hi all,
i am going to be scant on identifying details here because for all i know the barn owner reads this forum.
unfortunately, i have to keep my horse in a boarding facility as i don't have a way to bring him home. i've had a tough time finding a place i consider to be safe and healthy. but, i also am very well aware that i have to make a lot of compromises and accept things that go against my grain if i am going to board. i try to keep it simple and look the other way at practices i don't agree with if they aren't going to hurt my horse. i also try hard to be the "good" boarder who follows all the rules, is pleasant to others, and who doesn't bring drama to the premises.
after months on a waiting list, and looking for other options and not finding any, i finally got into a barn in my area with a very good reputation.
only a week after arriving i learned that there is a cough going around the barn, and it is a virus that has been going through the population for several weeks, after the barn owner brought it home from a horse show back in may.
the barn owner never told me about it. the vet has been out. i don't know what the virus is, only that it is a virus.
when my horse was turned out into his new paddock, after a week's quarrantine, i noticed the horse he shares a waterer with was coughing. i thought it must be heaves, but was told it was the virus. this was after my horse was seen drinking from the waterer.
i was also told there was no other place to put my horse and no place to isolate sick horses. furthermore, my horse had already been exposed, on day 1, because even though he was in "quarantine," "turnout" at this place consists of owners letting their horses run free all over the property, where they can interact with all the horses that are in paddocks, even those that are in "quarantine."
the barn owner was out of town that day, and i removed my horse, saying we were going on a trip.
because this barn and owner have such a good reputation, i was shocked to learn there was no way to isolate sick horses from the others. this is a very large commercial boarding operation.
it's now the end of the month. there is no notice to leave requirement, and i am debating what to do.
first of all, what do you think about a barn allowing sick horses to interact with all the other horses? this illness has been slowly spreading through the population for weeks, without any controls, or so i was told.
my vet, who i did consult before moving there, did warn me that horses are allowed to run free and interact with penned horses, and he specifically and pointedly said "that will not change." at the time, it didn't occur to me that this could be a health issue. i was simply thinking it would a problem if horses were fighting across the fences. now i realize he may have been warning me about poor disease management.
another horse owner, whose elderly horse is on the other side of the sick horse's paddock, was very upset to learn her horse was being exposed. she said there was nothing that could be done, as there was no other place on the property to put the sick horse or her horse, because the place is full. she'd been there 15 years, and just shrugged.
two things are possible here:
1. this practice is terrible but since there is no other place for people to board in the area, they put the best face they can on it and continue to praise the barn owner.
2. there's nothing so bad about this practice, and i'm too anal about my horse's health.
since i didn't talk to the barn owner himself, i'm thinking of writing him a letter to ask questions about disease/herd management at his barn before deciding whether or not to bring my horse back there.
a friend is letting me keep my horse in her back yard in the meantime. not a good long term solution.
i'd like to know what the experienced horse people here think about this. assuming the info i have is correct--there is no management of disease and show horses are brought home and allowed to spread it among the home horses--is this something that i should tolerate?
if you found out that you'd moved into a barn where the horses were sick, and the barn owner didn't tell you in advance, what would you do?
i don't have other great options, but at least at his temporary quarters, my horse is away from a disease environment. worse comes to worse, i can board him with a friend a couple of hours away and know he is getting good care.
btw, this place has fabulous amenities at a reasonable price, making it highly attractive to the local horse community. but those amenities are not important enough to me to endanger my horse.
i am going to be scant on identifying details here because for all i know the barn owner reads this forum.
unfortunately, i have to keep my horse in a boarding facility as i don't have a way to bring him home. i've had a tough time finding a place i consider to be safe and healthy. but, i also am very well aware that i have to make a lot of compromises and accept things that go against my grain if i am going to board. i try to keep it simple and look the other way at practices i don't agree with if they aren't going to hurt my horse. i also try hard to be the "good" boarder who follows all the rules, is pleasant to others, and who doesn't bring drama to the premises.
after months on a waiting list, and looking for other options and not finding any, i finally got into a barn in my area with a very good reputation.
only a week after arriving i learned that there is a cough going around the barn, and it is a virus that has been going through the population for several weeks, after the barn owner brought it home from a horse show back in may.
the barn owner never told me about it. the vet has been out. i don't know what the virus is, only that it is a virus.
when my horse was turned out into his new paddock, after a week's quarrantine, i noticed the horse he shares a waterer with was coughing. i thought it must be heaves, but was told it was the virus. this was after my horse was seen drinking from the waterer.
i was also told there was no other place to put my horse and no place to isolate sick horses. furthermore, my horse had already been exposed, on day 1, because even though he was in "quarantine," "turnout" at this place consists of owners letting their horses run free all over the property, where they can interact with all the horses that are in paddocks, even those that are in "quarantine."
the barn owner was out of town that day, and i removed my horse, saying we were going on a trip.
because this barn and owner have such a good reputation, i was shocked to learn there was no way to isolate sick horses from the others. this is a very large commercial boarding operation.
it's now the end of the month. there is no notice to leave requirement, and i am debating what to do.
first of all, what do you think about a barn allowing sick horses to interact with all the other horses? this illness has been slowly spreading through the population for weeks, without any controls, or so i was told.
my vet, who i did consult before moving there, did warn me that horses are allowed to run free and interact with penned horses, and he specifically and pointedly said "that will not change." at the time, it didn't occur to me that this could be a health issue. i was simply thinking it would a problem if horses were fighting across the fences. now i realize he may have been warning me about poor disease management.
another horse owner, whose elderly horse is on the other side of the sick horse's paddock, was very upset to learn her horse was being exposed. she said there was nothing that could be done, as there was no other place on the property to put the sick horse or her horse, because the place is full. she'd been there 15 years, and just shrugged.
two things are possible here:
1. this practice is terrible but since there is no other place for people to board in the area, they put the best face they can on it and continue to praise the barn owner.
2. there's nothing so bad about this practice, and i'm too anal about my horse's health.
since i didn't talk to the barn owner himself, i'm thinking of writing him a letter to ask questions about disease/herd management at his barn before deciding whether or not to bring my horse back there.
a friend is letting me keep my horse in her back yard in the meantime. not a good long term solution.
i'd like to know what the experienced horse people here think about this. assuming the info i have is correct--there is no management of disease and show horses are brought home and allowed to spread it among the home horses--is this something that i should tolerate?
if you found out that you'd moved into a barn where the horses were sick, and the barn owner didn't tell you in advance, what would you do?
i don't have other great options, but at least at his temporary quarters, my horse is away from a disease environment. worse comes to worse, i can board him with a friend a couple of hours away and know he is getting good care.
btw, this place has fabulous amenities at a reasonable price, making it highly attractive to the local horse community. but those amenities are not important enough to me to endanger my horse.