Barns

Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital has 9 barns providing a total of 140 stalls for hospital patients. Each barn is staffed by nursing technicians and barn personnel responsible for patient care.

Each barn is maintained with a strict disinfectant and bio-security protocol. Owners are welcome to visit their horses but should follow the protocol below in VISITOR INFORMATION.

The isolation barn is equipped to meet the challenges of infectious disease and bio-security is strictly enforced. Owner visitation is arranged through the clinician only.

Visitor Information

We recognize that many owners would like to visit their horses while the patient is in hospital. To enable a visit that is safe for the patient, the owner, the hospital staff, and the other hospitalized patients, the following policy was created.

• Owners visiting their horses must check in at the admissions desk each time.
• Visiting hours: 8am to 8pm
• No smoking on our campus except in designated areas (employees and visitors).
• Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times on our campus. Dogs are not allowed in the barns. Owners are expected to clean up after their dogs.
• Barn pharmacy rooms are off limit to visitors. If a visitor needs something for their horse, they should ask the nursing technicians.
• Visitors will have access to their horse (at the clinician’s discretion) and the medical chart, but not other patients and their medical charts.
• Visitors are not allowed to handle their horses during procedures and are not allowed to take their horses out of their stalls, unless approved by the clinician responsible for the horses care.
• Visitors of hospitalized patients are allowed access only to the admissions building and the barn (at the clinician’s discretion) where their horse is housed.
• Visitors are not allowed to stay overnight on the hospital campus.

Bio Security

Infectious Disease Control Program at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital

Because we run a state-of-the-art hospital, we are responsible for providing the best veterinary care possible to our patients.  Minimizing the risk of infections in our patients during hospitalization is essential, as it should be in any hospital. For this reason, decreasing exposure of equine patients and veterinary personnel to pathogens is an important aspect of our care.  The main goal of our infection control program is to help prevent the potential spread of disease and to develop an early warning system for the detection of disease causing organisms. 

• Protocols that are in place to help decrease the spread of infectious disease include;
• Segregation of patients according to the reason for admission
• Sanitation of footwear
• Hand washing and hand disinfection
• Limited traffic flow
• Environmental disinfectants  

Each barn has different protocols based on the cases in the barn. Certain precautions must be taken with certain groups of patients; these may include plastic boots and gloves to be worn when entering the stall, and foot mats at each stall door.  The member of staff escorting you to the barn will advise you on these measures.

The entrance/exit of each barn has a foot mat or foot dip to prevent the spread of infectious disease from barn to barn. 

There is a ready availability of hand sanitizer gel that should be used before and after contact with any patient to prevent any cross-infection.

Additional protective measures may include wearing plastic boots and gloves to enter the stall.  The plastic boots and gloves are put on from outside the stall, prior to stepping past the threshold, and are discarded immediately upon exiting the stall. 

A key to minimizing exposure of patients to infectious disease is control of traffic patterns.  You will only be allowed into a barn if accompanied by or are directed by an employee. 

Each barn aisle is cleaned and disinfected daily, some areas are disinfected twice a day; you may be asked to wait in admissions if this is currently being attended to in the barn.