The workbook was produced so a venue holding just one horse, or a racing complex holding hundreds, could design and implement measures appropriate for their particular venue, while also addressing individual management and site issues.
What is a Horse Venue?
Horse venues can take many forms. They range from single horse paddocks to stables housing large numbers of horses – pony club event grounds to large racing tracks – permanent fixtures to highly mobile events. The same principles apply to minimise disease incursion and spread, regardless of size or location. How these principles are implemented will vary depending on individual site requirements, circumstances and management strategies.
Examples of horse venues include:
- horse paddocks
- riding schools
- pony clubs
- breeding operations
- horse veterinary centres
- tourism stays
- event venues
- show grounds
- stables (owned or agistment)
- stables (competition and racing)
- racing facilities
- training facility
- riding centres
- private or public property.
biosecurity:
described as the management and individual hygiene practices that minimise the movement of disease onto, off and within a venue.
contaminants:
substances which are present in and/or on feed and feed ingredients, and constitute a risk to horses’ health.
fomite:
any inanimate object, such as equipment, vehicles or objects, that can carry disease. manager the person responsible for the daily management of the husbandry of horses on-site.
SOP:
standard operating procedure.
venue:
a place frequented by horses, and includes private or public property, agistment stables, competition and racing stables, showgrounds, racecourses, event venues, pony and riding club grounds, tourism stays and riding centres.
OBJECTIVES:
- To prevent the introduction of infectious disease agents to horses.
- To prevent the spread of disease agents from an infected area to an uninfected area.
- To minimize the incidence and spread of disease agents of public health significance. Biosecurity should be an integral part of the management of any horse venue. It is about managing risk to meet the objectives stated above. Biosecurity refers to the measures taken to prevent, or control, the introduction and spread of infectious agents to horses.
Such diseases, whether clinical or subclinical, significantly reduce the productivity, profitability and long-term financial viability of a horse venue. Biosecurity measures are venue specific, and can vary greatly depending on factors like site design, management, cost of implementation and climate. As such, we use the acronym PECCS to help assess what measures might be appropriate:
Practical how practical is the measure?
Effective how effective is the measure?
Cost how much will the measure cost to implement?
Capability does the venue have the capacity and staff capability to implement the measure?
Sustainable is the measure sustainable?
Everyone that visits, works at, or enters a horse venue – such as horse owners, competitors, jockeys, stable hands, trainers, farriers, drivers, vets or spectators – must follow the directions of the manager in order to ensure biosecurity measures are implemented properly. Everyone is responsible for their actions.
Horses
- Dead animal disposal Other Animals
- Domestic animals – including other
livestock and pets
- Flying foxes
- Birds – wild and domestic
People
- Personnel and family members living
on-site
- Contractors, maintenance personnel, neighbours, servicepersons and visitors
- Disease can be carried on hands, boots, clothing, hair and even in the respiratory tract
Vehicles & Equipment
- Tack
- Feeding and watering equipment
- Rugs
- Disease can be carried on tyres, etc.
- Horse floats/trucks that have multiple pick-ups
Air
- Transmission as an aerosol or dust
Feed & Water
- Feed can be contaminated by the raw materials used during, post-production and transport, or by exposure to rodents and pests on the property. Bacteria and mould in poor quality or damaged feed may also be a concern.
- Water supplies can become contaminated with faeces from contact with the same, or other, species.
Pests & Weeds
- Poisonous plants
- Feral animals
- Rodents – including rats and mice
- Insects
Information Sourced From:
