How Great Is The Risk to My & Others Horses? GOOD UPDATE

[ChocoMare]

:sigh:

I self-care board at a private farm, along with another husband/wife team. They have two 4-y/o geldings and a 10 m/o colt (soon to be gelded). I have two mares. All of us adhere strictly to our vaccination and deworming schedules, as well as yearly Coggins.

Shazam....today we see a note on our board from the farm's manager. "There is a new horse in the middle pasture. Bella."

Turns out this is a mare that was "given" to the manager's wife. Normally no big deal. Part of their deal with the farm owner when they took over as managers was that she could have a horse. BUT.....

This mare is a neglect case. She has no vaccination record, no Coggins and is underweight. To quote my fellow boarder who talked to the manager, she has "something going on with her anus." Oh great.... :rolleyes:

As of now, the 3 geldings and my one mare are in an upper pasture separated from this mare, and my Percheron is on a small dry lot at the back of the property -- So there has been no horse-to-horse contact. However, the managers do touch our horses--sometimes have to move them for mowing, etc. (we know in advance if it happens) --or just in passing to love on them. They can't seem to understand why the four of us are quite angry that they'd bring an unvaccinated/tested horse to the farm and don't think that our horses are in any jeopardy.

We disagree. What say you?

If this mare turns out to have strangles or another infectious disease, how long will our horses have to stay on the farm?

Thanks

[katarine]

honestly, it doesn't freak me out allll that much. Go to a random trail head, local show, etc- mingle with other horses- you have no clue where they've been or what they are toting. Busy horse show facility...how clean are those stalls, anyway?

They are separated now, meh.

[JSwan]

Actually, I think it is far more likely that YOUR horses will give something to her than vice versa.

Your horses are vaccinated and healthy.

She's unvaccinated and unhealthy - she's the one who is at risk - her immune system may be weak. Every time your horses leave the property, or you or the other boarders pet other horses and then come to your barn - you will be exposing the new horse to disease.

Obviously the lack of a negative Coggins is illegal as well as a risk.

Rabies is another risk.

Strangles - may or may not be a risk.

EHV-1 - mmmm... .may or may not be a risk - but to her, mostly.


I don't remember the procedures for a strangles outbreak - it may or may not be the same as what we do in my state.

You should probably implement basic biosecurity measures. Your state ag dept website should have free information for you to print out. If not - let me know and I'll email you the stuff from my state's website. It's pretty basic common sense stuff. Wash hands, wash feed pans, isolate horse, don't share stuff, etc.

Hope the horse gets vet attention and recovers her health.

[mvp]

I vaccinate my gelding so that he can go to a bachelor party in Tijuana hosted by his drug dealer.

We follow the Buddhist approach: "Its easier to cover your feet in leather than to cover the world in leather."

Your horses, of course, are the one's covered in pharmaceutical leather. They have the advantage of vaccinations, worming and general health. The Shazam has already happened, so I'd watch the mare and chill as best I could.

It does suck (and is common) that no one believes in the anal person's hype until they have seen the consequences of casual farm management for themselves.

Can they be convinced (perhaps just to make the point) to use hand sanitizer when moving between the new mare and on-farm horses for a reasonable quarantine period? Chances are they won't do that in practice, but it might not be bad to impress them with the PITA consequences of not being more careful about admitting new horses.

A fussy suggestion I know, but perhaps a proactive one.

Best of luck to you and your horses.

[Seven-up]

Yeah, I'd be pissed.

You spend all that money and make an effort to keep your horse protected, and then someone comes in and throws a big ol' monkey wrench in everything.

As to how much risk there actually is, who knows? The horse could be fine. Or not.

I understand sometimes unexpected things happen, horses need to be cared for and they have to go somewhere. You can't exactly keep them on the back porch until they get a clean bill of health. But that doesn't keep me from worrying about my own horse's safety.

If it were me, I'd have a talk with the BO, pronto, to get clear on what the procedure is going to be. It's fine if maybe they didn't realize people would be upset, but now that they are aware I'd expect them to deal with it. I'd want to know when they plan on getting mare examined and vaccinated.

I started to say that if after all that they still don't see what the big deal is, I'd be moving asap. But I guess you don't even know if it's safe to do that! Yikes. I'd probably talk to my own vet too, just to see what precautions you should take and what the actual risks are.

[Daydream Believer]

Well considering the other horse is not sick acting or looking, the others are right...your horses are at minimal risk. I would however expect the BO to get a coggins pulled asap at least and catch up vaccinations also. I try hard to isolate new horses when I can if they have a questionable history but sometimes it is hard to do it.

I once boarded my horses at a veterinarian's barn. I came one day to find a horse staggering around so sick it was head pressing in the stall beside my $20,000 event horse. I nearly had a baby when I asked why it was sick and what it had, and she said, I don't know!!!! Horse died a day later and we never did know what it had. God was I pissed off and moved my horse to a stall farther away asap. Then another time she brings a sick horse in to doctor that ends up having Potomac Fever...which I realize is not contagious but honestly...that was a bit much. To say the least it was not a well run barn and I did not stay at that barn for long.

[Androcles]

Yeah, I'd be pissed.

You spend all that money and make an effort to keep your horse protected, and then someone comes in and throws a big ol' monkey wrench in everything.



Well, she's protecting her horses by vaccinating and worming them, not by preventing them from ever coming into contact with other horses. What good is all the effort and all the money spent if she then can't risk exposure to another horse?

[silver2]

What do you think your horses might catch from this mare? They're vaccinated right?

[Seven-up]

Well, she's protecting her horses by vaccinating and worming them, not by preventing them from ever coming into contact with other horses. What good is all the effort and all the money spent if she then can't risk exposure to another horse?

That depends on whether or not she brings her horses places or not. She might go to shows, or she might never take them off the property. I don't know what she does with her horses. Not all boarding situations are the same. Some are busy barns with horses coming and going all the time. Others are small operations and the same 5 horses live there for years. But in any case, I think it's reasonable to expect the head honcho at a boarding barn to take appropriate measures to keep all the horses safe.

[Mach Two]

I am with you on this Choco Mare, I would be steaming mad...this horse has had no care, and stuff like dryland distemper does not need horse to horse contact to spread...and with no vaccination, no Coggins....and probably was loaded with parasites....some are killed by deworming, some are not. What the flip was that person thinking?

Horses in good health with vaccinations are at lower risk, but there is still a risk if the horse has something serious going on. On the other hand, could just be neglect, and everything might work out well. It's one thing to be kind, though, and another to put someone else's horse at risk, and someone else's adherence to the "rules" at such a low premium. What's done is done on this one, but I would want to be sure it did not ever happen again.

[ChocoMare]

Yes, my horses are vaccinated. ALWAYS. But... there is no vaccine for EIA and rabies is active in Georgia.

Up until a month ago, neither of us had trailers so never went anywhere. Consequently we didn't do Strangles because we were a tight, closed herd with no exposure to other horses. That's all changed. I've been in a barn where strangles went through every horse. I've seen enough snot and puss to last me a lifetime. :uhoh:

Now, both of us have trailers and want to go off property to ride and visit. We're not going anywhere until I hear from our vet what the real scoop is with this mare and how long Dr. Rose believes we need to stay on farm. I have plans to trailer out this Sunday for a ride, as well as on the 30th and again on the 6th (Sunkissed Acres' open house). I pray I can still make SKA's Open House.

Thankfully I already had an appointment for our vet to come out this Saturday to float Tank's teeth but, get this: they wanted ME to call my vet and have her see their mare. Where's the fruitbat? :confused: Said I'd gladly split the barn fee but it's their horse, so they need to pick up the phone and call. Should have just told them to have the daggum vet out there TODAY but wasn't thinking clearly in the heat of the moment.

I will be going out armed this evening with Clorox Hand Sanitizer and bleach for shoe baths, as well as signs to post at our horse's pasture gate IF YOU TOUCHED BELLA, DO NOT TOUCH THESE HORSES. I'll also give them the protocol for basic bio-security.

I guess the bottom line for us is the blatant and poor animal husbandry practice, disregard for the lives of our horses (as well as the neighbor's 8) and, as MVP said, "casual farm management." Not to mention the "eh, who cares about you boarders" attitude and disrepect.

We are not just "boarders." We do alllll the work there, have improved that barn a hundred fold in four years and care for it as our own. Heck, WE'RE the ones who bought new geese to keep their lone goose company after the death of the other 2. WE'RE the ones who change their animals water and scrub the tubs, because we know they'll never do it.

These people are NOT horsey (despite what farm manager's wife claims), they do not care for their animals to any great extent (yes, they're fed and have water but that's it. They don't vaccinate or deworm the goats, have never had a vet out for a sick one [manger just shoots 'em], etc.)

I guess I just wanted some assurance that we weren't totally off-base here. I can only pray that my friend/other border didn't go totally off the rails at the manager last night and find herself being kicked out. :(

[enjoytheride]

When you go on trailrides, horse shows, and clinics, they do not require a vaccination record before letting the horses on the grounds. Half the shows I go to don't even require a coggins, and you don't need a coggins unless the place you are going to requires it. I wouldn't worry about it.

Keep them seperate and the only thing I would worry about is strangles which your horses should be vaccinated for.

[Chief2]

I think the Op is right to be worried, but there's no reason to become a drama queen about it and cause offense by posting signs singling out the BM's particular horse as the root cause of anyone's possible ills. Since she has talked to them about the situation and is going to discuss it with them further, that is rude and overkill. It wouldn't surprise me to hear she has been paid back in kind at a later point in time by at least one of them.

The biggest help you can provide for your horse is to carry a spare pair of shoes and change into them once you are at your horse's turnout paddock gate. Do what you are going to do in that paddock, then leave, and immediately change shoes just outside of the gate. If you have already walked into his paddock in your barn shoes, taken him into the barn, or out to the riding ring, or grazed him outside of his paddock, then he has already been exposed to whatever is on your farm, and the damage is done. It all travels everywhere on the bottom of anyone's shoes, on communal manure forks, muck tubs, etc.

I am assuming you have done the Strangles vaccine and the booster by now since you changed your vaccine protocol a month ago. Keep in mind that, regardless of how much money you have invested in veterinary care, vaccines only mitigate the course of the disease and are no silver bullet to full protection. Also keep in mind that while whatever is on the soles of your shoes and your horse's feet can travel to any barn, the process also works in reverse. You are a greater threat to that rehab horse than she is to you, as you can bring back who knows what on the soles of your feet, his feet, and the bottoms of your trailer tires. She, to anyone's knowledge, has no coverage whatsoever, while your horse is wearing plate armor. I can understand being ticked off at the BM's for not vet checking her before bringing her onto the farm, and not enforcing strict quarantine policies. I would be too. But really, it's too late to be pissed at the horse. She is what she is, and already had whatever she has.

Strangles can have up to a 69 day incubation period. If she has come from a farm with it on it, or your vet is concerned about anything else she may have brewing (with stress and her lack of thriftiness, that may very well be a concern), then it may be best if you sit this trail ride out and stay home.

[ChocoMare]

Thanks Chief. Have no intention of being rude or unkind. Guess my "ire" came out above. Tisn't my intention. :(

I will be sharing the bio-security measures protocol with everyone, tho, so we all do the same things to avoid sharing critters....just in case.

Reallllllllly hoping this all blows over real quick, that the mare is fine (albeit under the weather) and things go back to normal.

[Chief2]

No problem At a younger age I would have been zinging off the roof about it. I'm a little older now, and don't zing as quick as I used to (or do much of anything else as quick as I used to, for that matter :lol:).

Good luck! :)

[ChocoMare]

Hehehe...guess that's why at 43 I did (mostly) keep my mouth shut and allow things to chill before totally over-reacting. Better to rant here with my COTH sista's then to the manager. :D

[AppJumpr08]

I would matter most to me where the mare came from - someone's back yard where she had been for the past 10 years? An auction?

If it was a backyard I'd be cautious but not freaked. If she came from an auction, HELL YEAH I'd be flipping!


Good luck - I hope that she comes around quickly, and has no infectious nasties to share with her new barn buddies!

[fordtraktor]

Just where do you folks put all the horses from the "rescue" threads if they can't be on the same farm as the rest of the horses? Sigh.

Standard procedures when we get a questionable one in is to (1) segregate from other horses; (2) wash hands after handling; and (3) get the vet out ASAP to do whatever is necessary to evaluate and vaccinate horse. It sounds like the BO is doing 1 and 3. I would be the annoying person who leaves a big bottle of hand sanitizer at the new horse's gate for everyone to share. ;)

[katarine]

Too much drama for my llama.

Is it really too much to ask for you and the other terrified boarders to handle your own horses exclusively until the vet gives the all clear? You can do that in a kind way (hey, I appreciate what you're trying to do for Bella but until the vet says she's healthy, we'll just cover all our horse chores, ok?) or in an anal retentive obnoxious as Hell way with foot baths and foolishness about bio-security... After all, by your own admission, you all do ALL the work. If that's actually true- how is it possible these idiots ever touch your horses?

Go to the trail ride, I assure you there are ample plenty horses there with not one vaccination in who knows how long. Or hide under your bad clutching your vet manual. Me, I'm gonna ride ;)

[ChocoMare]

I guess, in the rush of typing last night, I didn't make something clear:

None of this "drama" expressed here has been verbally expressed BY ME to the farm manager. Twas my co-boarder who freaked out and went off the deep end. I chose to listen, digest, come here for info to see if there was merit and let a night go by to chill out.

I chose the higher road and believe I did the right thing, because I am now armed with better information.

ETA - P.S. we do all our own chores. We are 100% self care.

[pines4equines]

I've worked at many large farms in my younger days, especially breeding. We had horses coming in from all over.

When we did quarantine which was only when the horse came from a questionable background, it was for a period of two weeks and the horse was just put in a separate field. I personally wouldn't worry too much about it as long as the vet is on its way to do an exam, shots and whatever else.

The one breeding farm ended up getting strangles but it was from a horse who was NOT from a questionable background and was as healthy as a horse as they say.

You might ask the B/Os to have the vet do the nasal whatever it is test for strangles. That is the biggie. If that comes back negative then I think all will be okay.

And if your guys have their shots, then they should be protected from the other biggies? I agree with previous poster, why even do the shots if they're not protected? I mean that's why we all do shots anyway isn't it?

[fordtraktor]

I understand why you are worried, though I don't think you need to be. One more thing -- unless the horse shows signs of illness, you don't need to rearrange your trail riding plans. You are far more likely to catch something from the other horses at the trail ride than to transmit something from this mare, who is not in contact with your vaccinated horses.

Obviously if the vet finds an active, transmittable illness, that could change. But it is unlikely. I would not be surprised if the anal issue was melanoma, which is not contagious in any way.

[ChocoMare]

Thanks for the reassurance. :) I just don't want to risk sharing anything with my friend's horses and, more importantly, with Lori's rescue horses at Sunkissed. She's had enough problems lately :(

[SonnysMom]

I would be a little upset too. I had my well vaccinated horse at the vets a few months ago to have his leg ultrasounded. After he was done we threw him in a clean stall for about 10 minutes. The stalls are set up so there is NO physical contact with other horses. The two horses across the aise were mares with foals- premature foal with one and colic surgery mare for the other. The gelding in the stall next door was taken out of the stall as Sonny was put into the clean one.
One week later he is running a 104 degree fever, not eating and lethargic. He caught something.
When I called down to the vet clinic to let them know he may have caught something there they were really apologetic. While I was on the phone the vet checked with the techs and said they hadn't had any upper respiratory cases in lately. They also said they would be going out to re-culture everything and disinfect again.
So even vaccinated horses can pick up something. My vet thought it was Rhino. Sonny had his Rhino shot only 1 1/2 months before.

I would stress to the farm manager that if any of your horses get sick from Bella then they get to pay the vet bill. My bill was $250 for the vet and the meds to prevent a secondary bacterial infection. Maybe that will drive home the point that they can't be just petting Bella and then just petting your horses.

[dwblover]

I honestly have to say I would not be that upset just from the horse being there. Your horses are vaccinated, so the new horse has a much greater chance of becoming ill than your horses do. New horse is being kept away from all the other horses, which is right. However, I would VERY strongly insist that all people touching the new horse wash/sanitize hands before laying a finger on my horses. And just for your reading pleasure, the chances of a horse contracting Equine Infectious Anemia from another horse are 1 in 6 MILLION according to studies, so you can rest easier.

[EqTrainer]

This really isn't worth losing a minute of sleep over.

Your horses are covered. A current coggins is not a vaccination or quite frankly, a guarantee of anything since they are usually done yearly and not daily :winkgrin: Rabies.. it's not likely the horse has rabies.

In reality, horses come and go regularly at other barns. You're just not used to it. Yes a coggins is required to go school at other barns usually but proof of vaccination is not. And... you cannot expect people to vaccinate exactly the way you do, and for some horses, it would be deadly so it is not done at all.

Chill, sister. You are living in a very closed environment and forgot what the real world is like. You'll remember soon!

[Blue Yonder]

Breath deeply, all will be fine.

Your horses' risk from EIA is absolutely mimimal, and will barely be mitigated by careful cleanliness protocol as it's also spread by flies, etc.

Your horses are well vaccinated, so good on you there. :-) The only thing I'd watch for is strangles, actually. Most vaccines are excellent, but don't let that specific vaccine give you false confidence as it's less effective than many.

Strangles quarantine is 21 days (asymptomatic and nonfebrile). Watch for lethargy, pus (obviously), but mostly monitor temp, as some horses can be fairly non-pussish but still actively infected.

Give the new owners some worming advice, for sure! What's the right "unknown worming history" protocol? Someone on here will know right away. I think it's a 1/2 dose of Strongid, a full dose 2 weeks later, then ivermectin 2 weeks later? Something like that. I bet Lori knows!

Congrats on your new opportunity to kindly educate the farm owners on how to be a top-notch horse owner! ;-)

[TKR]

I am not clear why these folks would take on this mare who obviously needs some care and attention and not do all they can to help her gain weight and have the appropriate care -- i.e. vax, deworming, coggins, etc. Maybe they just need educating? Perhaps if you made some suggestions to help this mare you could protect your horses and help her. It's great that your horses are protected, but this poor mare could use some TLC, too -- what can be done for her? Rescuing is not helpful if the horse's needs aren't met by the rescuer.
PennyG

[mythical84]

I had this exact thing happen a few years ago. A friend and I kept our horses at a private farm and as part of the deal we took care of the owner's 1 pony. The pony went out in the back pasture with my friend's old retired mare. Our event horses went out front.

I fed the barn one Saturday morning and left to teach a lesson down the road. I get a panicked phone call an hour later from my friend asking about the mangy black "thing" in the field with our eventers. Turned out our farm owners decided to buy a new horse without telling us, then deposited said horse in the field with our competition horses without telling us. I was just at the barn ... they saw me, and didn't tell me a new horse was coming in less than an hour! We asked where they got the horse, "oh some dealer up in Frederick, he has tons of horses." We ask if it's vaccinated, "Oh I dunno." What about a coggins, "I'm sure he has one." And this was in the midst of a herpes virus outbreak in our area. Needless to say, I feel your pain.

We ended up separating the horses, since the farm owners refused to put the new horse in an isolation paddock. In the end we left a month later. I hope your issue resolves easier than ours did.

I hope yours doesn't come to that. But it's better to be safe than sorry in these situations.

[ChocoMare]

Chill, sister. You are living in a very closed environment and forgot what the real world is like. You'll remember soon!

:lol: Yup, chillin.

Now if I can just calm my friend down. She needs to get a grip. :rolleyes:


Give the new owners some worming advice, for sure! What's the right "unknown worming history" protocol? Someone on here will know right away. I think it's a 1/2 dose of Strongid, a full dose 2 weeks later, then ivermectin 2 weeks later? Something like that. I bet Lori knows!

Congrats on your new opportunity to kindly educate the farm owners on how to be a top-notch horse owner! ;-)

Deworming is definitely in order and I know Dr. Rose will give them the south-east program to follow.

TKR: I'm gonna hold off on any advice or suggestions to them right now because the farm manager's wife is of the attitude that since she had horses before (like 30 years ago), she knows everything and needs no help.

My radar went off when we were talking last year. I was mentioning how my Clyde-X wouldn't go through water but I was working on it. She's like "Oh, I'll get that mare in water in 2 minutes. You just let me at her."

:o

"Ummmm, I appreciate the offer but I've got a plan."



... But it's better to be safe than sorry in these situations.

Exactly and that is the whole intent of this. Not to be ugly at them for taking in the mare, not to scream at them for being selfish and disrespectful (as my fellow boarder did :rolleyes:) but to think it out, have a plan and work it.

I just want to do right by all involved. I loff Lori at SKA dearly and would HATE to think that her horses got sick because I non-chalantly hauled my mares to her farm.

[busterwells]

When you go on trailrides, horse shows, and clinics, they do not require a vaccination record before letting the horses on the grounds. Half the shows I go to don't even require a coggins, and you don't need a coggins unless the place you are going to requires it. I wouldn't worry about it.

Keep them seperate and the only thing I would worry about is strangles which your horses should be vaccinated for.

I agree with the strangles worry. We just recently had a strangles mess at our boarding facility. We are all very regimented in our worming and shot schedule and have 16 horses at our barn. When 2 new boarders came in, their horses had a drippy nose and the barn managers thought it was just bronchitis and they were treated for that by the vet. Well, when this did not clear up and other horses started running a temp, the new horses were tested for strangles. Oh NO, they tested positive and almost the whole barn came down with this. Strangles was the only vaccine we had not given our horses. It was 2 months worth of worry and work. We now all make sure we have the strangles vaccine because this was such a horrific experience.

[ChocoMare]

Ok. Now I'm glad I didn't say anything to the managers last night. I'm glad I waited for things to chill. Because now it's time for (as the late Paul Harvey would say)... The rest of the story. :)

I just hung up with the farm manager's wife, Miko, who filled me in on the details that my co-boarder failed to (obviously) get or listen to while she ranted & raved last night :rolleyes:

This is a 2 y/o filly. She has been living alone for the last two months down the street in a field owned by the manager's friend's 1/2 brother. (I know, confusing). Anyway, said 1/2 brother got the filly from a friend who was getting divorced and couldn't keep her. Two months later, 1/2 brother realizes he a) can't ride a 2 y/o; b) can't properly care for her; and c) doesn't want her. Manager's friend leads filly down the road (about a mile) from his farm to our farm to say "Here Miko. Here's a free horse for ya." :winkgrin:

Miko called to get my vet's number so she could share the barn call Saturday and get the mare fully tested, treated for an ear abscess (trailer injury supposedly) and Coggins pulled. Assured me that she's kept Bella isolated and they haven't touched our horses. I thanked her profusely for that and then sweetly encouraged her to still use basic bio-security measures (hand sanitizer, dip shoes, leave outside, etc.) just as precaution until cleared by the vet.

Once she's been seen by Dr. Rose, I did offer to trim the filly's feet OR give her the number to my former trimmer/farrier.

Lastly, seeing as it's a rather convoluted issue, I HIGHLY encouraged her to get a bill of sale...even if for just a dollar....to cover her tuckus just in case x-wife of 1/2 brother's friend claims horse theft. We've all read enough horror stories here.

Thanks all. Now I'm gonna talk to my co-boarder, give her a sedative and tell her to get over it. :lol:

[fordtraktor]

Aw, poor thing, a 2 year old by herself. She must be glad to at least be around other horses, even if not with them. Glad the BO took her on.

Seeing as how she's been alone longer than the strangles incubation period, she should be totally fine once she gets some basic care. Great news! I think your response was perfect.

[enjoytheride]

The footbath thing is massive overkill especially since she has been alone. Like I said, do you ever take your horses off the property? I don't see how you can if you're worried about footbaths!

As far as care for a rescued horse the standard at my barn is to feed them until they look better, worm a bit, then hit the vaccines slowly otherwise you overload them.

[katarine]

Choco, you get the story and you still want foot baths?

You bought a trailer all excited to trail ride and presumably, camp, right? So what in the world happens when you arrive at _____ horse camping facility and see them wave in trailers they know without checking ANYTHING b/c they know the owners from way back, but not their mount of the month (or checking Coggins from inside the office out of site of the horses), then expect you to toss your horse in a half clean panel stall, or electric corral with some ratastic horse over the wall or fence from yours?

Where on God's Green Earth are you going to trailer to and ride that meets your standards?

[JSwan]

ChocoMare -

I don't think you need to do anything like footbaths.

Since you will be visiting Lori, you may just not want to wear the clothes and shoes you wore to the barn. Same goes for anyone else that is visiting her place.

Just recognizing that she's running a rescue and some of the horses might not have strong immune systems.... even if you didn't have a new horse on your place you'd probably want to take very basic precautions.

It's up to Lori of course and I don't know if her Open House will involve petting the rescued horses or being in the barn.

Hope everything settles down and the new horse does well.

[Androcles]

That depends on whether or not she brings her horses places or not. She might go to shows, or she might never take them off the property. I don't know what she does with her horses. Not all boarding situations are the same. Some are busy barns with horses coming and going all the time. Others are small operations and the same 5 horses live there for years.

No it doesn't depend at all on this. You said, she takes all these measures, and then (horrors) there is a risk introduced into the environment. The reason she takes all these measures, is so that her horse is protected when there is a risk introduced. You seem to think that no one has a right to introduce risk into the horse's environment because she has taken all these safety precautions. That is not a logical argument.

[Seven-up]

No it doesn't depend at all on this. You said, she takes all these measures, and then (horrors) there is a risk introduced into the environment. The reason she takes all these measures, is so that her horse is protected when there is a risk introduced. You seem to think that no one has a right to introduce risk into the horse's environment because she has taken all these safety precautions. That is not a logical argument.

What is your deal? Where on earth did you read anything about rights?

There are some vaccines that do not make it impossible for a horse to get sick. Strangles is a prime example. Your horse can be vaccinated for it and still contract it.

It is completely logical to be concerned that your horse could potentially be exposed to illnesses, even though you've given every shot on the planet. Therefore, some people might be frustrated that, even though they have spent a lot of money to protect their horse, it might not be completely safe. That was all my previous statement meant. I might have been able to explain it if you had asked. I was not speaking for the OP, merely giving an example of why someone might be annoyed.

I'm sorry that maybe you misread what I wrote, or that maybe I used phrasing that could be interpreted in different ways. But in the future you might consider asking for clarification before you start trying to break down others' posts so you can prove them wrong.


ETA: Oftentimes I use the word "you" in a general sense. So my original "YOU" was not meant to describe OP. It was a general "you." I wasn't speaking for the OP. I don't know where she likes to have monkey wrenches thrown.

[ChocoMare]

:sigh:

I'm sorry you feel I'm doing overkill, but... why is it wrong for me to be overly cautious at this time? Please trust my judgement here: I know these people and, alas, I know they don't always tell the truth or the whole story. We also can't prove that the story the 1/2 brother or the dude he got the filly from told the truth.

In this instance, I SUGGESTED the wife err on the side of caution.

[goodhors]

Do make SURE that horse has a negative Coggins.

I was in a Drill Team, rode with them for a long time before I thought about the fact that they never asked questions on Coggins or shots. Thought it might be 'cause I am so "special".

One of the members brought a new horse to practice, then to a show where we performed. Then again to another practice. She had the horse to try out, for a couple weeks, see how he was going to do. My good buddy and I both said to ask for the current Coggins if he had one, or to be sure to pull one, so she would be legal on the roads when we went out of State to perform.

She liked him a lot, but he just was not perky, dull coated. She did decide to take him, got the blood pulled for the Coggins. Got back a POSITIVE on him!! They did a second test at the Gov't expense, also Positive!

I had freaked at hearing about the first Positive, called the Vet out THAT DAY, for a test on my good old horse. We had been her partners in all the Drill Team stuff during the time she had him. Vet knew me well about that horse, did a hand carry thru the labs to get Coggins results back on my horse. He called as soon as he had them. She tested Negative, (Thank Heavens) but it was a VERY exciting 24 hours before I got that back.

My friend with the same Vet, also went thru the roof, her horse and my horse's blood went thru the labs together. He was negative as well.

We considered ourselves VERY lucky, this was end of June, July, with lots of insects to bite one horse then infect another. We did use fly spray, but some seem immune to it.

We ended up quitting the Drill Team when we found that they actually had NO rules for Coggins testing, shots or health attention. They had talked about it in the past, but one member refused to get tested, and she was a big influence in the group.

Even with the carrier horse in our midst, no one else was very excited about the chance their horse could get contaminated, except we two! Judy and I were both quite shocked at that kind of thinking! Sure changed our viewpoint of them as horse keepers, and certainly made it impossible to stay in the group.

The lady trying out the horse was very upset, sorry for us leaving, sorry that he was a carrier. She did take him back, but we were not going to rejoin anyway. We tried to reassure her that the problem was a TEAM rule problem, not because of her bad luck with that horse.

However, just because horse has not been around others, do not ASSUME that horse is free of problems. The Swamp Fever carrier we met was kept alone, no horses near his area. Who know when or where he got contaminated? There had been no Postive horses in the State for 5 years before they caught him. He was nice looking, well built, just not thrifty, kind of a "hard luck" horse, all put down to being mostly ignored by his owners. Not thin, just a bit rough coated, lots of stories from the original owners about his small problems. We heard that same stuff from other folks who had run into Carrier horses before. Never really BAD, just lots of little things about that horse. No other visible differences to point him out as a Carrier of Swamp Fever.

Better safe than sorry! Try to get her tested, even if you have to pay for it yourself. Try to see if you can see the results yourself, not just hear about them.

I honestly was sweating bullets, waiting for the results back then, on my old horse. I would have done another test if she had tested positive, but she would have been put down if the second one came back positive also, to prevent spreading the disease to any other animals. She would never be happy kept locked in a stall, never used in summer, kept alone all the time. That is no kind of life to me, for any horse of mine.

Good luck in your situation. Perhaps some rules should be put in your boarding contract, in case some other folks come to live there. They would be spelled out, with no mistakes because the "expectations of care" are not equal to yours or the other boarder. I might think footbaths are overboard, but you do not. We do not have EQUAL expectations, so they need to be written down to be enforced. Manager's ideas of good care, isolation, might be outdated since her last horse ownership, so again, everything is spelled out for good understanding.