11/19/2025
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 ANNOUNCMENT 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
We have a large population of rodeo horses and realize that Texas and Oklahoma are a long way from home, but we do have clients that travel these circuits. We are here for you and hope to answer your questions.
At this time, 5–10 horses are known to to be sick, but the true number is likely higher as many cases go unreported.
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What Horse Owners Should Do Right Now:
1. Keep all horses at home!
Please avoid hauling, clinics, lessons, shows, or mingling horses for the next several weeks until more information is available.
Movement is the #1 factor that spreads EHV-1.
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2. Check temperatures daily!
Fever is usually the first sign (often before nasal discharge or neurologic symptoms).
• Temp at or above 101.5°F = call your veterinarian.
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3. Notify your veterinarian immediately if your horse exhibits:
• Fever
• Weakness or incoordination
• Standing with hindlimbs wide
• Tail tone changes
• Difficulty urinating
• Lethargy or decreased appetite
Early intervention improves outcomes.
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4. Discuss treatment options with your veterinarian.
For febrile or exposed horses, your vet may recommend:
• Valacyclovir
• Aspirin or other anti-thrombotics
• Anti-inflammatories
• Supportive care
(These should only be used under veterinary direction.)
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5. Biosecurity matters.
• Do not share water buckets, hoses, tack, grooming tools, or stalls.
• Disinfect trailers, thermometers, and crossties.
• Isolate any horse with fever immediately.
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About Vaccination.
Current evidence shows vaccines do not prevent EHM, but they can reduce viral shedding and shorten viremia, which lowers barn-wide spread and is important to the community.
Boosters are helpful when:
• A horse was vaccinated > 90 days ago, or
• You are preparing for high-risk environments (events, hauling, mixing populations).
What the research shows:
• Booster vaccination increases IgG1 and IgG4/7, the antibody classes linked with limiting viremia.
• Reduced viremia = reduced likelihood of severe disease and decreased transmission.
• Boosters are most effective in younger horses, previously vaccinated horses, and non-pregnant horses.
Vaccines do NOT stop a horse already incubating EHV-1 from developing signs, and they do not eliminate the risk of neurologic disease. For horses already exposed or febrile, do not vaccinate until cleared by your veterinarian.
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We Will Continue to Update You!
Link to ACVIM consensus statement: https://www.acvim.org/research/consensus-statements
Link to AAEP EHV documents:https://aaep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/EHV1-4-guidelines-2021.pdf
Link to Equine Disease Center:https://aaep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/EHV1-4-guidelines-2021.pdf
