PREVENTING disease can reduce veterinary costs while protecting young horses’ development, explained Alan Creighton of the Irish Equine Centre.

His presentation linked biosecurity with stocking density, ventilation, hygiene, pasture management and feed, forage and water quality.

At one National Hunt stud, 150 foals, approximately 75% of the foal population, were treated for Rhodococcus equi in 2021. Treatment costs and losses were estimated at €95,000.

Changes included reducing stocking numbers, relocating resident mares, switching visiting mares to walk-in covering, strengthening disinfection and replacing heavily-poached areas. The intervention cost approximately €80,000.

The following year, only 5% of foals required treatment, while treatment costs and losses fell to approximately €6,000. Several measures changed together, so the case study could not identify one decisive intervention.

Stocking density frequently had the strongest influence in disease investigations. Even farms with ample acreage can concentrate animals in heavily-used nursery paddocks, increasing contamination.

Creighton cited four to six air changes per hour for high-performance horses. Closing buildings because staff feel cold can allow moisture, dust, ammonia and airborne pathogens to accumulate.

Practical examples included disinfecting busy stocks daily, keeping mucking-out equipment separate from forage and attending healthy animals before sick ones.

He recommended at least two weeks’ isolation and veterinary observation for new arrivals, alongside careful separation of manure heaps from forage storage.

Resting paddocks, maintaining grass cover and reducing poaching also featured. Environmental testing, developed with Horse Sport Ireland, examines communal areas, forage and water, connecting laboratory findings with practical improvements on individual farms.