Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

[RC] [RC] Snotty nosed horses...Compete or not? - Patti Kuvik

From: Joe Long <jlong@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: FW: Re: [RC]   [RC] Snotty nosed horses...Compete or not?



snip<<<<

A pre-ride vet check the day before the ride (with late arrivals being

vetted in

the morning before the start) has been standard at all endurance rides for

over

30 years.


A few people have commented on the "incubating" phase of an illness where
the pre-ride vet check might not indicate that anything is off.
As a nurse, one thing that bothered me at the 4 or 5 rides I've volunteered
at is seeing vets go from one horse to the next checking mucous membranes
and sometimes anal tone - two areas that could be potential disease
transmission sites.
Hand washing between horses obviously is almost impossible in most ride
circumstances, but the use of sanitizing anti-bacterial/viral gels (which
has become the procedure of choice in hospitals and other medical settings
between patient contacts - more effective and preferable to soap and water
handwashing per new CDC directives) could help prevent transmitting an
"undiagnosed" illness. The newer gels even have "softeners" - I can go a
whole shift, where I use a gel on my hands perhaps 20-40 or more times in
12, hours without the chapping and drying I used to get from constant hand
washing.
As a nurse, I tell my patients to observe that their doctors/nurses/others
clean their hands before touching them (I won't get into neckties and
stethescopes - the other great germ carriers - though steths aren't likely
an issue with our horses). As a horse owner, I'd like my vets to clean their
hands before putting them into my horse's mouth (especially if they've been
in another horse's mouth).
Won't cover all the possibilities - there's still the shared water troughs,
etc., but could help.
(Some vets might even be pleased if a RM provided them "goodie bag" with a
bottle of hand sanitizer gel, a small tube of hand cream and some paper
towels.)

Patti K
Vail AZ


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=