How You Can Help Protect Your Horse from EHV-1

photo credit: Leonard and Alyce Peterson

By now, you have already heard about the outbreaks of EHV-1 in Texas and Oklahoma.  To date, there are no reported cases in California.  We are monitoring the EHV-1 page on California Department of Agriculture website.

Here are things you can do to help protect your horse and others at Lockewood Stables.

Reduce Travel and Exposure Risk

Avoid hauling horses to clinics, shows, or events where out-of-state horses are present—especially horses from affected states. If you must travel, ask the venue about their biosecurity and whether any horses on-site have had fever, illness, or recent travel from affected areas.

Please inform the management of Lockewood Stables, so we can arrange quarantine, if needed.

Take Your Horse’s Temperature Daily

Regular monitoring catches problems early.

• Keep a thermometer at your tack area.

• Normal: 99–101.5°F

• If your horse has a fever, nasal discharge, cough, or neurological signs (wobbling, weakness), notify the stable immediately and do not bring the horse onto common-use areas.

Practice Good Hygiene in the Barn

• Wash or sanitize hands between handling different horses.

• Don’t share buckets, grooming tools, bits, or tack between boarders.

• Keep your horse’s water and feed buckets labeled and used only by your horse.

Control Contact Between Horses

EHV-1 spreads most easily by nose-to-nose contact.

• Our neighbor on the south fence line already moved his horses away for the “shared fence” so neighboring horses don’t share the fencing.

• If you go for a trail ride at Lake Comanche, do not let your horse go nose-to-nose with other horses.

• The virus does not survive long outside.

Keep EHV Vaccines Current

It is encouraged that all healthy horses are up to date with their EHV vaccination status.

All (healthy, afebrile, asymptomatic) horses that have not received a booster in the last 3 months are encouraged to update their vaccine status.

*Please note that the EHM (neurologic form) of the EHV virus cannot be prevented with vaccine. However, protecting against EHV-1 with our current vaccine strategies may reduce viremia and active shedding of the virus, which may decrease the contagious aspect of the virus in general, reducing morbidity/mortality in the face of an outbreak

Upcoming Vaccine Clinic | December 16, 2025

Lockewood Stables has coordinated a Vaccine Clinic with Dr. Alicia Webster so that horses that need to update their EHV vaccines can get them done.   Or, contact your vet and get your horse’s EHV vaccine current.

Sign Up for Dec 16th Vaccine Clinic Now!