Strangles - Lessons Learned and Q&A with Redwings and Intervacc

On 27th June 2023, we had the news that every yard owner dreads: a horse on livery here had tested positive for Strangles. Within an hour we had anxious liveries, staff, competitors, visitors, suppliers and service providers wanting information and decisions about how to respond needed to be made quickly.  The situation has been traumatic, costly and extremely testing, for the horses affected and their owners, our yard team and liveries alike, but we were determined to approach it positively and for something good to come out of it, for us and the equestrian industry in the North East.

We believed we had a solid onboarding process for new liveries and strict biosecurity around events and travelling horses that would prevent an outbreak from happening here. Our isolation process was put together in conjunction with the vets and has always been pretty rigorous, to the point that some would complain about it! However, it wasn’t enough to prevent Strangles from coming here. Navigating our way through the science, superstition and high emotion that surrounds Strangles has allowed us to learn a lot about the disease itself and its control, how people respond to stress and how we can prepare as a business to prevent this happening again.

 We would love to share what we found out with you and we are delighted to announce that we are being joined by Nic de Brauwere, the Head of Welfare at Redwings, Helen Whitelegg, Strangles Awareness Week organiser and Research and Policy Officer at Redwings and Andrew Waller from Intervacc, who manufacture a vaccine against equine strangles. Between these people, we have nationally recognised experts in managing and preventing Strangles.

We invite Owners and Managers of Livery Yards and Equestrian Centres and vets from the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire to come to Ivesley on 23rd November at 6pm for talks and Q&A. Refreshments will be provided. Tickets are available through our website for a £5 donation, which will be split equally between the Great North Air Ambulance and Redwings.

About Redwings

Redwings are the largest horse welfare charity in the UK, caring for more than 1,500 rescued horses and donkeys every day, with 700 more living out in loving guardian homes. We are registered with the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator, and all our work is funded 100% by public donations.

About Intervacc

Intervacc manufacture Strangvac^®, a vaccine against equine strangles, a highly contagious infectious disease that affects horses globally. Strangvac has been granted Marketing Authorisation within the European Union since the 16th of August 2021 and within the UK since the 17th of September 2021.