure you with some answers.
And ensure all your own folks wash their hands on entering the yard before touching any horses and equipment, and at the risk of stating the obvious
Dont go near their yard or the horses and folks from it, you dont know how good the individuals bio security measures are
 
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I would ask them not to use the bridleway. Horses are contagious before they have symptoms, it is not just horse to horse contact and human to horse contact you need to worry about but also the dogs/wild life crossing the bridleway into your paddocks and moving the strangles to your horses. This sounds extreme but if a horse has grazed or sneezed on the grass this is a potential risk. If they are not willing to avoid the bridleway then I would suggest that you shouldn't use the paddocks for your own horses’ protection if at all possible.
 
Thanks for replies
have spent several hours today fencing off bridleway half of field just in case. That way mine are well away at least.
We are in Sussex
 
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