The Blue Cross needs your help

When: 22 – 29 May 2017

Where: Online at www.bluecross.org.uk/NEHS

What: A quick, anonymous survey about your horse’s health

Why: To protect the future health and welfare of our horses and ponies

Giving just five minutes of your time to participate in the National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) will help make a lifetime of difference to horses. Run by leading charity Blue Cross, in partnership with the British Equine Veterinary Association, NEHS is a unique opportunity for horse owners to give feedback about the health of their horses, ponies and donkeys so that the most common diseases and problems be identified, prioritised and addressed.

Over the past six years, NEHS has developed to become one of the UK’s most important endemic disease monitoring initiative. The results are referenced in leading veterinary and equestrian publications and papers and are regarded as valuable benchmarks for our general knowledge of horse health.

Last year survey records were returned for almost 17,000 horses ponies, donkeys and mules and the six most notable disease syndromes identified (recorded as percentages of those recorded as suffering from health problems) were:

1. Lameness – 32.9% including laminitis (compared to 24.4% in 2015, 21% in 2014, 19.2% in 2013 and 12.9% in 2010-12).
2. Skin diseases – (sweet itch, mud fever, rainscald, external parasites, skin tumours and wounds) 25.5% compared to 17.2% in 2015 (18.3% in 2014, 14.6% in 2013 and 15.2% in 2010-12).
3. Laminitis – 6.8% compared to 6.4% in 2015 (7.1% in 2014, 4.4% in 2013 and 3.6% in 2010-12).
4. PPID (‘Equine Cushing’s Disease) – 6.6%. This is similar to the high prevalence of PPID reported in 2015 (6.4%) and 2014 (5.6%) and possibly reflects increased surveillance through sponsored testing programmes as opposed to true increases in prevalence from the pre-2014 surveys.
5. Recurrent Airway Obstruction – 5.6% compared to 6.7% in 2015 (6.9% in 2014, 4.2% in 2013 and 3.6% in 2010-12).
6. Back problems – 5.5% compared to 7% in 2015 (7.7% in 2014, 5% in 2013 and 3% in 2010-12).

Blue Cross Education Officer Gemma Taylor said, “Please put the date in your diary now and persuade your friends to do the same. The more data we can collect from the National Equine Health Survey the more robust our results will be, helping us to steer equine awareness, education and research to keep our horses healthier.”

Supporters of NEHS include the British Horse Society, Horse Trust, Redwings and The Pony Club. Zoetis UK Ltd and Dodson and Horrell are kindly supporting the initiative by helping Blue Cross cover the costs of running the scheme.

Visit www.bluecross.org.uk/NEHS or email NEHS@bluecross.org.uk to register. If you take part, you will have the chance to win some amazing prizes such as a pair of Lister Star Clippers and a pair of Burford Ariat Wellington Boots.