Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I haven't read all the posts on snotty nosed horses - in fact, I deleted 
them to free up some space on my computer.  Wouldn't you know it, about 4 
days ago my horse got a snotty nose, just a couple of days after returning 
from 20 Mule.  I mean, a REALLY snotty nose and a caugh.  I just wanted to 
respond to some posts regarding pre-vet checks, etc.  I took my mare to the 
vet yesterday since she had a REALLY obvious snotty nose - and yet her 
temperature was normal, her vital signs were great, P&R, etc., and she eats 
and drinks like she always does.  I guess what I'm saying is that had I 
"inadvertently" wiped her nose and got rid of the snot, nobody including 
myself would have ever known anything was wrong with her.

Catfish


> From: "Patti Kuvik" <plwoodbury@xxxxxxx>
> To: "ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [RC]    [RC] Snotty nosed horses...Compete or not?
> Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 11:21:09 -0700
>
> >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
>
>
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