Avoid Contracting “Horse Show Sickness” this Summer Show Season

By: Brittany Bevis

According to numerous reports, the 2017-2018 flu season was one of the worst in nearly a decade. Daily news stories about rampant hospitalizations, shortages of medication, and the rising death toll, early in year, had many Americans understandably spooked.

While the worst may have passed, don’t fool yourself by thinking that you’re out of the woods just yet. The very lifestyle an equestrian lives puts us at high risk for getting sick- whether it’s the flu or the common cold. In fact, most of the recommendations for how to avoid getting sick are exactly the opposite of what most of us do when the summer show season picks up- lack of sleep, high stress, eating unhealthy concession food, ect. Add to that frequent airport travel and being around large crowds of people, and it seems as if just being an equestrian puts you at a higher risk for getting sick- think the Congress Crud…

We sought out the expertise of an equestrian and family physician who’s been practicing for 20 years, Dr. Robyn Garcia, to find out what you need to do to avoid getting sick this summer show season. Not only is Dr. Garcia the CEO of Garcia Life Partners, Ltd., a family medicine clinic that’s based out of an underserved area of southwest Chicago, she’s also an AQHA Select exhibitor who enjoys competing in Showmanship, Trail, and Horsemanship.

“I’ve been showing for about three years,” she says. “Two years ago, I purchased Hot Lollipop, a two-time Reserve Congress Champion. I’ve been showing her in Novice and Select Showmanship, Trail, and Horsemanship. In 2017, I was a finalist in Novice Select Showmanship at the Quarter Horse Congress. I also own HRZ Elegant and Blue, who is being shown by my daughter, Emma, in 14-18 Youth Hunter Under Saddle and in Senior Hunter Under Saddle by my trainer, Lynda Danielson. Lynda is also showing my Junior Hunter Under Saddle horse, HOOS At the Girls.”

Like the rest of us, Garcia occasionally has to rely on airport travel to make it from home base to the horse show. While you might be a bit leery about being trapped in a confined space with possibly sick individuals and continuously recirculated air, Garcia says those fears are needless.

“With regards to airplanes and recirculated air, most aircraft have HEPA filters for air exchanges,” she says. “The air that you breathe on a plane is 50% recirculated and 50% fresh air. The air is completely exchanged 15-30 times an hour. The HEPA filters capture greater than 99% of the airborne microbes in the filtered air. Your risk of contracting an illness on a plane is lower than that of contracting an illness in most other confined spaces, like office buildings.”

It’s also important to note the basic differences between the flu and a cold, since they are two different diseases. The flu is caused by the Influenza virus and can result in symptoms ranging from a high fever with muscle and joint pain to a cough, nausea, and vomiting. The flu can last up to ten days and can lead to pneumonia. Treatment for the flu is an antiviral, such as Tamiflu, which is most effective when taken within 48 hours of symptoms.

On the other hand, a cold can be caused by various viruses, such as Adenovirus and Rhinovirus. Symptoms are milder than the flu and may include a low grade fever, nasal congestion, cough, and sore throat. The treatment for a cold consists of symptomatic care, such as cough syrup, Acetaminophen, and Ibuprofen. The symptoms typically last seven to ten days.

If you’re hoping to avoid getting sick this summer show season, the best thing you can do is WASH YOUR HANDS on a regular basis. Although it seems elementary, Garcia confirms this is the best method of protection. Think about it. When you’re on the go at a horse show- longing, feeding, picking stalls, tacking up, and riding- how many of you actually take a moment to wash your hands before grabbing a sandwich on the way to the show pen? And yet, you’ve likely picked wheelbarrows of manure, untacked sweaty horses, and used the same pen as countless others to sign up for classes at the show office. Enough said. Wash your hands.

“Avoid touching your face, if you haven’t washed your hands,” she says. “Try to maintain a healthy sleep schedule. Try to keep your stress to a minimum. Avoid smoking. Avoid alcohol. Stay hydrated. It all sounds simple and easy, but can be very challenging in the middle of show season. If you can’t do these things, try to have fun and laugh (a lot). Laughter has been shown to boost your immune system.”

Other good ways to boost your immune system include things you should be doing to avoid getting sick in the first place.

• Eat a healthy diet (not a cinnamon roll a day with a Diet Coke from the Sweet Shop)
• Get plenty of sleep (avoid the 3 am longing session, whenever possible)
• Decrease stress (the judge isn’t obsessing about the diagonal you missed in yesterday’s class, so why should you?)
• Staying active (sitting in the stands watching 100 Trail runs or standing in the middle of a longe circle isn’t “staying active”)

If you find it difficult to maintain a healthy diet on the road, Garcia recommends supplementing with a multivitamin that will replace the micro-nutrients you may be missing, such as Vitamin A, C, D, E, Zinc, and Selenium.

However, if you’re at a show and start to feel a bit rundown, the worst thing you can do is ignore the symptoms. Sure, there are horses that need to be banded and patterns that need to be practiced; but, if you’re laid up in the hotel room, because you’re too dizzy to stand, you won’t be of much help to anyone, so take care of yourself. Garcia says if you’re feeling short of breath, have a high fever, or cannot tolerate liquids, seek medical attention immediately.