One of the riding centres in the Highlands hit by the contagious horse disease strangles has apologized to customers after closing its yard.
Jan O’Neill of Highlands Unbridled at Tain said: “One of our horses was confirmed to have strangles on Monday August 15.
“Since this time we have been following the vets guidance and have closed the stables and no treks or lessons are taking place from our yard at Northwilds until further notice.
“All recommended biosecurity measures are being strictly followed.”
She added: “We do not know how the horse contracted the illness, but as it can only be transmitted by direct or indirect contact and is not airborne, we presume it was transmitted by another horse, or possibly a person who had been in contact with an infected horse and then visited our premises.
“We send out our sincerest apologies to all our customers who are disappointed that their bookings have had to be cancelled.
“We expect all our horses to make a full recovery and we hope to open for business again soon.
“Unfortunately it appears that we are not the only premises to be struck down with this bug – we know of at least one other well-known Highland riding establishment who have also had to close for business because of this, also a livery yard and several private stables. It has also caused several shows to be cancelled.
“We hope that all of the horses affected by this awful outbreak will be well again soon so that we can all get back to working and having fun with our horses again.”