As long as there have been horses, there has been disease. But after foot-and-mouth and blue tongue we know our animals are at an increased risk. What should be done to address this?
What our experts want to see…
From horse owners
- Accept disease control is down to YOU
- Quarantine any new horses that join your yard and insist on seeing a vaccination certificate for any newcomers
- Consider having a new horse tested for strangles before you buy, and having regular blood tests through the first year
- Ensure your yard has a contingency plan in place in case disease strikes
- Make sure your horse’s vaccinations are always up to date
- Do NOT “rescue” low-value horses from abroad — this feeds the problem
- Learn the basic clinical signs of disease
From the government
- Crack the culture of intimidation among inspectors so they stop the genuine threats, not just “soft” targets
- Animal health inspectors need to learn how to act on good intelligence — perhaps by using the National Intelligence Model
- Spot border checks need to happen as often during the night as at daytime
- NED needs cleaning up to remove out-of-date data
- Better methods of communication with horse owners need to be explored
- Work out a way by which horses’ whereabouts — and usual places of residence — can be gauged. Could the BHS livery and riding centre maps help or be adapted?
Two things government should explore
For the full feature on whether we are ready to fight disease, see the current issue of Horse & Hound (19 May, 2011)
