Boarding Barn Health

Moving your horse into a boarding barn is a lot like sending your child to school for the first time. Just as you would in choosing a school for your kids, you want to do your research, asking all pertinent questions.
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Moving your horse into a boarding barn is a lot like sending your child to school for the first time. You feel unsure if you can trust someone else to care for your horse as well as you can, and you worry how best to protect your horse from sickness or injury when he is introduced to unfamiliar horses. Just as you would in choosing a school for your kids, you want to do your research, asking all pertinent questions.

From a public health standpoint, it is always good for any horse to be quarantined before being introduced into a new herd. Fourteen days is a reasonable time for a horse to acclimate to new surroundings and for the manager to assure the horse is not shedding any contagious disease that might infect the resident herd. If the barn manager fails to mention what the quarantine policy is, be sure to ask. Once the horse is released into the herd, some short-lived territorial fighting should be expected while a new order of dominance is established.

Barns might or might not have a vaccination and deworming policy. Be sure to ask if the barn requires the "bare minimum" necessary to maintain a healthy barn, or if they have a more comprehensive protocol. A typical bare minimum protocol might include an annual Coggins test for equine infectious anemia, vaccination for West Nile virus, Eastern/Western equine encephalitis, rabies, and tetanus, and quarterly deworming.

Whether you vaccinate your horse for diseases such as influenza (flu), rhinopneumonitis (equine herpesvirus), strangles, or Potomac horse fever (PHF) depends on several factors. Generally speaking, any plans for your horse to travel or come in contact with unfamiliar horses would make vaccinating for respiratory disease (flu and rhino) a good idea. In a boarding barn it's important to remember that other owners might take their horses to a show or group ride and subsequently expose your horse to new contagions once they return. Ultimately, a biannual flu/rhino vaccination in a boarding barn is smart prevention

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Written by:

Scott Leibsle, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, is the deputy state veterinarian with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Industries. When not at work, he can often be found on a golf course, water/snow skiing, or working in his wood shop.

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