Securing Your Farm

Making sure your farm is secured from biological risks is something all horses owners need to know about. Whether you're using horses for equine therapy or just riding, everyone must know a few practical ways to increase the biosecurity of their farm. 

"Reducing potential infectious disease outbreak risks can be challenging, but farm owners can take steps to minimize introducing and spreading these diseases, said Roberta Dwyer, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVPM, a professor in the department of veterinary science at the University of Kentucky. These include traffic control, education, and a clean environment.

Biosecurity
Vaccination is an important (though not 100% effective) safety measure for disease prevention, Dwyer said. Horse owners should work with their veterinarian and staff to create a biosecurity plan and vaccination program for their farm. Veterinarians define biosecurity as a set of control measures designed to break the cycle of and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. A biosecurity plan should include fly, rodent, bird, and pest control and prevention, as well as traffic control on the farm.

Disease Agents of Concern
Causes of equine disease outbreaks include rotavirus, Salmonella, equine herpesvirus, equine influenza, equine arteritis virus, rhinoviruses,Streptococcus equi, and Rhodococcus equi. Of the bacterial and viral pathogens that infect horses, clostridial organisms are some of the most difficult to kill.

"Be careful when you read social media (about disease outbreaks)--always get information confirmed to avoid panic and misinformation," Dwyer said.

Isolating a Sick Horse
According to Dwyer, owners should immediately isolate any horse with a nasal discharge, cough, fever, or diarrhea from other horses and consult the farm veterinarian. Disinfect any stalls or barns that housed sick horses.

"Isolate sick, new, and horses returning from a show or event for approximately two weeks to help reduce the risk of them introducing an infectious disease to the resident horses," Dwyer said.

When performing daily chores, muck sick horses' stalls last and avoid spreading the infected manure or bedding on fields. Also wear protective clothing and disposable gloves to help stop contagious disease spread between horses and people, Dwyer said.

Prevention is Best
Traffic between barns and horses creates potential contamination sources, such as when horses return from racing, showing, veterinary hospitals, etc. Thus, veterinarians highly recommend traffic control as a disease prevention method.

"Separate broodmares from competition horses and youngsters to avoid exposure to high-risk horses," Dwyer said.

As mentioned, quarantine is another central measure to protect resident horses from those that have co-mingled with others at shows, sales, and events off of the farm.

Pest and rodent control are also part of an efficient biosecurity plan. Reducing standing water helps limit the next generation of flies and mosquitoes, Dwyer said. Keep feed rooms, tack rooms, and other stable areas tidy and well-swept; this will help prevent mice and rodent issues.

Human traffic also carries potential for disease spread. Therefore, advise blacksmiths, trainers, veterinarians, and visitors to disinfect boots and wash hands before entering the barn and handling horses. This can be accomplished easily with an alcohol-based hand disinfectant. Provide running water, liquid hand soap, and clean paper towels in every barn to encourage employees to wash their hands. If running water is not available, a liquid hand sanitizer is an effective substitute, Dwyer said.

Sharing equipment such as water buckets and feed tubs also poses a risk of spreading pathogens from one horse to another, said Dwyer. This is especially important to remember while at horse shows and on trail rides. If you do let people borrow equipment, be sure to clean and disinfect that equipment thoroughly prior to using it on your own horses.

Use detergent and water to clean surfaces prior to using a disinfectant, as organic matter such as manure, discharges, and soil can inactivate even the best disinfectant. This cleaning step is critical to an effective disinfection program, and prevention is generally easier than cleanup, Dwyer said.

When choosing disinfectants, consult a veterinarian for guidance as to which is most effective for the surface being treated. Disinfectants available on the market include phenols, quaternary ammonium compounds, and peroxygenase compounds.

"Work out a plan with your staff and veterinarian that includes frequent cleaning routines," Dwyer said. "A clean environment always reduces the risk of spreading disease.""

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20179&source=rss&utm_sour...

 

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Self-Injury

Self-harm is something many teens and adolescents struggle with. In horse therapy and equine therapy we see many young clients who cut or harm themselves. Please watch this video below on the subject.

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Using a Stethoscope

This is a must in every equine first-aid kit! This article is great for just casual horse owners and horse therapists! 

"Your emergency kit likely includes a stethoscope--a highly valuable piece of equipment during any urgent health situation. Knowing your horse's normal heart rate and gut sounds beforehand will allow you to better assess the seriousness of the situation--so use your stethoscope now.

A resting pulse is typically between 32 and 40 beats per minute (ponies' tend to have slightly higher pulse rates). Place the stethoscope in front of the girth area, just behind the elbow. Using the sweep second hand on your watch or a stop watch (or a similar feature on a cell phone), count the number of beats for 30 seconds and double it to get beats per minute. Measure at various times of day, such as before and after eating or at any change in circumstances or activity level; this will give you a clear idea of how your horse generally responds to his environment. Marked deviation from normal (without obvious explanation such as exercise) can indicate infection, pain, or illness.

Your stethoscope is also useful for listening to gut sounds. It is normal and healthy for sounds to come from the digestive tract due to the movement of feed, gas, and fluid. Intestines are made of muscles; processing forage continuously provides the necessary exercise to keep these muscles in good condition. Normally, the sounds will be low in pitch with some growling. Some colic cases occur when there is a change within the intestines (often due to obstruction, gas, or torsion) and sounds change or stop altogether. If you don't hear any noise, or if the sounds have become higher pitched, significantly slowed, or sound hollow, colic is likely and you should contact your veterinarian immediately.

Practice listening to four specific areas of the gut: along the upper barrel and the lower flank area on both sides. Generally speaking, sounds from the upper left come from the small colon and tend to be high pitched and of short duration. The lower left has sounds from the large colon. On the upper right, the sounds come from the large colon and cecum whereas the lower right has the sounds from the large colon. While the point of origin for gut sounds is not completely predictable, the important thing is to identify a variation from your horse's normal sounds.

It's important to understand that deviations from normal in pulse or gut sounds have many possible explanations, so unless you have extensive experience never put yourself in the position of diagnosing colic or other disorders. But you can be a valuable resource to your veterinarian if you know what is normal for your horse and can identify these deviations from normal before illness happens."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19880&source=rss&utm_sour...

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Why Too Much Deworming Can be a Bad Thing

It's a weird thing to think about, but this article sums it up great! 

"Question: Can too much deworming actually be a bad thing?

Answer: While it is unlikely a horse will become ill or suffer harmful effects from being dewormed too often, in the long term, all horses' health can be compromised by the development of parasite resistance to dewormers.

When deworming strategies were developed in the 1960s, the protocol was simple: treat every horse on an eight-week schedule with the newly available benzimidazole anthelmintics (an anthelmintic is a medication causing parasitic intestinal worms to be expelled or killed). A dramatic reduction in mortality from parasitic disease resulted. During the next two decades, as new anthelmintics became available, veterinarians recommended rotating between classes of products, but still treating every horse the same.

Parasites, however, responded to the chemical challenge by developing resistance. In the case of small strongyles, identified as the most prevalent parasite in adult horses today, there is evidence of their widespread resistance to two of the three major dewormer classes (benzimidazoles and pyrantels). Contributing to the development of small strongyle resistance is the common practice of rotating drugs, some of which are still effective against this parasite and some of which are not.

Experts say it's time to throw out these outdated deworming practices. We now know only 20 to 30% of horses in a herd shed about 80% of the worm eggs. Thus, it doesn't make sense to treat every horse with the same eight-week frequency. Once you've determined how often each horse needs to be treated, it's important to make sure you're using products that are actually working against the target parasites on your farm. These practices are often called "strategic deworming" and are a better way to manage parasites and help avoid contributing to the development of resistance on your farm.

How does a strategic deworming program work? With the help of your veterinarian, the first step is to conduct a fecal egg count (FEC) on each horse, which will identify which parasites are present and which horses are high, medium, and low shedders. Based on the results, the veterinarian will recommend how often each horse needs to be treated. Your veterinarian will also likely follow up with fecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT), used to then determine whether specific products are still effective against the parasites on your farm. Ultimately, you might find it is appropriate to discontinue the use of some products that were on your rotation calendar.

By investing time to develop a strategic deworming program and incorporating a broad-spectrum anthelminitc product, you will be able to manage the parasite challenge in your horse or horses.

Managing all parasites through a strategic deworming program can help save money in the long run as a broad-spectrum product might be required less frequently for some horses.

More information about parasites, effective deworming strategies, and Merial's Zimecterin Gold broad-spectrum anthelminitic can be found atwww.RethinkDeworming.com."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19845&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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