Despite appearances from the previous post, it wasn't a bad week...just a long one that seemed like it might never end. But Friday finally came, and since I woke up this morning, the much anticipated Rapture appears to have been postponed.
As DN3 had qualified in four events to participate in the High School Equestrian State Meet, last weekend was spent at the Grant County Fairgrounds in Moses Lake, WA. It was a good weekend overall, and she and her riding partner placed 5th in Ranch Sorting.
On the down side in the horse world, there has been an outbreak of the neurological form of EHV-1 (Equine Herpes Virus), which can be deadly to horses. This article from the local news sums it up in layman's terms. There have been conflicting reports as to whether an exposed horse was present in Moses Lake. In addition to the WAHSET meet, there was a Reining Horse event at the fairgrounds. I would conservatively estimate that 500-600 horses were present last weekend. Thus far the two horses we took aren't showing any signs, and while we doubt they were exposed, we are playing it safe.
So is most of the horse industry. Shows, organized trail rides, and just about every planned gathering of horses for the next three weeks have been cancelled. Boarding facilities are in lockdown, with no horses permitted to come or go. While this may seem a bit knee jerk, when dealing with a virus that has no prevention or cure, it is the safest course of action to take. While I would much rather be on a trail ride today, it's more important to know that my horses are safe.
Deb sent me this link to a good video* about EHV-1 that may be of interest to horse owners.
*Posting this video does not constitute an endorsement of Parelli.
6 comments:
Years ago when my kids were active in horse shows and such, there was an out break of some sort of horse disease in southern NM. I can't for the life of me think of the name of the disease. It would be like horse chickenpox - not deadly - just made them sick. Horse events all over NM were shut down. We lived in Northern NM and my daughter was suppose to ride her horse in a rodeo queen competition. We had to have a vet check all the horses at the event. While we waited on the vet, our horse was eating dried, stiff grass on the side of the road. When the vet got to us, our horse had a little scrape on her gums. We were not allowed to compete because the vet was "not sure." All sorts of people offered their horses for my daughter to use, but I was said to hell with that and went home. Our horse was perfectly fine. I hadn't thought of that in years, but your horse disease post reminded me. Also, the brand inspector looked over our horse papers and thought our horse looked more like a roan rather than a sorrel, which she was. He acted like we were lieing about our horse - another reason for me to be mad.
Thanks for the link BR.
The Little Britches Rodeo in High River was cancelled this weekend because of this outbreak. First cancellation in 59 years.
I hope you escape the current unpleasantness, BR. The whole thing looks and sounds ugly.
Heh, nice disclaimer on Parelli.
we first learned of this last week and have taken precautions. Hopefully it will be contained soon. Nasty stuff.
Excellent article, very well developed and seriously addressed. Congratulations and continued writing.
If a horse does have to be euthanized, it is usually because the neurological symptoms have rendered the horse unable to stand, drink or eat properly. In horsemanship, equine herpes virus can be seen in the infected horse unlike other diseases.
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