Celebrity riders support strangles ‘Temp Check Challenge’

Five-star eventer Piggy March, top dressage rider Richard Davison and international showjumper Joe Davison are encouraging horse owners to take part in the Strangles Awareness Week – Temp Check Challenge 1st – 7th May

The Temp Check Challenge now in its fourth year, is the key feature of the campaign, which encourages horse owners to make regular temperature checking a habit to minimise the scale and impact of a strangles outbreak.

The Challenge encourages owners to take their horse’s resting temperature each day during the week and input it into a free online checker. Those who input the reading three or more times during the week will be entered into a prize draw where they could win behind the scenes yard tours with either Piggy or Richard and Joe.

A high temperature is the most common early sign of infectious disease and, in the case of strangles, typically comes 2-3 days before horses shed the bacteria and can infect other horses. Getting to know your horse’s normal temperature and checking regularly – especially if they move and mix with others – could give owners and yards the chance to prevent disease spreading and be the difference between one infected horse or many.

Piggy said: “I’m very happy to be supporting this important campaign again this year and do my part in raising awareness of the threat of strangles, which can be so devastating for a yard or equestrian business, cause very nasty complications in some horses and, in the worst cases, the loss of life. Taking your horse’s temperature is so easy when you know how – just take a look at my ‘how to’ video with Swiss Roll. I want to urge everyone to take the Temp Check Challenge during Strangles Awareness Week and to get into the habit of using this simple procedure to keep an eye on your horse’s health.”

Richard said: “The well-being of our horses is top priority. When it comes to health checking we’ve found it really does pay to use routine temperature checking. All of us need to be on the lookout for early signs of strangles – it’s such a worrying disease. Please spread the word and why not get your friends to enter for a chance to visit us for a tour around our competition yard and, to watch some training? Looking forward to welcoming you here.”

Strangles is the most diagnosed equine infectious disease worldwide. Symptoms range but, include a high fever, laboured breathing, difficulty eating, depression, thick nasal discharge and painful abscesses. In severe cases strangles can pose a risk to the horse’s life. There can be complications in up to 30% of cases and it is impossible to predict which horses will require extra care and treatment. For the cost of a thermometer and spotting fever, owners can minimise scale and spread of an outbreak.

For more information on how to prevent and manage stranglesd pop ‘strangles’ in the search bar  on our home page