Interesting. Those trainers must have excellent liability insurance. In some states it’s illegal to choose, purchase, and administer medications to someone else’s horse(s) without a veterinary license.
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It depends on the vaccine. Rabies, for instance, has to be given by a vet. Not so for things like rhino/flu or EWT (afaik).
ETA: you can probably tell which vaccines require a veterinary license by going to an online retailer (Valley Vet, for instance) and looking at what vaccines require a prescription. I just ordered a rhino/flu from valley vet with no prescription.
@Night_Flight
Don’t go after the Braiders. Anybody could cross-contaminate horses at a Horse Show. When the groom’s take the horses to lunge, they often stop and visit with each other with horses in their hands. The horses visit also. Same for morning hand walks. Also at the Barns towels are community property, as well as water buckets at the groom stalls. Often times the same sponge is being used to wipe off a horse’s eyes or nose when getting tacked up. It is all shared equipment.
I have a friend who rides at Ocean Crest out of Southern California, and they are so strict. Each horse has its own towel with its name on it and the groom’s have to use only that towel on the horse.
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In the disastrous Valencia outbreak last year, FEI made a list of “blocked horses” who were considered at risk, and were barred from competition until certain requirements were met.
Perhaps USEF should consider such a system. Then no one has to depend on the integrity of those tempted to behave outside the best interest of all; show management, and other competitors and interested parties would be able to check status easily and in one place. It would be difficult to update it for all associated contacts when the horses left the show grounds, but it would be far better than nothing. (In some cases horses could be identified by trainer even if at home.)
One thing for sure, knowingly evading mandatory health requirements should come with consequences, with teeth.
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And any issues with the vaccine is not covered by the manufacturer, if not administered by a vet, from what I understand.
On the surface it seems like a way to save a few bucks, but one bad reaction would wipe that savings out pretty fast.
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Don’t take this personally, but the idea that each horse having a separate towel is “strict” is the reason we are in this position.
People don’t realize how little it takes to spread EHV. My vet said, even after seeing a horse that might have EHV, showering, changing clothes, and disinfecting the truck theoretically is good enough, but there’s still a chance she could transfer it to another horse.
A different towel is the bare minimum.
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I have no intention of “going after” the braiders, and of course I wouldn’t want someone who relies on being paid to braid to suddenly have no income.
I just find it strange that there has been no mention of braiders when in the early days of covid, if I remember correctly, some shows disallowed braiding in order to reduce human to human contact.
Braiders coming and going in the night just seem to me like a bit of an invisible potential vector for carrying disease from one horse to another, especially when horses have their noses in the braider’s clothes when doing the forelock. I felt it was worthy of questioning whether that has been considered.
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That’s exactly what happened to many braiders in the early days of Covid. As a result, many of them quit braiding and found other jobs, which resulted in the ensuing braider shortage that continues to this day.
If there are no shows in California for the next month, there is no way for the braiders to contaminate anyone at the nonexistent shows.
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Absolutely, but it could be something to consider for any upcoming shows outside of California that a significant number of California horses are expected to redirect to, or to help with contact tracing for horses that have recently competed at a show where there was an infected horse. For example, proximity to other horses at the in-gate or in the warm-up ring isn’t the only thing to consider if you used a braider who also braided for other barns.
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Three horses from Oregon that were at DIHP. One returned to Oregon after week 4 and is being strictly quarantined along with other horses that were in the trailer. Two other Oregon barns are still at DIHP waiting out respective positive tests, one of them came at the start of the off-week, the other was there since week 1.
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We in Contra Costa County are watching. Rancho Murieta is not far from me. We have shut down our barn in the past. Hopefully everyone will follow the protocols and EHV will be contained.
@Demerara_Stables
Not taken personally. I think it’s a great “strict” thing to do! Alicia, and Carlton too, so on their bio-security!
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It sounds like a way for the trainer to buy the meds cheaper, use the invoice from the vet at the higher price and bill clients on the higher amount. So, another way for certain unethical trainers to pocket money at clients’ expense.
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Wouldn’t a trainer vaccinating client horses fall under practicing veterinary medicine without a license? Even a trainer giving IV/IM injections to horses they don’t own technically falls on some shaky legal grounds, although I’m well aware it happens all the time.
Vaccinating horses they own is fine, at least for things other than rabies.
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This is not unusual, even for boarding barns that aren’t an actual training program. Vet bills out a series for each client but leaves the shots all in bulk or they get picked up at the clinic. Barn manager can then give them at their convenience, instead of having every horse in at once for the vet on one day, or break them up by the work schedule so half of the group can have the next day off, or the group showing that weekend waits until Monday, or split them up as needed for each animal, depending on if they are sensitive to them or not. Most vets are perfectly fine leaving vaccines for an experienced handler to administer. There’s no benefit in not giving them and no profit, so it would be really odd if someone is ordering shots and not administering them
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That too
Just got word that my 3/13 dressage show is cancelled (NorCal). USEF told them to cancel.
I was on the fence about going (even though we were just trailering in for the day, no stalls), but there it is. Limited refunds…
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Yarra-Yarra? I’m wondering about March Mania at Murieta. Not like there’s a chance in hell that I would go now.
I think USEF shows in California are basically off the table for March.
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