San Miguel Annual Spring Race Meet postponed

CO - May 25, 2011 - For only the second time in its quarter-century of history, the San Miguel Horse Racing Association Spring Race Meet has been called off, this time due to a deadly equine disease — equine herpes virus or EHV-1 — that is rapidly spreading through the West.

“The Fairgrounds is closed to all equine activities until further notice,” San Miguel County Fairgrounds (SMCF) Manager DeeAnna Burbridge said on Friday. She’d already been hard at task early in the week, monitoring a quickly changing situation across the state and making sure everything stayed safe at SMCF. On Friday, the fairgrounds closed until further notice, along with numerous other public equine facilities in the West.

“It’s scary stuff,” said local horse boarder and owner Peg Wood on Thursday. She and her husband Creighton Wood own Piñon Wood Ranch outside of Norwood, where they raise alpacas and llamas, which can also contract the disease. “We’ve disinfected everything,” Wood said.

Burbridge said the closure is “precautionary; there are no cases as of yet in San Miguel County.” As of Monday, there were nine confirmed cases and 22 suspect cases of horses with EHV-1 in Colorado. Early last week two horses, which tested positive for EHV-1, were euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with the disease.

On Friday, Katharine Peterson, who boards her horses at SMCF, said that most people she knew had already cancelled plans to travel anywhere with their horses.

Several horses are already boarded at the San Miguel County Fairgrounds, and those animals will not be allowed to return if they leave the facility. No new boarders are being accepted at this time, and the indoor arena is closed.

“Events and fairgrounds are voluntarily shutting down because this is huge,” said Burbridge. The disease can end in death for the infected animal. Organizers of the Colorado State Fair have already cancelled a number of upcoming equine events.

To help halt the spread of EHV-1, Burbridge said, “People need to keep themselves informed, know where the cases are and what your exposure has been, and make informed decisions about travel.”

Health officials suspect the disease spread from a single horse at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah at the end of April. Cases of EHV-1 have now cropped up in half of all western states. One week ago, an event at Jefferson County Fairgrounds was halted mid-way due to the news and the presence of a horse that had been at the Utah event.

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