West Nile Reminder and Trail Advice from a Reader

Scott wrote to Functional Horsemanship reminding us that West Nile Virus (WNV) is still prevalent in many parts of the country and in addition to annual WNV immunizations, insect repellent is another method to help keep your horse's protected and he added that insect repellent's for rider's are important as well, as people get WNV too.

I've seen one horse who was positive for WNV and it was hard to bear watching horse suffering, stumbling, head down, losing balance, and not eating. WNV in people is fairly rare and sometimes hard to diagnose. The Center for Disease Control says that 1 in 5 people who are infected with WNV will develop a fever with other symptoms such as headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash. Most people with this type of West Nile virus will recover completely, but fatigue and weakness can last for weeks or months. Even fewer people will develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis which is inflammation of the brain or surrounding tissues. For both people and horses the treatment is to generally manage the symptoms.

I'd add that manure management and ensuring that standing water traps are emptied to take away mosquito breeding grounds is a good preventive practice. Here in West Texas where 8 inches a rain a year is the average, we recently received over 5 inches of rain in a week bringing mosquitos into areas where we usually don't see them. I sprayed insect killer daily on top of the loads of manure dumped into my dumpster, and used a daily application of Pyranha fly spray on my horses until everything dried out.

Another point Scott stressed was to ensure when you trail ride on public, or even private land, to make sure your know the rules for use. A group of riders can eliminate the use of land for other horses and riders by breaking rules. I like the Back Country Horsemen of America's theme which is to "Leave No Trace".  I occasionally run across some horse tracks from time to time who riders have no problem at all littering along their ride with Bud Light cans and bottles. I have a hard time believing that people who have no respect for the land have any respect for horses.

And while I have carried a gun all my adult life, for personal protection or in performance of my duties, and I certainly believe in the 2nd Amendment, if the land use rules for a trail ride included no firearms then I would respect that and wouldn't carry a gun, or more likely not ride at all. Scott reminds us to do our research so we don't trailer to some place only to discover regulations we were unprepared for.

Thanks Scott for your reminder and safe journey to you.