There are no restrictions on specific equine veterinary procedures...HOWEVER...all work should be preceded by a risk assessment which should be recorded alongside the horse’s clinical records (see BEVA’s Risk Assessment Tools here). Risk assessments should not only consider the risks posed by Covid-19, but should also include the risks associated with handling equids. Where the risks (to physical safety and disease transmission) can be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure can go ahead provided that the mitigations are applied, where the risks cannot be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure should not go ahead. (“Sufficient mitigation” is a matter for the individual to define according to their own professional judgement).

Yes - BEVA considers that it is appropriate to continue administering influenza booster vaccinations under the current lockdown to prevent future welfare problems and to allow competitions to recommence as soon as possible once restrictions are lifted, provided that they can be done safely.

Maintaining 2 metres physical distancing when administering a vaccine to a horse that needs to be held by another person may be impossible. The individual veterinary surgeon should record a risk assessment alongside the horse’s clinical records (see BEVA’s Risk Assessment Tools here). Risk assessments should not only consider the risks posed by Covid-19, but should also include the risks associated with handling equids. Where the risks (to physical safety and disease transmission) can be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure can go ahead provided that the mitigations are applied. Where the risks cannot be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure should not go ahead.  (“Sufficient mitigation” is a matter for the individual to define according to their own professional judgement).  

Yes - BEVA considers that it is appropriate to undertake routine pre-breeding stud work, provided that it can be done safely.

The individual veterinary surgeon should record a risk assessment alongside the horse’s clinical records (see BEVA’s Risk Assessment Tools here). Risk assessments should not only consider the risks posed by Covid-19, but should also include the risks associated with handling equids. Where the risks (to physical safety and disease transmission) can be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure can go ahead provided that the mitigations are applied. Where the risks cannot be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure should not go ahead.  (“Sufficient mitigation” is a matter for the individual to define according to their own professional judgement).  

BEVA considers that it is appropriate to castrate colts, provided that it can be done safely.

It is likely that maintenance of 2 metres physical distancing from others will not be possible during castrations, in which case the procedure would be dependent on the ability to apply sufficient risk mitigations.  It may be worth considering offering castration clinics at veterinary (or other) premises so that castration of groups of colts can be planned. Colts can be dropped off by owners (at pre-arranged times) and then castrated by a fixed veterinary team (i.e. one vet and one nurse/handler),

The individual veterinary surgeon should record a risk assessment alongside the horse’s clinical records (see BEVA’s Risk Assessment Tools here). Risk assessments should not only consider the risks posed by Covid-19, but should also include the risks associated with handling equids. Where the risks (to physical safety and disease transmission) can be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure can go ahead provided that the mitigations are applied. Where the risks cannot be sufficiently mitigated, the visit/procedure should not go ahead.  (“Sufficient mitigation” is a matter for the individual to define according to their own professional judgement).

Government advice regarding safe working where 2 m social distancing cannot be maintained during outdoor work can be found be following the below links:

• Government advice

Veterinary surgeons need to use their professional judgement at all times, and minimise the potential risks to themselves, their teams and clients as far as possible.

Government guidance states that "Where the social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full in relation to a particular activity, businesses should consider whether that activity needs to continue for the business to operate, and, if so, take all the mitigating actions possible to reduce the risk of transmission between their staff.  BEVA considers that this would apply in emergency situations.

Mitigating actions include:

• further increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning 
• keeping the activity time involved as short as possible 
• using screens or barriers to separate people from each other 
• using back-to-back or side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible 
• reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)

Face coverings are not a replacement for the other ways of managing risk, including minimising time spent in contact, using fixed teams and partnering for close-up work, and increasing hand and surface washing. These other measures remain the best ways of managing risk in the workplace and government would therefore not expect to see employers relying on face coverings as risk management for the purpose of their health and safety assessments.