Strangles - question for yard owners

pretendhorse

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Confirmed case now on my yard and 2 more being tested.

I've told the yard I was going to move to and they've been lovely - told me to give them a ring when all clear and if the stable is still available it's mine.

If you were a yard owner and were offering a space to someone from a yard with known strangles, what would 'all clear' look like to you? Blood test results? Email from vet?

I'm in paranoia mode & disinfecting everything. Sadly not everyone on the yard is the same :(
 

Nici

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Confirmed case now on my yard and 2 more being tested.

I've told the yard I was going to move to and they've been lovely - told me to give them a ring when all clear and if the stable is still available it's mine.

If you were a yard owner and were offering a space to someone from a yard with known strangles, what would 'all clear' look like to you? Blood test results? Email from vet?

I'm in paranoia mode & disinfecting everything. Sadly not everyone on the yard is the same :(

Have a look with the yard you'll move to so they can be a bit more specific. I wouldn't understand what an "all clear" is, either. Perhaps it's when the epidemic has passed and no horse has strangles on your current yard any longer.
I know that new horses are sometimes kept in quarantine for three weeks on their new yard to avoid strangles and other infections.
 

Auslander

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I'd want to see a clear guttural pouch wash from the affected horse(s), and a clear blood test from the horse that was moving to my yard, plus assurance that it had been isolated from other horses on the yard since the blood test, before I'd let it come. I isolate for min three weeks anyway (had my fingers burned last year!), but I'd ask for another blood test before lifting restrictions - just because your current yard has had strangles so very recently.
 

pretendhorse

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I'd want to see a clear guttural pouch wash from the affected horse(s), and a clear blood test from the horse that was moving to my yard, plus assurance that it had been isolated from other horses on the yard since the blood test, before I'd let it come. I isolate for min three weeks anyway (had my fingers burned last year!), but I'd ask for another blood test before lifting restrictions - just because your current yard has had strangles so very recently.
I'm not sure the new place has isolation facilities thinking about it - I'm feeling a bit bruised by the current experience so that's got me wondering what new yards protocol is. No point in leaving one yard with cr*p quarantine for another!
 

Auslander

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I'm not sure the new place has isolation facilities thinking about it - I'm feeling a bit bruised by the current experience so that's got me wondering what new yards protocol is. No point in leaving one yard with cr*p quarantine for another!

True! I don't have quarantine facilities per se, but I impose a 20m exclusion zone around new horses and their kit, which is sufficient to avoid most snot borne visuses. I'm also a massive dragon about quarantined horses, and make it very clear that no-one is to go near quarantined horses, and owners of quarantined horses can socialise as much as they like before they go near their horse, but once they've broached the exclusion zone - they have to do their thing, then leave straight away
 

Shay

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I would have said an all clear is when the vet lifts the movement restriction. I know not all yards with strangles do lock down correctly and it isn't a notifiable disease in that sense. But if I asked for a horse to move only once the "all clear" is given that is what I would mean. The yard locked down correctly and nothing moved until a vet declared the yard free of strangles. I've never been in the position of moving a horse from a yard known to have strangles but not locked down - I guess Auslander has the right take there. But it might prove difficult to get that data. Horse owners are not always open or honest about the state of their horses. Especially with something like strangles which has such a stigma to it.
 

NOISYGIRL

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I think consecutive swabs have to be clear 6 weeks apart

You can get your horse tested for it but not sure if you'd still have to wait for the all clear, if the new yard owner would accept this test if it was clear
 

Tyssandi

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Confirmed case now on my yard and 2 more being tested.

I've told the yard I was going to move to and they've been lovely - told me to give them a ring when all clear and if the stable is still available it's mine.

If you were a yard owner and were offering a space to someone from a yard with known strangles, what would 'all clear' look like to you? Blood test results? Email from vet?

I'm in paranoia mode & disinfecting everything. Sadly not everyone on the yard is the same :(


I would have to go with the vets recomendations and a period timescale where ther is no evidance of it reoccuring, then put the horse into isolation at my yard
 

hairycob

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It takes several months after the horse ceases to be infectious for a blood test to show clear as the blood test shows the presence of antibodies, not active infection.
 

SEL

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I asked a similar Q of vets today. Apparently yard's movement restrictions will be lifted when ALL horses test clear on a blood test. If you want to move horse then they recommend a pouch wash.

Sorry to hear you've got it on your yard. I thought we had a 'suspect' case but got vibes from the vet that they are considering it a definite. Going to be a PITA to have a clear yard I think.
 

pepsimaxrock

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Who decides that movement should be restricted? Its not a notifiable disease after all. So who imposes movement restrictions and who lifts them. As far as I can see its all goodwill and vet advice.
Not arguing with anyone, just interested because there seem to be no hard and fixed rules about all this
 

Justturnedfifty

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Who decides that movement should be restricted? Its not a notifiable disease after all. So who imposes movement restrictions and who lifts them. As far as I can see its all goodwill and vet advice.
Not arguing with anyone, just interested because there seem to be no hard and fixed rules about all this

A professional local vet, who cared about his professional reputation and his clients in the wider community would automatically recommend lock down. A conscientious professional yard owner would automatically enforce the vets recommendation, and the conscientious liveries should willingly agree to a lockdown. It's amazing how quickly word of mouth travels and how the local equestrian community pull together, doors will automatically close on those from the affected yard. Local competition centres will refuse entries, farriers will adjust their schedule to last visit of the night, feed merchants will deliver but automatically use bio security procedures upon leaving the affected yard. How do I know this, because the gossip from a local yard close to the competition centre I work at, was prepared to refuse entries if the regular competitors off the affected yard attempted to enter, the farrier and feed merchant who also attended the yard told me what preventative action they were taking and the vets were highly professional. Even the local hunt stopped hunting for a few weeks and went on foot. The yard took the correct action and contained the disease.
 

SEL

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Who decides that movement should be restricted? Its not a notifiable disease after all. So who imposes movement restrictions and who lifts them. As far as I can see its all goodwill and vet advice.
Not arguing with anyone, just interested because there seem to be no hard and fixed rules about all this

There has been a fair amount of social media b!tching about a yard a few miles from us where a couple of owners removed their horses after the yard went on lockdown with strangles. No one can stop someone moving their horses - just responsible owners, yard etc as JT50 says.

We've got 1 suspect on the yard and have been asked to restrict all movement whilst they run the 2nd blood test.
 

pepsimaxrock

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It's funny isn't it. Professional yards who lockdown and restrict movement voluntarily in the interests of the community are stigmatised where people who keep it quiet are free to do as they like.
 
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