As National Strangles Awareness Week draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to refocus on a serious but preventable threat when good biosecurity and stable design come together. Strangles is a word that can unsettle any horse owner, breeder or event organiser, but with awareness and preparation, we can reduce the risk significantly.

While we leave medical advice to the veterinary experts, we know how much stable design, hygiene and biosecurity contribute to prevention. This is a practical look at how the right stable setup can support horse health, and why, at Woodhouse, temporary stabling never means second best when it comes to safety and welfare.

What is Strangles?

Strangles is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects a horse’s upper airway. The symptoms vary in severity, but commonly include fever, nasal discharge, and swollen lymph nodes around the head and throat. These can develop into painful abscesses that may burst.

While rarely fatal, strangles spreads quickly and can seriously disrupt yards, events and breeding programmes. Horses that appear mildly affected can still pass the infection on, and some may remain symptom-free carriers.

How Does it Spread?

Strangles spreads primarily through close contact: nose-to-nose, shared water or feed buckets, contaminated surfaces, tools or hands. The bacteria can survive in water, on equipment and in damp conditions for extended periods.

Events, sales, and mixed yards are all potential hotspots, particularly where horses from different settings come together and temporary stabling is used without the right combination of biosecurity and stable design.

How Stable Design Supports Prevention

Preventing the spread of strangles starts with sensible practices and the right stabling setup helps make those practices easier to apply consistently. At Woodhouse, every detail of our stable design reflects this thinking, including how we support the following measures:

Stay informed and communicate: Clear layouts and signage support good movement flow and communication, especially when working with large teams or multiple owners.

Quarantine new arrivals: Our modular layouts can be configured to create dedicated quarantine zones, with clear separation from the main yard or event area.

Avoid nose-to-nose contact: 2.3m-high solid partitions help reduce direct contact between horses, supporting safe distances as standard.

Don’t share equipment: Defined spaces and smooth, easy-to-clean surfaces make it easier to assign horses their own kit and avoid unnecessary sharing.

Disinfect between horses: Non-porous HDPE walls and galvanised steel frames are designed for quick, thorough cleaning between uses – a key part of any biosecurity plan.

Monitor and isolate quickly: The flexibility of our temporary stabling means it’s possible to create or adapt isolation spaces quickly, with minimal disruption.

Stabling as a First Line of Defence

When planning an event or preparing your yard, the design and quality of the stables themselves play a key role in biosecurity. Stables that are well-built, well-ventilated and easy to clean create a safer space for every horse.

Temporary stables can and should offer the same protection. At Woodhouse, we design every stable to support both welfare and infection control. Here are three areas where the right stable can help:

Not Just a Place to Sleep

Temporary doesn’t mean temporary thinking. Whether your horses are stabled for a night or a month, the space they occupy matters. Better stabling isn’t just about comfort – it’s a frontline defence in disease prevention.

We believe temporary stables should offer the same level of protection as permanent yards. That’s why our designs are built to handle the real-world demands of top-tier events, high-value horses and owners who expect the best.

A Shared Responsibility

Strangles is not new, but it is preventable. National Strangles Awareness Week encourages all of us to play our part, from implementing sensible quarantine protocols to insisting on safe, clean, quality stabling.

The national BEST campaign promotes Biosecurity, Early detection, Segregation and Transparency – principles that align closely with the way we work at Woodhouse.

At Woodhouse, we see ourselves as partners in that effort. By choosing stabling designed around welfare, ventilation and hygiene, you add an extra layer of protection that supports every other measure you take.

Clean. Separated. Well-ventilated.

When it comes to preventing disease, those aren’t just features, they’re fundamentals. From local shows to large-scale competitions, we work alongside organisers to ensure stabling setups support the highest standards of welfare and infection control.

In Summary:

• Strangles is serious, but manageable with the right approach.
• Prevention depends on hygiene, awareness and smart facility planning.
• High-quality temporary stabling can reduce transmission risk.
• Woodhouse stables support best practice through design.

As National Strangles Awareness Week closes, we encourage everyone involved in equestrian sport to keep raising the bar on biosecurity. Because every horse deserves a safe, healthy space – no matter where they lay their head.

Further information

Biosecurity advice: British Horse Society

National Strangles Week: Redwings Strangles Hub