A Horse & Hound Podcast advertisement feature with Zoetis
Welcome to this Horse & Hound Podcast advertisement feature with Zoetis, in which our podcast host Pippa Roome chats to equine vet Sam Cutts from Hook Norton Vets alongside horse trainers Matt Feerick and Hanna Walton from Confident & Connected in Oxfordshire.
Equine herpes virus (EHV-4) is a major concern for both horse and yard owners. Listen to Matt and Hanna’s first-hand experience of dealing with a case on their busy training yard.
You can listen online here or via your favourite podcast app.
An introduction to Hannah’s EHV-4 story…
“It was a really normal day. We were just working with the horses. They’d all come in, they were out at night time, and they’d come in to the stables. They’d gone through their normal routine of getting health checked in the morning and then eating. Then as and when we were ready, we picked them up to do sessions.
“So I had picked up this particular horse, and the goal that we were working through with him was to help him become more confident hacking. So we were hacking around the property. So I’d taken him out and he felt a little bit quieter than normal, but it was very, very subtle, nothing really to pick up on.
“About 10 minutes into his session, he started to develop a Little bit of a nasal discharge, and that was clear and white at the beginning. Then about 10 minutes further into our hack, I checked again, and some of that had gone into a yellowy discharge. And then by the time another 10 minutes had gone by, it got a bit worse.
“So at that point, I stopped and called Sam in the middle of the session, because yellow nasal discharge is going to ring alarm bells for anyone. And I just wondered what should I do? I’m out, I’m not in the barn, I’m not near any other horse, so actually, I’m in the perfect position that I could isolate him if I needed to.
“Sam said, yeah, let’s get him swabbed. We actually put him in a field, so he was isolated from the offset, and then he was swabbed later on that day. We checked his temperature, and he didn’t develop a temperature until quite a lot later in the day. So the only symptom was just a bit of a change in behavior, and this nasal discharge. We decided to keep a close eye on him and as we don’t know what we’re dealing with, so let’s just take every precaution.”
You may also be interested in…
What all breeders need to know about equine herpes virus, with Zoetis | A Horse & Hound Podcast advertisement feature
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world

Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.
-
‘Ever since my parents deemed me to be safe on a horse with one of them, I was’: how England’s standout female polo player blazed a path to the topMilly Hine, the women’s world number one polo player discusses her Pony Club days, how she forged her way in a male-dominated sport and her experience riding clones
-
‘Set shows are a topic that comes up time and time again in the collecting ring,’ says Rebecca PennyH&H’s showing columnist Rebecca Penny on set shows and whether they’re marked appropriately
-
Performance begins long before the start box: preparing horses for peak performance with Harry Meade -
Don’t forget this key ingredient in a stress-free show day -
Is your horse trying to tell you something? -
The three most-common horse insurance questions answered -
Get ahead of spring and summer respiratory resultsSponsor Content created with
-
The importance of livery yard insurance – and why it could be money well spentSponsor Content created with
-
Inside the yard of a world number one on the new Between The Reins podcastSponsor Content created with ,
-
Horse owners on why equine insurance ‘takes the stress out of everything’Sponsor Content created with