Introduction:
At the age of promoting the spending of an active free time, the risk of tetanus infection among people who have contact with horses by practicing horse riding as a sport, or even recreationally, is not in doubt. The isolation of toxigenic strains of Clostridium tetani in the horse breeding environment carried out in the presented study confi rmed the actual risk of contracting tetanus by humans and animals.

Objective:
The objective of the study was an attempt to isolate Clostridium tetani from the horse breeding environment.

Material and Methods:
The studies were conducted in 2 horse breeding centres and 1 private horse riding centre. The material for the study were 8 samples each of: hay and oats, horse stable dust, faeces, straw bedding and soil. At each centre, samples were collected according to the same scheme. Out of each 8 samples from individual objects, 1 collective sample was produced, which was considered as a representative sample.

Conclusions:
The bacterial colonies possessing characteristics typical of Clostridium tetani were isolated from the samples of: faeces, bedding, dust and fodder, whereas no such bacteria were cultivated from surface layers of soil temporarily or permanently remaining under the eff ect of sunshine. Based on the results obtained, it was noted that the biological material from the horse breeding environment contained Cl. tetani bacteria, therefore creating risk for life and health of humans and animals.