10/07/2026
Strangles. There’s a case in Wisconsin again, so let’s talk about it.
The word alone has horse people acting like somebody just announced Ebola at the barn.
And listen - I GET IT.
Nobody wants to hear that their horse has strangles. Nobody wants to wonder if their horse is going to be the one that takes a turn for the worse. And yes, horses absolutely can become seriously ill from it. Complications happen, and the fear is not irrational.
BUT…
Spend enough time around horses in the South and you’ll eventually realize they talk about strangles a little differently.
It’s almost like:
“Oh, you’ve got strangles?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. Chicken pox of the horse world. See you when you’re done.”
😂
Obviously, it’s not literally chicken pox, and I’m not suggesting we shrug our shoulders and let it rip through the barn.
Strangles is highly contagious. Isolation, hygiene, temperature monitoring, veterinary guidance, and biosecurity matter. A LOT.
But the panic surrounding the word sometimes makes people forget something important:
Most horses with uncomplicated strangles recover.
The majority of cases involve fever, swollen lymph nodes, nasal discharge, difficulty eating, and a miserable-looking horse who would like everyone to know that this is the worst day of his life.
And then, with appropriate care, they get better.
Some horses do develop serious complications, which is exactly why you take it seriously—not because every case is automatically a death sentence.
So maybe we need to find the middle ground between:
“STRANGLES?! EVERYBODY PANIC! SELL THE FARM!”
and
“Eh, it’s basically chicken pox. Put the horse in the corner and let nature handle it.”
Neither is particularly helpful.
Respect it.
Prepare for it.
Contain it.
Call your vet.
Learn what you’re dealing with.
But don’t let the word scare you into believing your horse is automatically going to die.
Because sometimes the scariest part of strangles is the Google search you do at 2 a.m. while your horse is standing there eating hay like absolutely nothing is happening.
Common does not mean harmless.
Serious does not mean hopeless.
And somewhere in between those two truths is where responsible horse owners need to live.
*copied from another page *
