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.

Manure Management

I received an e-mail from Bill asking me “what do I do about all the manure generated by my horses?”.

Great question. Manure Management can be a problem when horses are not in large pastures. Keeping horses in small ranches and farms necessitates the removal of manure on a regular basis to keep the smells down; minimize your fly problem; and reduce the chances of your horses transmitting worms to each others or getting manure packed into their hooves where bacteria can grow and eat away at the hoof sole.

I see a lot of horses kept in bad conditions,..stalls too small and full of manure; dangerous objects around; and horses with feet that haven’t seen a farrier in many months it not a year or more. Makes me madder than hell, but County Animal control services are under manned and under funded, and have to compete with crimes against persons for resourcing.

My horses generate about 2 cubic yards of manure each week. We clean our stalls and corrals twice a day or even more often in some cases.

I built a “U” with telephone poles and rail road ties to create a ramp that goes over a concrete pad with a dumpster where we dump our manure for removal by a disposal company once a week.

If you live in an area heavy with parasites, such as mosquitoes, you may have to spray insect killer on your stored manure to reduce the threat of parasite breeding and subsequent diseases like West Nile as well as the general fly problem.

When I ran a large horse stables, with 38 to 50 horses, you can imagine the amount of manure we generated. I had the manure dumped into a manure pit, where during the summer months we sprayed it twice a week and once a week we took the manure and spread it in a very large arena where it air dried very quickly and combined with the sand, provided a decent footing for arena events such as barrel racing.

A good resource is the e-book, Managing Horses on Small Properties.

Horse Health Care – Fly Control

Leticia from Arizona e-mailed to ask about feed through Fly Control products. Although I know about these daily pelleted type fly control supplements that you feed your horse daily, I have not ever used them.

I understand these products to be safe, and either control flies through inhibiting development of larvae or immature flies into adult flies, or using chemicals or natural foods (such as garlic or yeast) to repel flies. I don’t think I will ever use any of these products, although if I did I would be inclined to try the commercially available products that uses natural substances like garlic which repel flies and provide some beneficial nutrients to the horse.

Instead I control flies mainly through a manure management program and treating manure that is stored prior to a weekly removal. This year I may try to use fly predators just to see if they work. Fly predators are tiny insects that are the natural enemy of flies but do not bother people or livestock.

Fly sticks, strips or tape and fly traps (smells like hell when filled up with flies) are also effective but are a pain in the butt to use. Here's a tip: one benefit to using fly traps is that when they get filled up, you can place them underneath the back seat of your buddy's pickup truck.

I have found out that effective manure management is the primary best method to control flies. Manure attracts flies and also provides a breeding ground for them as well as for parasites like worms and mosquitoes. Not only important for West Nile Virus heavy areas, but also for dry and desert environs, manure has got to be removed and treated if stored for very long before removal. I have a large dumpster that we dump manure into, which is removed weekly. During the late Spring, Summer and early Fall months, I spray a insect killer onto the top of the manure stored in the dumpster to ensure a hostile environment for any breeding insects.

Fly masks, fly sheets and of course fly spray are all very useful especially for the thin haired and older horses. The most effective fly sprays use chemicals such as pyrethrins. I’m pretty careful how often I use it and where I spray it on the horse as this is a pretty potent chemical. I typically use several brands, mostly Tri-Tec 14 Spray, Pyranha Wipe and Spray and Repel-X RTU all of which are at the lower end of the price spectrum but still much more effective than the very low end fly spray such as Bronco. I would be comfortable using Ultra Shield or Wipe products as well.

I actually use a shot of two of Wild Turkey to keep the flies off me, but everyone knows horses only drink beer,...so Leticia, you can try feed through fly control. I won’t use it but understand it is safe. I have tried garlic powder mixed into my horse’s grain but they won’t eat it. Some of the feed through products are comprised of garlic and garlic and yeast. I would consider fly masks and even a fly sheet, plus maybe fly strips or traps and/or fly predators (I’ll test them this summer), but above all, a good manure management program is probably best. Good luck and a safe, fly less, journey.