Yard hygiene tips when introducing a new horse

Be it a new fluffy friend for your children or an elite competition horse, safeguard your yard from infectious germs when introducing a new horse to the yard with these top yard hygiene tips.

Before the new horse arrives, carry out a thorough clean of the stable he or she will be using. Aqueos Stable & Multi-Use Disinfectant is a seriously useful product. Its highly effective fast acting formula, kills bacteria, fungi & viruses and carries on working after application.

Horses can return to treated areas immediately and it has been independently tested against strangles & ringworm. It’s worth keeping a smaller bottle in the lorry when using temporary stabling.

Whilst it may be tricky to isolate the new horse, if at all possible keep him separate from the other horses on the yard for 7-14 days. This may mean rejigging the horses usual stables but ideally you want to keep the new arrival inside for 48/72 hours and check they are doing regular droppings, which need removing regularly.

Take his temperature for 14 days in order to establish a baseline and this will help if he is harbouring an infection. A normal temperature is 38 to 38.5 degrees but every horse is different.

Some people worm new horses as soon as they arrive on a new yard to be sure they are covered but we suggest you check with your vet or worming supplier or get a worm count done.

Vitamin C can help to reduce stress if the new horse is unsure of his new surroundings. It also supports the immune system and respiratory function and can be used to give other horses on the yard a boost when exposed to new horses .

Equilibrium Products Simplyboost RESILIENCE in liquid form is easy to add to their feeds and offers an immediate boost.

Keep a separate contamination kit for the new horse to include a rug, headcollar and always use a separate numnah if sharing a saddle with other horses in case of ringworm.

If you do find any patches of ringworm, Aqueos Wound & Skin Infection Control Spray is another secret weapon to have to hand and will disinfect the wound and aid healing.

Avoid cross fertilisation of germs by exercising the new horse separately from the others.

Curragh prices:

CurraghWrap (10cm x 4.5m vet wrap) – £1.35 per roll*
CurraghPoultice – £3.94 per poultice**
CurraghSAFE (gamgee-type roll) – £7.70 for a 30cm x 3.2m roll
CurraghSOFT softban – £0.74 (10cm) per roll**

* Box of 12 rolls
** Pack of 10