This case report describes a severe outbreak of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1)-induced neurological disorders in horses on a riding school in Belgium. On at least 10 premises that had been in direct or indirect contact with the riding school during the onset of the outbreak, fever was reported. On 7 of these in-contact premises, horses also suffered from neurological disease. Of all the horses, 42 % showed fever and anorexy. Neurological disorders were observed in 15 % of all the horses. The disorders consisted mainly of ataxia and paralysis of hind limb and tail (76 % of the neurologically affected horses). Cerebral disorders such as blindness, torticollis and severe apathy were observed in 24 % of the neurologically affected horses. The mortality during the epidemic was 10 %. EHV-1 was isolated from blood mononuclear cells of two horses and identified using EHV-1-specific monoclonal antibodies.