STRANGLES & Social Media

STOP PRESS Have you been in contact with a Strangles case – maybe unwittingly ?
If you have been in  contact with, or are at a yard, where there is a strangles case or a suspected strangles case, what should YOU PERSONALLY DO?

The infection comes from the nasal droplets or discharge from the infected horse and if he or she sneezes / coughs etc.  you may well have picked it up on your clothes.  That tiny bit of discharge may not be coloured so you might not even realise it is there.  However that spot of discharge could infect your horse or another horse so easily.

Remember – some horses do not show symptoms – so they could be a carrier. 

If you have strangles at your yard and want to contain it so that it does not spread outside your yard: The yard must be put on lockdown and no horse or equipment should enter or leave. Get a   ‘This is a quarantine area’   sign on the gate / at the entrance asap. You must be very very strict about biosecurity – i.e. hygiene. It is similar to covid in that it can be spread by droplets of nasal discharge from an infected horse touching another horse – or carried on a persons clothing to another horse.  That infected horse may not be showing ANY symptoms at all.   That person visiting your yard could be the person who just visited another horse which does have strangles. Who visits your yard?
Your feed delivery driver? Your EDT, Foot Trimmer, person who mucks out ? Other delivery drivers – who may visit other equestrian premises too ? Your friend, or sister or the friend who called on another friend yesterday etc. etc. Keep it contained by making sure everyone keeps away and no one goes out with their horse. If they have to visit – be sure they are aware that they MUST stick to the quarantine rules. Have all deliveries left at the gate (including post, food, hay and any other deliveries) No traffic into your yard at all. No visitors or their dogs should come to the yard at all. No riders should take their horse out of the yard Before booking the farrier or vet or feed deliveries ask them about biosecurity owing to strangles in your area or at your yard – you MUST tell them if there is a case in your yard.  You really MUST. You need to think about this.  Where have they been before coming to you and where are they going after leaving you – can you provide good biosecurity for them and will they do the same for you? You your yard – or you personally should have a bowl of disinfectant in which to wash boots as you enter and before you leave the yard. Use overalls to visit the yard and to do any work around the yard – remove them before getting in your car to leave.  If riding then you must have a clean set of clothes to wear each time (including coat!) Wash your overalls and all clothes including hats and gloves and hands that have been in contact with horses, fences, equipment, buckets, wheelbarrows, etc. at the yard. You may have to get a second pair of lots of items of clothing in case they don’t dry quickly enough. Tell your friends and ask them if they would be prepared to help with washing and drying if necessary – people will help in a crisis – just ask.  You would be surprised how many will be there for you.

Those enrolled on the Lingfield Intermediate Diploma programmes or the Accredited Equine First Aid & Ailments course will have all the relevant information on handling Strangles. SOCIAL MEDIA

What can you do about this – the gossip will be rife. It may be horrid. Front up us the best way – tell it how it is.  That will help stop the gossip.  Tell it straight on social media – stop the speculation and gossip. Say out loud what you have done to protect others and to help your sick horse. Let others know that you care about their horses and this is why you are telling everyone.

If YOU know someone who has strangles on their yard – please support them  do not ignore them or shy away from contacting them. Stangles is very infectious.  It does not imply negligence on the part of the owner.  BE KIND Please support people and ask if they are OK – they may just want to talk. Everyone could be being really horrid to them right now.  It is not their fault they have strangles. Everything is going to take them twice as long owing to the precautions they have to take to prevent it spreading.  This means lots of extra work to keep everything clean and separate Could you get food shopping for them or pick their children up from schoool and feed them, fetch horse feed and leave at their gate?