A venue that has undertaken a risk assessment of threats to horse health (either a self-assessment or using the services of a third-party) will be better able to recognise potential risks of disease spread.
Such a venue will be in a better position to implement sound management practices to prevent disease spread. Good practices will not only help protect the horses on your venue, but also the horses on venues you visit.
In the course of the normal business of a horse venue, people – such as owners, staff, club members, spectators, contractors and farriers – as well as other animals, move on and off the venue. Each movement is a potential risk for disease agents to enter, circulate within, or leave a venue.
Venue managers have a responsibility to assist in minimising the potential for every day movements to spread disease agents within or outside the venue.
Action Plan for Suspected Emergency Animal Diseases:
In the event of an emergency animal disease outbreak or serious endemic disease, more stringent practices will need to be implemented on-farm. Respective state and territory governments will implement standard operating procedures that are in line with the AUSVETPLAN disease strategy.
Each venue manager should establish and document clear guidelines regarding the circumstances when an emergency animal disease alert should be raised, and who must be informed. For example, when experiencing an unusual increase in death, illness or drop in production.
The biosecurity workbook has been designed to take horse venue managers through a series of questions relating to how the venue is currently operating. A range of ‘tips’ have also been provided to assist with informed decision-making.
Before starting, it will be useful (but not essential) to have:
An aerial map of the venue, showing roads, entrances/exits and watercourses (try 1. Google Maps).
A plastic overlay to cover the map, if it is not laminated, and non-permanent whiteboard 2. markers.
Any existing documentation relating to the operations of the venue. 3. It is important to involve family members, committee, club members, staff, agistees or frequent visitors in preparing your Horse Venue Biosecurity Plan, where possible. The plan is more likely to have a high-level of uptake if ownership is shared among key people.
How to Use the Workbook:
Step One:
To get started – set your goals. Clearly state what you aim to achieve – for example, reducing the disease risk for your horses. Then work your way through each section of this resource tool. For each topic, select the statement that best reflects current management practices.
Step Two:
Summarise your results in the ‘Summary of Results Checklist’.
Step Three:
Rank the Actions to be taken to improve horse practices on your venue. Those marked ‘haven’t thought about it’ or ‘just beginning’ should receive the most consideration when developing your action plan. This will assist you to better manage and control health risks at your horse venue. An
Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) Action Plan Template, citing examples, is included as a guide.
Getting Ready to Develop a Horse Venue Biosecurity Plan:
STEP 1 –Getting Started
List what you aim to achieve in relation to horse health at your venue.
This is a statement that will guide your goals when it comes to biosecurity practices on your venue. It can be an addition or extension to an existing statement you may have already had in your business plan or organisational strategy, noting that smaller venues or weekend events will not have these sorts of plans.
Horses and Other Livestock:
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introducing diseases or contaminants by movements of 1. horses and other livestock onto or off the venue.
Tips – General:
- Consider any horse returning to the venue from an event as a potential disease risk – such as racing, showing or breeding.
- Ideally, new, returning, or visiting horses should be separated (quarantined) from resident horses for at least 10 days, and have their temperature checked every day. A minimum of 10 days of separation is ideal, as it allows signs of illness to emerge. It may be more practical to group regularly travelling horses together, away from resident horses that do not travel.
- If horses entering the property show obvious signs of disease, do not permit them to offload, or immediately separate them and start strict hygiene procedures. For example, use separate equipment for sick horses and deal with sick horses last.
- Ensure appropriate animal health practices are applied to other animals, such as dogs and cats.
- When moving horses within the venue, minimise contact with other horses.
- Horses that are sick, or suspected of being sick, should be handled by a separate person allocated to the task, or seen to after all other horses have been attended. Sick horses should not be moved without veterinary advice, unless for veterinary treatment.
Tips – Venue Managers:
- Make sure all horses entering the event grounds are known and recorded – including visiting horses, lead ponies and non-competitors. Record details of ownership and the identification/description of the horse.
- Stables, yards or paddocks for resident horses should be separate from those for visiting horses at a venue.
- Observe horses, preferably on arrival, to confirm identification, check travel records (if required by state legislation) and for general signs of good health.
- Horse venues should have enforceable (and enforced) rules for refusing the entry of unhealthy horses to the venue.
- Ensure other animals entering the venue, such as sheep, cattle, goats and alpacas, have animal health practice (biosecurity) principles applied to their management. This could include working closely with other show/event section co-coordinators at showgrounds/events.
Tips – General for Travel:
- Prior to travel, reduce the horse’s stress levels by ensuring the horse is in good condition, fed and watered before the journey.
- If a horse is suspected of being unwell, or has come into contact with a sick horse, separate (quarantine) the horse, and delay or modify travel plans until the horse is fit to travel.
- Promote to staff and competitors the requirement for horses, and their hooves, to be free of visible dirt, weed seeds and other contaminants, prior to entering or exiting the venue.
- Avoid mixing different animals during transport, especially when coming from different venues.
- Engage a transport company that has a quality assurance program in place.
Recommended situation at the venue:
- The health status of horses is known.
- Horse movement is managed to minimise the transfer of disease – both on, off and within the venue.
- Horses are prepared for travel before arriving at the venue, or before leaving.
- The health status of other livestock is considered as part of horse health management.
- Sick or suspect horses are separated, or refused entry.
Vehicles, Equipment, Feed and Bedding:
Objectives
- To minimise the risk of introducing diseases or contaminants by movements of vehicles and equipment onto or off the venue.
- To minimise the risk of introducing diseases or contaminants by movements of feed and bedding onto or off the venue.
Tips – General:
- Designate a specific parking area for visitors and contractors, and encourage them to report to one area. Have a bell or other device they can use to call your attention. This area becomes the ‘control point’.
- Avoid placing vehicle parking areas within horse traffic areas, to prevent the transfer of potentially contaminated manure or feed. Ensure deliveries are made close to the venue boundary, or have designated travel routes or delivery entry points.
Some venues may consider developing feed delivery protocols. Feed and bedding entering or leaving the venue should be checked for contaminants, and accompanied by a Commodity Vendor Declaration where possible.
- Staff should have dedicated work boots and clothing on-site, to avoid the potential transfer of contaminants from outside the venue.
- Aisles in stables areas should be kept clean. No manure, bedding or urine should be present in traffic or drainage areas.
- Clean and disinfect equipment, such as tooth rasps, twitches, stomach tubes and endoscopes, between horses. Consider separate handling equipment, like halters, especially for visiting horses and between age groups.
- Promote to staff and competitors the requirement for vehicles and equipment to be free of visible dirt, weed seeds and other contaminants, prior to entering or exiting the venue.
- Identify designated travel corridors and parking areas for vehicles, floats, farm bikes and other traffic. Car parks and delivery points should be on venue boundaries where practicable, and/or have managed travel routes through a venue.
- Select contractors and suppliers with a quality assurance program in place.
Tips – Venue Managers:
- Separate horses entering the venue for events from resident horses and their equipment, including feed and water containers.
- Ensure events have a feed policy which is made known to clients and competitors before arrival, including feed types and storage procedures.
- Promote a ‘clean venue’, encouraging competitors to follow a standard of cleanliness during their stay, including a venue cleaning routine.
- Avoid providing communal water troughs.
- Equipment, which may be used on a range of horses at an event, should be assessed for its risk level. For example, a measuring bay would be considered low-risk, whereas a twitch would be high-risk.
People:
Objectives
- To minimise the risk of introducing diseases or contaminants by movements of people (staff, contractors, family, competitors) onto or off the venue.
- To minimise the risk of spreading diseases or contaminants by the movement of people within the venue.
Tips – General
People
- includes invited and uninvited visitors, persons collecting manure, or entering the property in response to signage or other indirect invitation. It also includes friends, staff, volunteers and competitors.
- Promote property hygiene practices to all people through signage and other methods. Highlight the additional risk posed by visitors recently travelling overseas, to a saleyard or to an event.
- Restrict visitor access to horse facilities that are essential only. Isolation areas for sick horses should not have general visitor access.
- Manage horse contact with feed, manure or other waste.
- Locate hand washing facilities at strategic points, such as isolation areas, arrival/dispatch sites or husbandry areas, and install appropriate signage.Provide foot baths, separate footwear, or disposable protective wear for movement in and out of isolation areas. Washing facilities must be placed in work stations to increase the adoption of hygiene procedures.
Tips – Venue Managers:
- Try to keep people not associated with the horses away from them – such as spectators.
- Have designated entry points, signage and separation areas for spectators and competitors.
- Provide information to competitors to discourage entering stables of horses from other venues, especially at showgrounds and sales. Authorised horse attendants, venue staff – such as veterinarians, stewards, and authorised venue attendants – should be called to enter a restricted area.
- Identify all tasks that take place on the venue requiring horse-to-horse contact, and take measures and provide facilities to manage the risk. For example hand washing, and other precautions, when checking horses’ mouths.
- Locate hand washing facilities at strategic points and install signs to encourage use.
Information Sourced From:
