# Biosecurity for horse shows?



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

If you were going to take your horse to a show, what biosecurity measures would you take? Or what measures do you take? In other words, what could I do to keep my guy from getting someone else's crud at a show? If I decide to take him to a show.

Perhaps related, if it were a multi-day show that was less than an hour's drive, would you haul the horse back and forth each day or leave him there?


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Make sure he has his shots. Bring his own, labelled buckets and feeders for his use only. Not sure there's much else you could do!


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

So no one, I don't know, disinfects stalls that their horses are going to use before putting the horse in there?


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

If worried I know people that take a spray bottle of diluted bleach and spray the stall down with that.... usually the stalls have been empty for a time so I'm not sure how long germs last.... 

Make sure stall is picked good.....


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## Txshecat0423 (May 27, 2020)

Less than an hour’s drive, I would haul back and forth. The horse would, in my opinion, be more comfortable/under less stress in their own pasture/stall overnight where things are familiar. (Unless the horse is stressed when hauled, of course, then I guess maybe better to leave there for the duration of the show…my horse thankfully trailers well.) For any rodeos where our team was provided stalls, we removed the shavings and put in fresh, brought our own hay, water and feed buckets etc. We never sprayed with any type of cleaning agent (like bleach or Lysol). 


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## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

We always hauled back and forth for shows that were close. The only times we stayed at a show was when it was several hours away. Horses are happier, you are sleeping in your own bed, win win all around.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

When we showed certain places the show dictated horses once checked in did not leave, they were housed in permanent housing barns...this was especially true when a contagious outbreak of certain things were in neighboring areas and keeping "clean" the horses was mandatory.
Those who handled went through thorough decontamination areas of stepping through foot baths with shoes on, clothing/body sprayed with de-ick product.
Our barn also disinfected our stalls prior to putting our horses in.....even though we were told they had been done, we did it ourselves.
Trainer used something she brought from home in a spray bottle not caustic to the animals...
Sprayed down 2x, left for 10 minutes then we bedded with shavings for the animals comfort.
Horses stood on the trailer{s} as Coggins needed verified and checked first anyway before permitted to the unload zone.
We always brought our own hay in nets, buckets for water & feed, along with water from home, muck basket and fork to clean only our stalls or parking area to keep neat and tidy of mounds of poop and flies following.
No one was permitted to touch our horses, no "nice horsey" pats were allowed from anyone but our handlers...
No treats or goodies permitted shared either..
Our tack was kept locked in our trailer and put on _our_ saddle rack to use...nothing was left out that could be handled or borrowed if overnight a stay.
It sounds mean, but being pro-active protective is a must when so many riders, guests may be wandering the show grounds and innocently they touch, then another and another being the carrier of ick of many kinds.
No one means to carry and what you may carry might not be bad, but because it is from a different barn could be a catalyst of uh-oh so preventing is far easier than now combating it gone.
Horses halters hung inside the stall as did their lead shank away from touching hands...
For us, this worked and we never had a sick horse nor brought anything foreign back to the barn unwanted.
I much preferred hauling in the day of, even if a multi-day show but it was a very long exhausting day to go home and have to reset for the next day early departure...but as said, the horses rested best when in their home.
🐴...


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

When we took Harley to a two-day show out of town we did spray the stall walls with a solution of Virkon disinfectant. Did not let him graze (most show venues will tell you not to anyway), come in contact with other horses, people or stuff. We always bring our own water buckets and our own water, even if we're not there for more than a day. People sticking hoses in water buckets are contaminating the hose, which is then stuck in another bucket, and another. If I have to use water somewhere else, I look for a spigot that does not have a hose attached, but if I have no choice but to use a hose, I make sure I don't dunk it in the water. 

The stalls are generally stripped by previous user, and fresh bedding thrown in for your horse, or left in front of the stall for you to do it.


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