What hygiene steps should you take to prevent the spread of skin infections among horses?

• A. Clean and disinfect grooming tools between uses, avoid sharing brushes across horses, and wash hands thoroughly.
• B. Share brushes across horses to speed up grooming.
• C. Wash hands only occasionally.
• D. Disinfection between uses is optional.

Answer: (A)

Preventing the spread of skin infections among horses comes down to breaking the chain of transmission through grooming gear and hands. The best practice is to clean and disinfect grooming tools between horses, avoid sharing brushes across horses, and wash hands thoroughly. Tools can carry bacteria and fungi from an infected horse, and using the same brush on multiple horses can move those pathogens from one animal to another. Disinfecting between uses is key to killing those organisms and reducing cross‑contamination. Sharing brushes makes spread far more likely, and washing hands only occasionally won’t reliably remove pathogens after handling an infected or contaminated horse. When you thoroughly clean and disinfect tools and wash your hands, you substantially lower the risk of transferring skin infections from horse to horse and from equipment to skin.