10/07/2026
There seems to be (not just with people we deal with but across Facebook nation - the good the bad and the ugly - and there’s plenty of all three out there) a lot of misconception about quarantining horses and sickness in general.
When someone buys an auction horse and says, “He was quarantined for 30 days,” it can give everyone around them a false sense of security—as though that horse has now been permanently cleared of every possible illness.
Thats not how it works.
There are tests that can be performed by a vet - respiratory panel, nasal swab/culture, titer level check, guttural pouch flushing, nasopharyngeal wash etc. But good bio security farm wide is as important as quarantine.
Quarantine is a temporary period of separation and observation. It can help protect the horses already on your property, and I absolutely believe every newly purchased horse should be properly evaluated and have a quarantine period where you keep an eye on them for sickness.
But quarantine is not a lifetime guarantee.
Once that horse begins traveling, showing, trail riding, staying in shared barns or attending large events, it is being exposed again. If it travels with unfamiliar horses, shares equipment or comes into contact with contaminated surfaces, the risk changes again.
Public auctions are not the only places where horses can be exposed to sickness. In fact, auctions and kill pens are the least scary because that’s where we expect it so it’s where we all actually focus and try to be proactive.
Anytime horses gather—whether it is at an auction, rodeo, barrel race, trail ride, breeding facility, boarding barn, veterinary clinic or training barn—there is some level of inherent risk. Travel and competition can also create stress, and stress can affect a horse’s immune response.
Then there are asymptomatic horses. I call these horses SHEDDERS.
An asymptomatic horse may appear completely healthy while still carrying spreading and shedding certain infectious organisms / viruses . Some horses can shed pathogens before showing symptoms, after recovering or without ever appearing noticeably sick at all. Certain diseases can also remain dormant or persist in carriers and become a concern again later, and by later we’re talking MONTHS or even YEARS.
The horse may never run a fever.
It may never cough.
It may never have nasal discharge.
Nobody may ever know where an exposure began.
That is why the most dangerous thing in the horse industry may not be an auction horse—it may be an uneducated horse owner with a false sense of security.
Your horse could cause the absolute most damage by being a shedder and it was never an auction horse, and it was never sick. It could be a shedder from exposure at a stud farm, the training barn it was broke at, or a simple routine vet visit.
People who believe their horse is safe because it completed a temporary quarantine, or they assume it poses no risk because it did not come from an auction are truly the most dangerous people in the industry.
They tie beside your trailer, allow their horse to eat from your hay, borrow your bucket, dip a shared hose into the water or use your pitchfork without realizing how easily certain illnesses can be spread through contaminated hands, clothing, equipment, water sources and surfaces. Because they think their precious horse was never an auction horse, it will never be a danger to anyone - it’s clean….
Except no, no horse is ever truly clean because we have no way to tell what horses are asymptomatic shedders. It could be the NFR super star or the trail horse that was raised and trained and still owned by the same home it’s had its whole life.
So, yes Quarantine is important to some, but biosecurity should be the forefront of everyone’s focus and it must continue long after quarantine ends.
Some practical habits include:
• Monitor new and returning horses properly.
• Monitor temperatures and watch closely for changes in appetite, water consumption, manure or behavior.
• Work with your veterinarian on an appropriate vaccination and health program.
• Do not share water buckets, feed tubs, pitchforks, grooming equipment, tack or medical supplies.
• Never allow the end of a water hose to touch or become submerged in a horse’s bucket.
• Clean away manure, bedding and organic material before applying any disinfectant.
• Carry an appropriate disinfectant, such as Virkon S or another veterinarian-recommended product, and follow the label’s dilution and contact-time instructions.
• Clean and disinfect stalls, trailers and equipment before and after traveling.
• Support your horse’s overall health with appropriate nutrition, hydration, stress management and veterinary care.
We personally pay close attention to digestive health, ulcer prevention and gut support because traveling and changes in environment can be hard on horses. Those decisions should always be based on the individual horse and discussed with your veterinarian.
Most importantly, never assume that 30 days in an isolation pen means a horse can never carry, contract or spread an illness in the future.
Viruses and bacteria do not care whether your horse cost $500 or $500,000.
They are equal-opportunity infectors.
The point I am trying to make is simple: quarantine is valuable, but quarantine alone is not enough.
As horse owners, we must remain proactive every day—not only when we purchase a horse from an auction. Good biosecurity is not something we complete once and check off a list.
