There are few things sadder than a horse not in contact with other horses. A herd animal by nature, the horse always feels safest and most content when in company of others of his kind; isolation doesn’t come naturally to him. But in certain situations, isolation might be just what the doctor ordered—both to preserve his own health, and to protect the health of the equines around him.

Strict quarantine, in which a horse is completely separated from contact with other horses, is a smart strategy for limiting the transmission of disease. There are several scenarios in which quarantine is a good idea, ranging from the isolation of an already sick horse from his apparently healthy herdmates, to the “better safe than sorry” separation of any new arrival from an established herd, to the government-regulated quarantine of a horse imported from another part of the world to prevent the introduction of non-indigenous diseases. In all of these situations, quarantine can be very effective, providing it’s done right.

Quarantine Reasoning

Art King, DVM, is a Fort Erie, Ontario-based equine veterinarian who has traveled extensively with Canada’s endurance team as it has trekked to competitions world-wide. He notes that there are several levels of quarantine