Winters Classic Horse Abortions

[Mulligans Run]

We give herbal immune boosters that I get from www.glenbrookfarm.com Go to http://www.glenbrookfarm.com/store/immum.htm. We give one ounce once daily and our horses eat it up readily.

 

[Becky]

One of the best ways to help prevent respiratory infections is to vaccinate every 2 -3 months with a Rhino/Flu vaccine any horses that are being transported. That will help to boost a horses imuune system to those particular viruses.

I'm going to REQUIRE all incoming horses here to have a Rhino/Flu vaccination prior to their arrival. It's not fun treating sick horses and it's not cheap either!

Also the immune stimulants seem to help. Eqstim is one. A newer one is Zylexis. Though they may not prevent illness they can lessen the severity and the duration. I gave 5 of 6 horses in my barn Zylexis back in Jan when I first had some come down with 'something'. It does seem to help, but it is pricey!

 

[wildoak]

A newer one is Zylexis

That's the one I couldn't remember. Did the horses who got it get sick?

Jan

 

[REO]

What a horrible nightmare!

I'm so sorry for the lost babies and all the sick horses. I pray there are no more losses and that everyone's horses will get better quick.

 

[minie812]

We and other farms are living a nightmare due to an infection from a horse at that facility. A client show mare was brought in here from that show. She arrived with a bit of snotty nose and despite quarantine type handling and disinfection 15 of the 20 horses on our farm have it....in less than 7 days! Most of my pregnant mares have whatever this is. I am in a panic. Are we going to lose all of our foals? Are we going to lose some of our precious mares due to late term abortions?

We are treating with SMZ and some with Tucoprim (same type of drug, different forms) and banamine for fevers.

Please pray for the little horses.

Charlotte

Sending prayers for your babies...I sure hope all goes well for you

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

My vet says that what we have is not Rhino and she's not overly concerned about them getting over this illness. What she is concerned about are the mares that are having difficulty breathing and are pregnant. They also happened to be the first ones sick and we didn't jump on it quickly enough. The yearlings are already over it, and the others on anitbiotics are showing improvement.

Also, and I took a mare to the sale that is pregnant. We had her on immune boosters for over a month prior to going - she did not have the rhino shot - she was hauled and stalled with all the other horses and we checked with her new owner today - she is fine.

And please remember this is not the fault of the sale or the people that held the sale. In my honest opinion this is the fault of the facility for not properly sanitizing between horses.

I agree, after digging through my vet books I think my guys have the flu, not Rhino.

Last year at the stock show when we arrived our stalls weren't even CLEANED! They had dumped the new shavings right on top of the previous horses' messes.... this year at least the stalls were cleaned. Obviously NOT disinfected.... OH!

Lucy

 

[Sharron]

My question to you all that were at the show is "Why would you put a horse in a stall that YOU yourself did not personally disinfect? We, as a standard practice at EVERY show we go to, take the very few minutes that it takes to take some Chlorahexidine ( generic Nolvasan disinfectant) and mix it in water, in a strong solution, put it in a spray bottle that you pump air into, and spray EVERYTHING from the stall walls to the floor, both inside and out...This show has a history of having sick horses coming out of it every year...so knowing that, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the saying goes. It is beyond me to fathom, knowing the history of this show and facility, that normal preventative precautions, and time to administer them, weren't taken by those attending.

I am sorry for those that have sick horses, and for those that have lost foals. However, it is my feelings that a lot of it could have been prevented, by just taking the time to actively disinfected the stalls prior to putting the horses in them in the first place!

As another precautionary measure, our show sale and other horses are hyper immuned Prior to any shows, another ounce of prevention...

Sharron

 

[bevann]

My question to you all that were at the show is "Why would you put a horse in a stall that YOU yourself did not personally disinfect? We, as a standard practice at EVERY show we go to, take the very few minutes that it takes to take some Chlorahexidine ( generic Nolvasan disinfectant) and mix it in water, in a strong solution, put it in a spray bottle that you pump air into, and spray EVERYTHING from the stall walls to the floor, both inside and out...This show has a history of having sick horses coming out of it every year...so knowing that, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the saying goes. It is beyond me to fathom, knowing the history of this show and facility, that normal preventative precautions, and time to administer them, weren't taken by those attending.

I am sorry for those that have sick horses, and for those that have lost foals. However, it is my feelings that a lot of it could have been prevented, by just taking the time to actively disinfected the stalls prior to putting the horses in them in the first place!

As another precautionary measure, our show sale and other horses are hyper immuned Prior to any shows, another ounce of prevention...

Sharron

I agree with Sharon.Every time we go to a show anywhere the bleach sprayer comes out.I bought a 2 gallon garden sprayer and it stays in the horse trailer along with a gallon of bleach.I hope it works.It makes me feel that I am taking some precautions.I know of too many people who think nothing of taking a sick horse to show since they have already paid the entry fee. I am so sorry for those of you who have sick animals and brought it home to your others and even lost much anticipated foals.

 

[Loess Hills]

So sorry to hear of sick horses and the loss of much-anticipated foals.

You guys are living a nightmare!

Hopefully your treatment and information will help everyone who deals with this the knowledge to help their horses pull through.

 

[AppyLover2]

Just wanted to add my sympathy and prayers for those of you who are going through this nightmare.

Also Sharron, do you really think this is the time for criticism? I'm quite sure all these owners are already kicking themselves for not doing something to help prevent these problems. You've given some good points about sanitizing stalls but IMHO your critical tone is definitely untimely.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

We have been there, done that. Once, we brought some horses home from a show. No one was sick at all, then about two weeks later, some of them started snotting. They had high temps. Did some inquiring, and found out others that had been at the show had sick horses also.

Let's also face the fact, that when you vaccinate for anything, you can only vaccinate for certain strains. Other strains of viruses and respiratory infections also happen, and no matter how much you vaccinate, you can't prevent everything!

A bottle of clorox and a sprayer is something that we carry with us to shows, but as stated before, if it is airborne, that's not 100% either.

A friend of ours has not been to any sales or shows, and she is fighting a "bug" in her herd right now, and is fearful for her in foal mares. Losing a lot of sleep, her hands are sore and cracked and raw from using so much clorox and alcohol on her hands, to try and prevent spreading it from one to the other, and she is beside herself. I feel for all that are going through the same heartache right now. Just remember, the people who sold the horses that have been sick, probably did not know the horses were sick at the time. You are certainly going through a lot of heartache, a lot of extra work, and expense. It tugs at your heart and purse strings at the same time. Good luck to all, and everyone's prayers will be with you all!

 

[hhpminis]

I am so sorry to all who are going through this. It is gut wrenching anyway and then you throw the exhaustion on top of it all and it becomes very hard to deal with.

My thoughts are with you all.

 

[Riverdance]

My question to you all that were at the show is "Why would you put a horse in a stall that YOU yourself did not personally disinfect? We, as a standard practice at EVERY show we go to, take the very few minutes that it takes to take some Chlorahexidine ( generic Nolvasan disinfectant) and mix it in water, in a strong solution, put it in a spray bottle that you pump air into, and spray EVERYTHING from the stall walls to the floor, both inside and out...This show has a history of having sick horses coming out of it every year...so knowing that, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the saying goes. It is beyond me to fathom, knowing the history of this show and facility, that normal preventative precautions, and time to administer them, weren't taken by those attending.

I am sorry for those that have sick horses, and for those that have lost foals. However, it is my feelings that a lot of it could have been prevented, by just taking the time to actively disinfected the stalls prior to putting the horses in them in the first place!

As another precautionary measure, our show sale and other horses are hyper immuned Prior to any shows, another ounce of prevention...

Sharron

Sharron,

I agree with you, one needs to disinfect their stalls before using, but these were horses purchased at the sale. The people purchasing them did not put them into the stalls to begin with, the original owners did. They were the ones who should have disinfected, not the buyers. Unfortunatly it is the buyers who are paying the price. OH!

If what I read is correct and the facilities were not cleaning the stalls and were putting clean bedding in dirty stalls, I would not be putting my horses in that stall. I have had this before and raised cain with the facility. If I am paying that kind of money for a stall for a couple of days, it had darn well better be clean as a whistle.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

We DO spray our stalls. But when you have hundreds of people walking the barns (It's an open show -think State Fair type) it's extremely hard to keep them from touching each horse as they walk the aisles... and we aren't at our stalls all day to stop them.

I probably won't show here next year. Between the illness and the fact they need to be clipped and its winter, it really isn't worth it. Plus there really isn't enough horses entered to get points, so...

Lucy

 

[HGFarm]

Any time we go to a show where we stall, we bleach the stalls prior to putting horses in there. I have a small portable sprayer, like what you can get at Home Depot for weeks, etc... and make a bleach/water mixture and spray the walls and floor. Let it dry, then put in bedding and your horse. It's not foolproof, but we were told it helps.

So sorry for all the mess you are all going through and hope it clears up quickly without further problems! That is awful! Wishing you the best!

 

[Charlotte]

My question to you all that were at the show is "Why would you put a horse in a stall that YOU yourself did not personally disinfect? We, as a standard practice at EVERY show we go to, take the very few minutes that it takes to take some Chlorahexidine ( generic Nolvasan disinfectant) and mix it in water, in a strong solution, put it in a spray bottle that you pump air into, and spray EVERYTHING from the stall walls to the floor, both inside and out...This show has a history of having sick horses coming out of it every year...so knowing that, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the saying goes. It is beyond me to fathom, knowing the history of this show and facility, that normal preventative precautions, and time to administer them, weren't taken by those attending. I am sorry for those that have sick horses, and for those that have lost foals. However, it is my feelings that a lot of it could have been prevented, by just taking the time to actively disinfected the stalls prior to putting the horses in them in the first place!

As another precautionary measure, our show sale and other horses are hyper immuned Prior to any shows, another ounce of prevention...

Sharron

Sharron is quite correct on disinfecting, but the problem with this huge production is that thousands of horses pass through this facility during the shows of the Fort Worth Livestock Show. There is no way stalls can be cleaned between each different breed and still maintain any type of schedule for this production. There are thousands of stalls. Does the Denver Stock Show strip and disinfect between every breed?

When we used to show at the Livestock Show we often spent hours upon arrival stripping stalls and disinfecting. We no longer exhibit at this show.

Charlotte

 

[Whitestar]

I hope that the Show Committee of this show & upcoming shows are notified of this outbreak. It is too late to do anything about THIS show, but it sounds like there can & will be a big problem in future shows & sales. I dont think I have ever heard of such an outbreak at one event, with whole herds being at risk. Having run a few large AMHR shows here in Texas-the past, frankly you are worked to death... However, if our show committee had a heads up that there are outbreaks such as these, you can bet there would volunteers with whatever they needed to start spraying down stalls even if it were 3 oclock in the morning if there was a chance it would keep a horse from coming down with something like this or taking it home. If you are involved in a show committee it might be a good idea to bring this up before your next meeting. Any bit of pro-active work has got to help some. I am sure because of the problems involved this is going to hurt the turn out involved in next years sale/show, & probably other shows or sales throughout the country. Which is really the very worst thing for the breed as a whole. The more public displays that miniatures can have, shows, sales, other events is good for the breed as a whole.

Also, although a lot of people use bleach for disinfectants, it does not work on everything. It also has a contact-soak time to kill certian things, so sometimes you have to let it set for 10 minutes or so. On unsealed wood, bacteria can get into the wood & it would have to be saturated & set with lots of bleach or other disinfectants to help. Also if a product sets in a hot/cold trailer diluted for a long time, it is no longer good. It needs to be mixed fresh when you need it. Check with what your Vet suggests as the best solution for you to use & how to use it.

Has any of the Vets done a culture on sick horses? Perhaps there is a new strain of disease?

 

[zoey829]

Ugh!!! This is so upsetting. I feel so bad for everyone (horses too)

 

[wildoak]

I know of too many people who think nothing of taking a sick horse to show since they have already paid the entry fee.

I have seen horses with full blown strangles at Nationals - not showing, just there to sell.

Too often though, people have no idea their horses are sick when they go. I lost all of my entries, stalls and everything last year at Nationals because I'd had sick babies off and on all summer and not knowing what we were dealing with (thought it was strangles at the time), scratched all of my horses.....thinking that I would at least get my entries back with a vets letter. Have to say, I was really irritated that they would not refund entry money - it's a policy that should be revisited, no way to know your horses might be ill and you really don't want to encourage people to bring sick ones.

There will be some bugs carried in and out of show grounds - it's just the nature of the beast. I think the biggest key to prevention is to be sure your horses have a good immune system before they leave the farm, and do what you can at shows to keep their environment clean as possible. I spray my stalls - I'm not consistent about it everywhere I go, but at the big shows, you bet. You still don't kill bacteria hiding in organic matter, ie in the wood, in the dirt.....it helps but it's not a sure thing.

Jan

 

[Teresa]

My prayers and good thoughts go out to all of you who have been "hit" by whatever this is. May you have plenty of strength and your horses get over it quickly!!!!