Infectious diseases are a real concern to horse owners.  Horses are commingled at rodeos, trail rides, and many other events.  This leads to exposure to all sorts of contagious diseases and these diseases can be brought back to the farm or stable and infect many other horses.  Although vaccines are available for many diseases, they are not 100% effective and there are some diseases for which vaccines are not available to protect the horses.  Consequently, it is important to use some management techniques to prevent spread of contagious disease and that’s what we are going to discuss today. 

It is always a good idea to stable horses together who used for the same purposes.  For instance, broodmares should not be mixed with show horses.  When working on all horses at a stable such as with the vet, farrier, or cleaning the stable, start with the most susceptible animals and end with horses that are exposed to the most diseases.  In other words, have the farrier trim the broodmares, then trim the show horses last.  All new horses entering a facility should be isolated for 3 weeks.  This should include horses that have been at a veterinary hospital or that have been gone for an extended period.  I know isolating these horses is a problem, but it is critical.  One horse could expose all the others and could be devastating with a disease like strangles.  Although this 3-week quarantine will not guarantee no other horses will get sick, it certainly will catch most of them.  Also, for new horses, this 3-week period gives you time to vaccinate and deworm these horses.  Join us on our next program when we will talk about some other things that can be done to prevent contagious diseases from spreading.