FMD crisis: expert advice for horses kept on farms

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) has issued the following guidelines to the growing number of concerned horse owners who keep their horses on farms.

Owners in this situation should be aware that:

• the risk of FMD by horse owners is by contact with livestock or spread of contaminated material on boots, clothes and equipment.
• do not visit farm livestock and avoic areas contaminated with manure or slurry
• comply with farmer’s own disease precautions
• only ride on roads or by arrangement on dedicated farmland which has been free from livestock since 1 February 2001
• keep a set of dedicated clothes on farm premises or arrive in clean clothes on every occasion
• immediately prior to leaving the farm for excercising your horse etc, ensure that your feet are dipped in disinfectant and that your horse’s feet are picked out
• if you have dismounted in the course of your ride, then disingect your boots before entering the farm premises
• where possible, leave vehicles outside farms or close to the farm boundary and away from livestockNB: It is not anticipated that horses on an Infected Premises will be destroyed but they will be subject to any disease control measures in place on the premises, as will their owners

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