In springtime we have barn wide vaccination of the horses. The vet comes and with only minimal fuss each horse is given the shots that will boost their immunity throughout the warmest part of the year. Many times it is on this day that horses who will be showing or traveling out of state also get their Coggins drawn.
It’s an organized affair, it’s our goal to make this appointment happen in an orderly fashion. I email a list to the vet’s office of who is getting what, and in turn the vet arrives with said list and we go horse by horse through the barn and vaccinations are given out with very little drama and we get the vet back out the door on time to continue their day. With the exception of one horse, Gus, who, because of his long battle with allergies of all kinds, really REALLY HATES needles. He goes full on “Dark Gus” when the vet is there, we learned this the hard way. Now he gets his shots before anything else in the barn happens on vaccination day. SURPRISE!!! It’s needle time..and done. Much like people, not all horses are super great about getting shots and blood draws.
Strangles Day is a separate day. As you know Spring shots are many. This means about 2 weeks after shots the most dreaded day of the year comes around: Strangles Day. The vaccination against Strangles is given as a mist up through the horse’s giant nostril. There is a little plunger attached to a tiiiiiiny little tube about 4 inches or so long that has to get threaded up in there and then once that’s done a quick POOF of liquid goes up their nose. There is a lot of sneezing on Strangles Day.
Strangles, not for nothing, is a highly contagious disease spread by nose to nose contact. It causes swelling in the lymph nodes and a nasty discharge out the nose. It’s pretty commonly spread at horse shows. As such, we need to vaccinate against this disease to prevent it from coming into the barn. One of the big reasons for our vaccination policy is of course: health of our horses. And this is because they don’t just stay here, no! They get out in the world, go to shows, trail rides, travel across the state and the country and will be occasionally surrounded by horses who are not so well cared for as our herd. To protect them, and of course the vaccination policy shields all the other horses in the barn from incoming diseases.
It’s an annual occurrence to find out a show ground has had an outbreak of disease and I’m always thankful, and comforted to know all the horses have been vaccinated. It’s a comfort to our boarders as well, who when the news spread all share the news with me, in texts of great concern. I then remind them all our horses were vaccinated against this on X Day, but thank you for letting me know.
As you can imagine, giving a nasal mist to a horse is, well, challenging. Strangles day is as orderly but far far less efficient and smooth as Spring Vaccination Day. The horses toss their heads, shake their their big 100 pound boney heads right next to our beloved, cherished, hard working Vets. Larger, stronger horses can lift the vet up off the ground while they are trying to administer this vaccination, which in my opinion is in the stupidest possible form. Only if we had to mist it onto their eye balls could this be a worse delivery system. I once asked Dr. Black as we were struggling to get a horse vaccinated, then wait for the return fire from our patient (they sneeze after it’s over, really, Strangles Day is so fun) if this vaccination was the revenge plot of a spiteful biologist going through a rough divorce with an equine Veterinarian. He chuckled and went into a suitably technical explanation of why the composition of this vaccination in particular had to have this delivery system.
Everyone agrees it’s okay for a horse to have an opinion about Strangles Vaccination. Even Gus can put on his “Dark Gus” sunglasses and come out to play because he’s so hateful about needles. We can all relate, especially after what we’ve been through in the last 4 years with COVID testing and vaccinations, that many of the things we have to endure to be healthy are not ideal. Certainly not comfortable. The memory of that VERY LOOOONG pokey cotton swab going up your nose for a flu test or a Covid test is one I’m sure you will take to your grave. The horses are no different.
The rubber hits the road in horsemanship during these encounters which are a normal and necessary part of a horse’s life multiple times each year. A horse who is well-mannered can certainly have a strong opinion, but the people be they a vet or a farrier still need to be able to reason with the horse. To start, each horse needs to be able to stand for the vet, which means still. Horses need to be able to be caught in a pen of any size, stand in crossties and listen when given a correction. They need to respect people. And that’s the owner’s job.
80% of equine Vets across the country report sustaining at least one equine-related injury throughout their career. They are more likely to have 7 to 10 equine-related injuries. Farriers, don't even get me started. I think farriers are just happy to come home every day if they aren’t bleeding. Now, what your Vet will consider an “Equine-Related Injury” is worthy of consideration. Just working in our barn over the last 10 years I’ve watched and held horses who have put equine professionals in danger. One horse getting his temperature taken during an exam very nearly could have killed the vet whilst violently, unexpectedly kicking out. We had to move him in front of hay bales and a door to get the job done. My own very large horse is an absolute BEAST to get a tube up his nose and it can take up to 3 people to get the job done. I’ve watched my vet get drug around a stall by a horse who was afraid of needles, several times. I don’t know that the vets consider a minor kick, bite or slam to be an injury. But they are, and they add up over time.
Owners complain bitterly about how challenging it is to get a vet to come out. And in our area, the lack of farriers available to work on their horses. The shortage of Equine Professionals in our area is in part due to the growing number and demand for services. It is also due to the fact that the life of a Vet or a Farrier is VERY VERY HARD. Long hours, long drives, high stress clients both human and horse. A lack of true gratitude and respect for their work, professionalism and talent.
Add to all this the drop in quality of horse behavior and expected horse behavior from horse owners. No matter how much you love your job and horses, these situations are both frustrating and dangerous for professionals. In our barn we work to have safe spaces for horses, riders, and professionals coming in. We are well-lit. When the vet comes we are ready, the horses come inside for their visits and are let out after. And at an increasing rate, because of the little injuries we don’t report or remember but still impact our lives we only want horses in our barn who know how to behave, and owners who appreciate the need for horses to behave.
Horses will have moments. I’ve been knocked into stall walls by a spook. Hit with a horse head full speed by a horse spooking. I’ve had my right foot fractured, stomped on full speed by a horse, SPOOKING. I’ve been kicked by a horse who decided today was the day she didn’t want me to clean her stall. Bitten to the point of a deep long lasting bruise by horse too eager for me to dump grain into his feeder. I’ve been yanked out of horse trailers countless times. And it adds up. A life with horses is a lot of painful mornings, waking up to a body that says “Not again. Please no.” After a while you don’t want to, and shouldn’t have to be the one to handle and manage horses who aren't justifiably nervous about something but are instead: simply being naughty.
These little injuries, and little scares and close calls create a mental toll. And they are all PHYSICALLY DANGEROUS to human beings. As a barn owner who is now only taking horses with good manners and horse owners who train and work with their horses to be manageable, I implore you all to learn to be good horsemen. If you are new to the game, learn. Learn from seasoned people. If you have a young horse who is naughty, work with your horse until they are good and be ready to have your horse sedated for shoeing appointments and vet appointments. Yes, that costs more.
I have been both of these people. The newbie who needed to learn. And the owner of the terrible young horse who needed to learn. I paid for the education to become a good horsewoman who can now handle damn near any horse thrown at me. And I paid extra when my young horse was a nightmare, because as a seasoned horse woman who respects not only my Vet, and Farrier I can’t live with the idea that my horse would be the one to ruin someone’s day/Week/Life.
Because that’s what bad or lacking horsemanship does. At best, it makes a simple day like vacations a pain in the ass. A spoiled, untrained horse could ruin your Farrier’s morning and throw off his entire schedule because it took 3x longer to do your horse and so he’s now late for every appointment and maybe loses business because he was AGAIN late….not because he was eating lunch in the park on a beautiful day, but because Mr. Sparkles wouldn’t stop kicking with his left hind for a trim.
A spoiled untrained horse could be a pain in the ass, but it also could be what sends your vet to the hospital because Mr. Sparkles doesn’t like to have his face touched and no one works on it and the vet got smacked full tilt in the face with his huge 100 pound boney head and now your vet who you complain you can’t get to come out is bleeding and has a broken nose, needs to go to urgent care and someone else in the clinic has to try to pick up those appointments on her docket for the day.
How horses behave has REAL WORLD consequences. Their (the horse’s) personality, need for freedom of expression of their emotions or whatever plays a big role in lives of the people who work on them. The people you need. The people you complain about not coming in the exact time frame you want them to be there to help you with your horse. Having a well behaved horse has REAL WORLD consequences for owners as well. Sooner or later if you don’t reform your horse’s bad behavior and you refuse to allow the vet or farrier to sedate for whatever reason you may find the number of equine professionals willing to work with you and your “naughty”/DANGEROUS horse has dropped significantly.
Let me be now, the latest voice in a growing chorus of voices in the horse industry BEGGING. PLEADING with horse owners to: do better. Buy the horses that are suitable to your level of horsemanship. Get the help you need to become the person who can manage your horse. It is not the job of your barn owner, farrier, vet to train YOUR HORSE to be good to work with. It is your job. DO THE WORK regularly to make your horse a solid citizen so that when Strangles Day comes around again your Vet, and your barn owner aren’t looking at your horse with dread wondering not only if they are gonna get this done, but also if it will get done without blood and bruises.