The EHV-1 mania has calmed down a bit in the media over the past few days but the disease continues to cause problems for eventing competitions out west. Two events are taking two different approaches to deal with the outbreak. Today the Briar Fox Spring Horse Trials has announced that it will be canceled. Briar Fox was to be held this coming weekend in Augusta, Kansas. The event said in a press release:
“We have had extensive conversations with our Show Veterinarian, Local Vets, our region’s State Animal Health officials and our USEA Area Chair concerning the recent cases of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) in our area. The general consensus of professional opinion is that it is advisable that you limit your horse’s exposure to other horses and restrict travel in and out of your barn until the infection is contained. There is no telling how long that will take or how severe this outbreak will be, but officials are hard at work to prevent a nationwide outbreak. At this writing no Kansas cases have yet been reported….“
Like Spring Gulch Horse Trials, in Colorado, which was canceled due to EHV-1 concerns, no refunds can be issued from Briar Fox because they still have to cover costs. [USEA Press Release]
The Event At Woodside, to be held in California this coming weekend, has also sent out a press release. Woodside details the precautions being taken for the event to prevent the spread of EHV-1 and explains that as of now the event is set to continue. Woodside’s organizer, Robert Kellerhouse, said:
“We’ve been following this situation carefully over the last week, watching to see if the virus spreads beyond horses who were exposed at the cutting horse competition in Ogden, Utah, where it appears to have begun, and, as of today, according to the state veterinarian’s office, it has not spread beyond that specific population or horses directly exposed to them. So we’re going ahead with our event…My wife, Erin, will be bringing her horses, and those of her clients, to the show,“
Woodside will continue to evaluate the spread of the disease this week, and if it looks like the strain of EHV-1 is spreading beyond the exposed group, then they will reconsider canceling the event. The Woodside horses will be required to arrive with a 72 hour health certificate from their vet, and on site vets will check all horses coming into the event, whether overnight stabling or haul-in. From what I have heard, a significant number of the original entrants have already scratched from the event. [Woodside Press Release, California EHV-1 Info, Woodside Homepage]
Although they have taken very different approaches, I give a lot of credit to both events for trusting their vets and being so informative about how they are making their decision.
