> Also, a friend works training others crazy horses and she was working > at a facility where some had it, then even as she thought she washed > her hands well she went home and now both her horses have it. But she > was also on that big ride!
Well sure--she brought it home on her boots, or her clothing! Since bird flu has gotten people (vets anyway) thinking about good hygiene w/ their animals, it's wise to wear a particular pair of shoes when you go out to care for your birds (and don't wear those shoes out to someone else's place who has birds, or to the feed store, etc), don't let visitors who have birds in to see your birds, wash hands and change clothing if necessary. That would make sense w/ working w/ horses too. And if you have someone come out and work w/ your horses (ie, massage therapist, vet, etc) be aware of what germs they might be bringing to your horse. Most vets wash their hands, but you might want to have antiseptic gel or something for horse professionals who come to work on your horses. Altho they might still have germs on their clothing/boots, it would help a bit. If there's something going around that you're concerned with, then maybe ride by yourself for awhile, or only w/ your horses going out. I personally don't care for big rides. You end up doing 5 miles in the whole day b/c you always have to stop and wait for someone to go to the bathroom, or care for a horse that threw a shoe/won't cross water/etc etc etc. It's certainly not about the distance traveled, but my trail time on horseback is so precious and few and far between that I don't want to waste it waiting around on people. Robyn
