USDA photo by Bill Tarpenning.

APHIS photo by R. Anson Eaglin.

USDA photo by Bill Tarpenning.

You Are the Best Protection Your Horses Have

Biosecurity means doing everything you can 

to reduce the chances of an infectious disease being 

carried onto your farm by people, animals, equipment, 

or vehicles, either accidentally or on purpose.

Showing Your Horse

■ Use your own trailer. Don’t ship your horses with 

horses from other farms.

■ Ship only in a trailer that has been cleaned and 

disinfected. If you can “smell horse” in the empty 

trailer, it has not been cleaned and disinfected 

properly.

■ Don’t let your horse touch other horses, especially 

nose to nose. 

■ Don’t share equipment (e.g., water, feed buckets, 

brushes, or sponges).

■ Wash your hands, especially after helping other 

people with their horses.

■ Don’t let strangers pet your horse, especially those 

with horses at home or people who have been out 

of the country in the past 2 weeks.

■ Before leaving the show grounds, clean and disinfect 

tack, boots, equipment, and grooming supplies. 

Brush off dirt or manure; then disinfect (spray or 

wipes are easy to take with you).

■ When you get home, shower, blow your nose, and 

put on clean clothes and shoes before going near 

other horses.

Visiting Other Farms, Horse Shows, 

or Auctions

■ Have a pair of shoes or boots that you save for 

visiting and don’t wear around your own horse.

■ Wear plastic shoe covers. Plastic bags from 

newspapers work well.

■ If you are going to be working with horses on 

another farm, wear coveralls or plan to change 

clothes before returning to your horse.

■ If there are farms you visit all the time and you can’t 

change clothes and shoes, be sure their vaccination 

program and biosecurity practices are as good as 

your own.

For Visitors to Your Farm or Horse

■ It is best to have only one way into your farm. Mark 

this as the main entrance.

■ Park away from the horses. Doing that will help 

keep disease-carrying organisms from being tracked 

from car floors or tires to your horses.

■ If the farrier or veterinarian needs to park closer, be 

sure their tires and shoes have been disinfected.

■ Ask all visitors to wear clean clothes and shoes. Give 

visitors plastic shoe covers, or brush dirt off their 

shoes and spray them with disinfectant.

■ If you have many visitors, such as at a farm tour 

or open house, make a footbath for them to walk 

through.

Bringing Horses Back From a Show

■ If one horse has been shown, all your horses need 

to be vaccinated. Horses that show can bring home 

germs. Discuss what vaccinations the horses need, 

and how often, with your veterinarian.

■ If possible, keep horses which were off the farm 

isolated for at least 2 weeks. Make sure there is no 

nose-to-nose contact.

Bringing in New Horses 

This is the most likely way for infectious diseases to 

come in. 

■ Keep every new horse isolated for 30 days. Don’t 

use pitchforks, grooming tools, or feed and water 

buckets on any horse but the new one. Mark these 

with red tape, or use red brushes, etc., only for the 

isolation area.

■ Work with the isolated horse last each day. 

Alternatively, wear boots and coveralls when 

working with the isolated horse and remove them 

before working or going near other horses. You can 

keep these in a plastic-covered tub near the horse.

■ Always wash your hands and blow your nose after 

working with the new horse. You could carry germs 

to your other horses in your nose.
 APHIS file photo.

You Are the Best Protection Your Horses Have

United States Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Program Aid No. 1825

Biosecurity—

The Key to Keeping 

Your Horses Healthy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits 

discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis 

of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, 

political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family 

status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means 

for communication of program information (Braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, 

Office of Civil Rights, Room 326–W, Whitten Building, 

14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 

20250–9410 or call (202) 720–5964 (voice and TDD). 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Mention of companies or commercial products does 

not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture over others not mentioned. 

USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of any 

product mentioned. Product names are mentioned solely 

to report factually on available data and to provide 

specific information.

Cover photo: APHIS photo by Norman Watkins.

Issued June 2005

Making an Easy Footbath

You will need:

1. A low plastic pan or bin, wide enough to 

fit an adult’s foot, shallow enough to step into 

easily

2. A plastic doormat (the “fake grass” mats 

work well)

3. A disinfectant that works when manure or dirt is 

present, such as Tek-trol or One Stroke Environ

4. Water

Mix the disinfectant with water following label 

instructions. Put the doormat in the plastic pan. Add 

disinfectant so that the bottom of the “grass” is wet. 

Ask visitors to walk through the footbath, wiping their 

feet on the mat. The “grass” scrubs their shoes a bit as 

they wipe them, and applies the disinfectant. When 

the liquid starts to get dirty, empty it and put in new 

disinfectant. 

Using Disinfectants 

How To Disinfect

Surfaces must be clean for disinfectants to work. Brush 

off loose dirt and manure. If possible, wash the item 

with detergent first (laundry or dish soap works well) 

and then use a disinfectant. Most grooming tools can 

be dipped in disinfectant. Tack can be wiped with a 

disinfectant wipe or a disinfectant-dampened cloth. 

Shoes can be brushed or scrubbed off and then sprayed 

with disinfectant. 

Examples of Disinfectants 

Household Bleach—Mix 3⁄4 cup of bleach per gallon of 

water. If you don’t have a measuring cup handy, you can 

mix 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. This formula works 

for shoes, grooming equipment, buckets, shovels, and 

pitchforks. When you use bleach, make sure all dirt and 

manure have been cleaned off first.

Spray Disinfectant—Be sure the label says it kills 

bacteria and viruses. Sprays can work well on shoes, 

grooming equipment, and tack. Try to remove all 

manure and dirt before spraying.

Waterless Hand Sanitizers—They come in gels or hand 

wipes. These are good for use at a show or after visiting 

other horses. Be sure to work the cleaner all through 

your fingers and under the nails.

Other Disinfectants—Always mix and use according 

to the label. Two examples are One Stroke Environ® 

(available from Steris Corporation) and Tek-trol® (from 

Bio-Tek Industries). These both work well even if there 

is a little manure or dirt left on the surface. These are 

good choices for disinfecting trailers and car tires, and 

they also work well in footbaths.

Note: Trade names used in this publication do not 

constitute an endorsement, guarantee, or warranty of these 

products. USDA bears no responsibility resulting from 

the use of the described products. These procedures are 

not guaranteed to prevent highly contagious diseases from 

affecting your horses; however, they will reduce the risks.