Theworldlink.com - Full Article
By Rachel Finney, The World The World | Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011
This isn't the Kentucky Derby.
The horses are built for distance and agility. Races range from 50 to 100 miles, and cover sand, water, rocks, cliffs and everything in between. Events contain major competitors all the way down to casual riders.
It's called endurance riding, and it's unlike most other horse races. Atop svelte Arabian horses, riders race over long distances through remote backcountry, though it's much more than just a stampede to the finish line.
Lisa Tine and boyfriend Chris Amaral, of Coos Bay, both have been endurance riders for many years. They try to get to five or six races each summer, hauling their horses on Fridays to weekend events around Oregon, Washington and California.
Tine said though finishing quickly is a goal, endurance races also rely on a healthy horse...
Read more here:
http://theworldlink.com/sports/outdoors/article_987ec2d4-8e77-11e0-be94-001cc4c002e0.html
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Sierra snow moves Tevis Cup endurance ride to October
Auburn Journal
By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
Snow that just won't quit on Sierra trails has caused organizers of the Tevis Cup to postpone the endurance horse ride from July 16 to Oct. 8.
The Western States Trail Foundation has been searching for an alternate route but even that effort has been hampered by snow and high river flows, Ride Director Chuck Stalley said in a statement that followed the Board of Governors decision Thursday.
"We literally didn't even have a safe and adequate alternate route six weeks before the Tevis," Stalley said.
Kathie Perry, Western States Trails Foundation president, said the move was made in the interests of rider and horse safety.
"The new date will give riders the needed time to get their horses ready for the challenge of the trail, as well as give them the experience of the traditional trail with its magnificence and history," Perry said.
The Tevis Cup has become an Auburn summertime staple since 1955. Its only cancellation came in 2008, when smoke from several fires blanketed the course. More than 200 horses and riders had already been registered for the 100-mile ride.
While the endurance ride from Tahoe to Auburn is now postponed, there will be riding activity on the weekend of what initially was the date set for the Tevis Cup. Stalley said the Western States Education Ride will be held July 15-17. Riders will be given the opportunity to see the trail first-hand, listen to lectures from veterinarians and experienced riders and gather miles toward the Tevis application requirements.
By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
Snow that just won't quit on Sierra trails has caused organizers of the Tevis Cup to postpone the endurance horse ride from July 16 to Oct. 8.
The Western States Trail Foundation has been searching for an alternate route but even that effort has been hampered by snow and high river flows, Ride Director Chuck Stalley said in a statement that followed the Board of Governors decision Thursday.
"We literally didn't even have a safe and adequate alternate route six weeks before the Tevis," Stalley said.
Kathie Perry, Western States Trails Foundation president, said the move was made in the interests of rider and horse safety.
"The new date will give riders the needed time to get their horses ready for the challenge of the trail, as well as give them the experience of the traditional trail with its magnificence and history," Perry said.
The Tevis Cup has become an Auburn summertime staple since 1955. Its only cancellation came in 2008, when smoke from several fires blanketed the course. More than 200 horses and riders had already been registered for the 100-mile ride.
While the endurance ride from Tahoe to Auburn is now postponed, there will be riding activity on the weekend of what initially was the date set for the Tevis Cup. Stalley said the Western States Education Ride will be held July 15-17. Riders will be given the opportunity to see the trail first-hand, listen to lectures from veterinarians and experienced riders and gather miles toward the Tevis application requirements.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
2011 Tevis Cup Postponed
Teviscup.org
June 2 2011
In a landmark decision the Board of Governors have voted to change the date of the 2011 Tevis Ride to October 8, 2011, and the Educational Ride to July 15th, 16th and 17th, 2011.
As of June 1st our scouts have reported up to ten feet of snow at the Soda Springs Road, which leads out of our alternate starting location for the 2011 ride. The alternate trail from Soda Springs to French Meadows continues to hold on to the record snow pack which will not melt by July 16th because of an unusually cool spring. The ride date has been changed to October 8th in an effort to use the traditional trail in both the high country and on the lower trail which crosses the American River.
October 8th is historically a cool, dry day in the Truckee, Lake Tahoe area. We landed on this date primarily due to the presence of a nearly full moon, the availability of the Gold Country Fairgrounds and trails which are not otherwise involved in organized events in the Tahoe National Forest. The days will be shorter and cooler, so adjust your training accordingly. The later date gives the trail crew more time to prepare and should offer the high quality trails we have come to expect from our dedicated trail crews.
Additionally, the Board of Governors have voted to change the date of the WSTF Educational Ride from June 10th to the date previously set for Tevis Cup - July 16th. We feel this will offer the best experience on the majority of the trail for our educational riders. Please plan to join us for these amazing events and to visit the Tevis webpage regularly for further updates and conditions as we move toward the our events.
On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Western States Trail Foundation, we appreciate your understanding and enthusiasm in putting forth the 56th Annual Tevis Cup ride on October 8th, and the 4th Western States Educational ride July 15th, 16th and 17th.
June 2 2011
In a landmark decision the Board of Governors have voted to change the date of the 2011 Tevis Ride to October 8, 2011, and the Educational Ride to July 15th, 16th and 17th, 2011.
As of June 1st our scouts have reported up to ten feet of snow at the Soda Springs Road, which leads out of our alternate starting location for the 2011 ride. The alternate trail from Soda Springs to French Meadows continues to hold on to the record snow pack which will not melt by July 16th because of an unusually cool spring. The ride date has been changed to October 8th in an effort to use the traditional trail in both the high country and on the lower trail which crosses the American River.
October 8th is historically a cool, dry day in the Truckee, Lake Tahoe area. We landed on this date primarily due to the presence of a nearly full moon, the availability of the Gold Country Fairgrounds and trails which are not otherwise involved in organized events in the Tahoe National Forest. The days will be shorter and cooler, so adjust your training accordingly. The later date gives the trail crew more time to prepare and should offer the high quality trails we have come to expect from our dedicated trail crews.
Additionally, the Board of Governors have voted to change the date of the WSTF Educational Ride from June 10th to the date previously set for Tevis Cup - July 16th. We feel this will offer the best experience on the majority of the trail for our educational riders. Please plan to join us for these amazing events and to visit the Tevis webpage regularly for further updates and conditions as we move toward the our events.
On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Western States Trail Foundation, we appreciate your understanding and enthusiasm in putting forth the 56th Annual Tevis Cup ride on October 8th, and the 4th Western States Educational ride July 15th, 16th and 17th.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
5/25/11 California EHV-1 Update
CALIFORNIA EHV-1 CAUSING EHM DISEASE UPDATE AS OF 3 PM 5/24/2011
California EHV-1 Causing EHM Disease Update as of 12 pm 5/25/2011
California has no new confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1 since our May 23rd update. There continues to be 18 confirmed EHM cases in the state.
* The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 12 counties: Amador(1), Glenn(2), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).
* Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
* Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.
* One confirmed positive EHM horse was euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.
* All positive confirmed EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.
Read more here:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/equine_herpes_virus.html
California EHV-1 Causing EHM Disease Update as of 12 pm 5/25/2011
California has no new confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1 since our May 23rd update. There continues to be 18 confirmed EHM cases in the state.
* The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 12 counties: Amador(1), Glenn(2), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).
* Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
* Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.
* One confirmed positive EHM horse was euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.
* All positive confirmed EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.
Read more here:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/equine_herpes_virus.html
Idaho Man Rides the Pony Express
KLCC.org - Full Article and audio
5/24/2011
By Emily Schwing
BOISE - The Pony Express was the FedEx of the late 1800s. The trail became the nation's most direct route for mail between Missouri and California. The 10-day trip crossed the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Today, an Idaho man sets out from Kansas on that route with his horses.
--------------------------
Most of us have a bucket list – the things you've always wanted to do. Tom Noll is no exception.
He's in his 50s and his light blue eyes give way to one defining feature...
Tom Knoll: "I have a big mustache. Is there any reason why? I've had a big must for a long time since the mid-70s. It just is. I don't know why."
Noll is a runner. He's completed ultra-distance marathons in Utah and Colorado. It was during one of these foot races that he discovered endurance horseback riding.
Tom Knoll: "Over 10 years ago I was running the Wasatch 100 and a guy came by training his horse. I was running by myself and he was an endurance rider, I think, and he would hop off his horse and run with it then get back on and ride a bit do that. You know, I'm running along by myself, I've got a lot of miles left, and my mind's drifting and I'm watching that guy disappear down the trail and over the ridges and I thought, 'you know that looks like fun. If I ever get to the chance, I'm gonna do it.'"
Noll has his chance this summer and he's taking it with two of his best friends...
Read/listen here:
http://www.klcc.org/Feature.asp?FeatureID=2468
Monday, May 23, 2011
EHV-1 Outbreak: Veterinarians Still On Alert
Thehorse.com - Full Article
by: Erica Larson, News Editor
May 22 2011, Article # 18275
The outbreak of neurologic equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) continues as new cases were confirmed over the weekend. The source of the outbreak is believed to be the April 29-May 8 National Cutting Horse Association's (NCHA) Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. Horse owners and veterinarians remain on the lookout for clinical signs associated with EHV-1 in exposed horses.
Equine herpesvirus-1 is highly contagious and can cause a variety of ailments in horses, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (the neurologic form). The virus is not transmissible to humans. Clinical signs of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy (EHM) include fever, ataxia (incoordination), weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs, and incontinence. The virus is generally passed from horse to horse via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough) and contact with nasal secretions.
The USDA released its last situation report Thursday, May 19. At press time today (May 22), the case counts by state were as follows:
Arizona - Both the USDA situation report and the state Department of Agriculture indicate that as of May 18, there has only been one positive case of EHV-1 reported in Arizona. The horse reportedly displayed severe neurologic signs, and the USDA situation report suggested that he was euthanized.
California - A new case of EHV-1 was diagnosed in California yesterday, according to a May 22 (today) statement from the state's Department of Food and Agriculture. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 17. The statement noted that 16 of the 17 EHV-1 positive horses competed at the NCHA championships in Utah. Only one has been euthanized to date.
Seven of the EHV-1 positive horses displayed neurologic signs, and the other 10 only presented with a fever. Three of the confirmed cases are being treated at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and all of the positive horses remain under a state-regulated quarantine, the statement read.
Colorado - The total of EHV-1 positive horses in Colorado remains at nine, according to a May 20 statement released by the state's Department of Agriculture. The statement indicated that two horses were euthanized after displaying neurologic clinical signs; however, it was not reported what clinical signs were associated with the rest of the confirmed horses. There are 22 suspected cases, according to the statement.
Idaho - As of yesterday (May 21). the total number of positive cases in Idaho stood at one. The horse was euthanized after displaying severe neurologic signs. Another horse exhibited neurologic signs and was subsequently euthanized; however, no further diagnostic testing was carried out.
New Mexico - According to both the May 19 USDA situation report and a May 19 statement from the state Livestock Board, only one horse has tested positive for EHV-1 in New Mexico. The horse was euthanized after displaying acute neurologic signs.
Oregon - Oregon is still reporting two confirmed cases of neurologic EHV-1 in the state, according to a release from the state's Department of Agriculture.
Texas - According to a May 20 release from the Texas Animal Health Commission, there is still only one confirmed and one suspected case of EHV-1 in the state. It is unclear whether the EHV-1 positive horse displayed neurologic clinical signs or not.
Utah - A May 20 release from the state Department of Agriculture that a horse being treated for EHV-1 was found in its stall in recumbency and was humanely euthanized Saturday. The release noted this was the first fatality related to the outbreak in Utah. Additionally, two more horses were confirmed positive on May 20 (Friday). The number of confirmed cases in Utah is now seven. It is unclear whether the surviving horses displayed neurologic signs associated with the disease.
Washington - The number of confirmed cases of EHV-1 stands at five in Washington, according to a statement from the state's Department of Agriculture. At least two of the cases only displayed a fever. The remaining horses' clinical signs were not reported.
No new information was available from Alberta or British Columbia at press time. There were three confirmed cases in Alberta, according to Chief Provincial Veterinarian, Gerald Hauer, DVM, as of Friday; two of the three had not displayed neurologic signs. There were no confirmed cases in British Columbia as of Friday, according to the province's Ministry of Agriculture.
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming remain free of confirmed reports.
More information and resources on EHV-1 on Thehorse.com:
http://www.thehorse.com/
by: Erica Larson, News Editor
May 22 2011, Article # 18275
The outbreak of neurologic equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) continues as new cases were confirmed over the weekend. The source of the outbreak is believed to be the April 29-May 8 National Cutting Horse Association's (NCHA) Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. Horse owners and veterinarians remain on the lookout for clinical signs associated with EHV-1 in exposed horses.
Equine herpesvirus-1 is highly contagious and can cause a variety of ailments in horses, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (the neurologic form). The virus is not transmissible to humans. Clinical signs of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy (EHM) include fever, ataxia (incoordination), weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs, and incontinence. The virus is generally passed from horse to horse via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough) and contact with nasal secretions.
The USDA released its last situation report Thursday, May 19. At press time today (May 22), the case counts by state were as follows:
Arizona - Both the USDA situation report and the state Department of Agriculture indicate that as of May 18, there has only been one positive case of EHV-1 reported in Arizona. The horse reportedly displayed severe neurologic signs, and the USDA situation report suggested that he was euthanized.
California - A new case of EHV-1 was diagnosed in California yesterday, according to a May 22 (today) statement from the state's Department of Food and Agriculture. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 17. The statement noted that 16 of the 17 EHV-1 positive horses competed at the NCHA championships in Utah. Only one has been euthanized to date.
Seven of the EHV-1 positive horses displayed neurologic signs, and the other 10 only presented with a fever. Three of the confirmed cases are being treated at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and all of the positive horses remain under a state-regulated quarantine, the statement read.
Colorado - The total of EHV-1 positive horses in Colorado remains at nine, according to a May 20 statement released by the state's Department of Agriculture. The statement indicated that two horses were euthanized after displaying neurologic clinical signs; however, it was not reported what clinical signs were associated with the rest of the confirmed horses. There are 22 suspected cases, according to the statement.
Idaho - As of yesterday (May 21). the total number of positive cases in Idaho stood at one. The horse was euthanized after displaying severe neurologic signs. Another horse exhibited neurologic signs and was subsequently euthanized; however, no further diagnostic testing was carried out.
New Mexico - According to both the May 19 USDA situation report and a May 19 statement from the state Livestock Board, only one horse has tested positive for EHV-1 in New Mexico. The horse was euthanized after displaying acute neurologic signs.
Oregon - Oregon is still reporting two confirmed cases of neurologic EHV-1 in the state, according to a release from the state's Department of Agriculture.
Texas - According to a May 20 release from the Texas Animal Health Commission, there is still only one confirmed and one suspected case of EHV-1 in the state. It is unclear whether the EHV-1 positive horse displayed neurologic clinical signs or not.
Utah - A May 20 release from the state Department of Agriculture that a horse being treated for EHV-1 was found in its stall in recumbency and was humanely euthanized Saturday. The release noted this was the first fatality related to the outbreak in Utah. Additionally, two more horses were confirmed positive on May 20 (Friday). The number of confirmed cases in Utah is now seven. It is unclear whether the surviving horses displayed neurologic signs associated with the disease.
Washington - The number of confirmed cases of EHV-1 stands at five in Washington, according to a statement from the state's Department of Agriculture. At least two of the cases only displayed a fever. The remaining horses' clinical signs were not reported.
No new information was available from Alberta or British Columbia at press time. There were three confirmed cases in Alberta, according to Chief Provincial Veterinarian, Gerald Hauer, DVM, as of Friday; two of the three had not displayed neurologic signs. There were no confirmed cases in British Columbia as of Friday, according to the province's Ministry of Agriculture.
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming remain free of confirmed reports.
More information and resources on EHV-1 on Thehorse.com:
http://www.thehorse.com/
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Country Mountain Riders compete in endurance ride
Mariposagazette.com - Full Article
May 19 2011
CONTRIBUTED BY Lynne Orloffe
The Country Mountain Riders (CMR) have been busy in the past month. On April 9 and 10 Holly Foiles and Alexandra North, ride managers, put on the fifth annual Buck Meadows Boogie Endurance Ride in the Stanislaus National Forest at Buck Meadows. On May 7, the CMR Color Guard, under the direction of ride leader, Janet Heuer, rode in Sonora’s Motherlode Parade, and many of the club’s active riders took to many of the local trails.
Mother Nature tested the resolve of the endurance riders by presenting her winter finery in the form of snow for their arrival on Friday for their vetting. Cold air prevailed throughout the ride. Rain also washed out a few of the trails requiring new ones to be made last minute with the USFS having to work hard to get the new sections approved.
The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) endorses this ride and this year the Federation Equestrian International in Europe (FEI) also sanctioned the ride, which allows participants to qualify for championship rides later in 2011...
Read more here:
http://www.mariposagazette.com/news/2011-05-19/Local_News/Country_Mountain_Riders_compete_in_endurance_ride.html
May 19 2011
CONTRIBUTED BY Lynne Orloffe
The Country Mountain Riders (CMR) have been busy in the past month. On April 9 and 10 Holly Foiles and Alexandra North, ride managers, put on the fifth annual Buck Meadows Boogie Endurance Ride in the Stanislaus National Forest at Buck Meadows. On May 7, the CMR Color Guard, under the direction of ride leader, Janet Heuer, rode in Sonora’s Motherlode Parade, and many of the club’s active riders took to many of the local trails.
Mother Nature tested the resolve of the endurance riders by presenting her winter finery in the form of snow for their arrival on Friday for their vetting. Cold air prevailed throughout the ride. Rain also washed out a few of the trails requiring new ones to be made last minute with the USFS having to work hard to get the new sections approved.
The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) endorses this ride and this year the Federation Equestrian International in Europe (FEI) also sanctioned the ride, which allows participants to qualify for championship rides later in 2011...
Read more here:
http://www.mariposagazette.com/news/2011-05-19/Local_News/Country_Mountain_Riders_compete_in_endurance_ride.html
Friday, May 20, 2011
USDA Releases Initial EHV-1 Situation Report
May 20, 2011
AHC WASHINGTON UPDATE
In response to the on-going Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) and Equine Herpes Virus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) disease incidents from an event in Ogden, Utah held from April 29 to May 8, 2011, USDA has compiled individual state EHV-1 reports and released the initial national EHV-1 situation report. A summary of the current situation is as follows:
* Owners of horses known to have been exposed in this incident have been contacted by State Animal Health Officials.
* Suspect and confirmed cases are reported to be under voluntary or state quarantine.
* Known exposed horses are reported to be under either voluntary or state quarantine.
* A total of 21 confirmed EHV-1 cases and 12 confirmed EHM cases have been reported in 8 states (CA, CO, ID, NM, OR, TX, UT, WA).
* Of the 33 total confirmed EHV/EHM cases, 32 cases are horses that were at the initial event.
* There are 7 horses associated with this incident that are dead or have been euthanized.
Read more here:
http://www.horsecouncil.org/regulations/EHV-1.php
AHC WASHINGTON UPDATE
In response to the on-going Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) and Equine Herpes Virus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) disease incidents from an event in Ogden, Utah held from April 29 to May 8, 2011, USDA has compiled individual state EHV-1 reports and released the initial national EHV-1 situation report. A summary of the current situation is as follows:
* Owners of horses known to have been exposed in this incident have been contacted by State Animal Health Officials.
* Suspect and confirmed cases are reported to be under voluntary or state quarantine.
* Known exposed horses are reported to be under either voluntary or state quarantine.
* A total of 21 confirmed EHV-1 cases and 12 confirmed EHM cases have been reported in 8 states (CA, CO, ID, NM, OR, TX, UT, WA).
* Of the 33 total confirmed EHV/EHM cases, 32 cases are horses that were at the initial event.
* There are 7 horses associated with this incident that are dead or have been euthanized.
Read more here:
http://www.horsecouncil.org/regulations/EHV-1.php
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wyoming Enforces New Equine Import Requirements Due to EHV-1 Concerns
May 19 2011
Equinechronicle.com
Press Release
Due to concern over the recent Equine Herpes Virus 1 neurologic situation in several western states, the Wyoming Livestock Board will immediately begin requiring an official certificate of veterinary inspection within 72 hours of entry into Wyoming for imported Equine.
The certificate must include the temperature recorded for each horse listed. The statements: “No horses listed have been exposed to any horse infected with or exposed to EHV1.” and “No horses listed are showing any clinical signs of EHV1.” must be written on the certificate.
This order is effective May 19, 2011 and will continue in effect until rescinded by the Wyoming State Veterinarian.
At this time Wyoming has no confirmed cases of EHV1 and there have been no suspect cases reported in the state. There are several major equine events upcoming in Wyoming and we want to protect our horse industry and event contestants to the extent that it is possible.
For more information please contact the WLSB offices at 307 777 7515 or 307 857 4140.
Equinechronicle.com
Press Release
Due to concern over the recent Equine Herpes Virus 1 neurologic situation in several western states, the Wyoming Livestock Board will immediately begin requiring an official certificate of veterinary inspection within 72 hours of entry into Wyoming for imported Equine.
The certificate must include the temperature recorded for each horse listed. The statements: “No horses listed have been exposed to any horse infected with or exposed to EHV1.” and “No horses listed are showing any clinical signs of EHV1.” must be written on the certificate.
This order is effective May 19, 2011 and will continue in effect until rescinded by the Wyoming State Veterinarian.
At this time Wyoming has no confirmed cases of EHV1 and there have been no suspect cases reported in the state. There are several major equine events upcoming in Wyoming and we want to protect our horse industry and event contestants to the extent that it is possible.
For more information please contact the WLSB offices at 307 777 7515 or 307 857 4140.
05-18-11 EHV-1 Update
IdahoEquinehospital.com/blog
May 18th, 2011
IEH update on EHV-1 outbreak 5/18/11
As we monitor this situation we would like to keep you updated on current information.
We are continuing to monitor the horses on the farms that had the two horses that were euthanized. As of this morning, no additional horses that did not travel to the show in Ogden have shown clinical signs of herpes.
While it is true that vaccination does not prevent the neurologic form of the disease in horses that are infected-there is some evidence to support that vaccination may play a role in limiting shedding of the virus if a horse becomes infected-thus potentially limiting spread within an exposed group of horses. The decision to vaccinate will depend on a horse’s known exposure risk and history of vaccination and will vary by individual.
Nebraska has elected to enforce quarantines on five farms that had horses that were potentially exposed at the Ogden show.
see link: http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/nebraska-quarantine-equine-herpes-virus-ehv/
Colorado is currently reporting 2 confirmed cases of EHV-1 and 6 with clinical signs of EHV-1 that are undergoing testing. 2 horses in that state have been euthanized.
California currently has 10 confirmed cases. All of the confirmed cases were at the cutting show in Ogden. One of the horses has been euthanized.
No states have shut their borders. Colorado is not restricting horses entering the state but they have changed their rules to require a permit-see link: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=text%2Fhtml&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251713839578&ssbinary=true
We are still early into this outbreak, and we do not yet know how likely the disease is to be transmitted to additional horses who were exposed to horses that attended the Odgen event. We are continuing to recommend that horses that attended the cutting event in Ogden remain at home and that horses that are currently on the premises that had horses come home from Ogden remain there until we can determine how and if it will spread to in-contact horses. Limiting horse movement and commingling and common sense biosecurity measures still remain the best tools we have for limiting the spread of this disease.
Some resources for additional information:
UC Davis website: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/ehv1_general.cfm
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions.
May 18th, 2011
IEH update on EHV-1 outbreak 5/18/11
As we monitor this situation we would like to keep you updated on current information.
We are continuing to monitor the horses on the farms that had the two horses that were euthanized. As of this morning, no additional horses that did not travel to the show in Ogden have shown clinical signs of herpes.
While it is true that vaccination does not prevent the neurologic form of the disease in horses that are infected-there is some evidence to support that vaccination may play a role in limiting shedding of the virus if a horse becomes infected-thus potentially limiting spread within an exposed group of horses. The decision to vaccinate will depend on a horse’s known exposure risk and history of vaccination and will vary by individual.
Nebraska has elected to enforce quarantines on five farms that had horses that were potentially exposed at the Ogden show.
see link: http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/nebraska-quarantine-equine-herpes-virus-ehv/
Colorado is currently reporting 2 confirmed cases of EHV-1 and 6 with clinical signs of EHV-1 that are undergoing testing. 2 horses in that state have been euthanized.
California currently has 10 confirmed cases. All of the confirmed cases were at the cutting show in Ogden. One of the horses has been euthanized.
No states have shut their borders. Colorado is not restricting horses entering the state but they have changed their rules to require a permit-see link: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=text%2Fhtml&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251713839578&ssbinary=true
We are still early into this outbreak, and we do not yet know how likely the disease is to be transmitted to additional horses who were exposed to horses that attended the Odgen event. We are continuing to recommend that horses that attended the cutting event in Ogden remain at home and that horses that are currently on the premises that had horses come home from Ogden remain there until we can determine how and if it will spread to in-contact horses. Limiting horse movement and commingling and common sense biosecurity measures still remain the best tools we have for limiting the spread of this disease.
Some resources for additional information:
UC Davis website: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/ehv1_general.cfm
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Individual State Information For EHV-1 Outbreak
Equinchronicle.com - More information
May 17 2011
Updated Information About Specific States (from state veterinarian offices):
* A big thank you to the following state veterinary offices for helping to keep EquineChronicle.com readers updated with the most recent news about EHV-1 in their individual states. Please be advised that we are committed to relaying the most factually correct data regarding this issue.
The information below was provided to us directly, by each state veterinarian’s office. Although there is considerable speculation about additional cases in some states, it does take time to confirm positive reports before anything can be announced in an official capacity. The following notices will only be updated as we continue to receive e-mails from state veterinarian offices.
California The CA Dept. of AG was able to confirm that as of 9 am. this morning they have ten positive horses. Information to date suggests they were all at the Utah event.
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Hospital releases more information about the positive cases in Bakersfield.
Colorado - Two confirmed cases of EHV-1 in two Colorado horses, that competed at the NCHA Western Nationals in Ogden, Utah. Further investigation is underway. Six additional horses exposed are showing clinical signs of EHV-1. Horses in four counties (Boulder, Larimer, Mesa and Weld) are under hold/quarantine orders and being investigated for disease.
Latest Travel Requirements for horses entering Colorado
Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital is now restricting non-emergency equine and camelid patients as a precaution to prevent exposing the facility to EHV-1.
Connecticut- No exposed or diseased horses have been traced to Connecticut at this time.
Delaware- No horses from Delaware have been exposed at this time.
Florida- No exposed or diseased horses have been traced to Florida at this time.
Georgia- There are no known exposed or positive animals in Georgia.
Idaho - In Idaho, two horses that were in attendance at the Ogden, Utah event have died. Five other horses are currently under veterinary care. Laboratory confirmation of EHV-1 is pending. At least 26 Idaho horses were entered in the event. More information coming out of Idaho.
Illinois- Illinois had two owners and two horses participate at the Utah event. One horse returned to Illinois on 5/8. It is under current observation and is clinically normal. The second horse is currently stabled out of state, is under current observation, and is clinically normal.
Kentucky- Information/recommendations we are making available to the public can be found on our web page at www.kyagr.com/statevet/equine/index.htm. Kentucky has no horses reported to be exposed to the outbreak.
Louisiana- Louisiana had one owner with three horses that attended the Western Nationals. All horses are isolated and under a veterinarian’s observation since Saturday, May 14. There are asymptomatic as of now.
Maine- The state of Maine did not have any horses that attended the Utah event.
Maryland- Maryland does not have any horses listed as having attended the Utah event. There are no EHV-1 investigations, links or events in Maryland at this time.
Michigan- There are no known exposed horses in Michigan.
Missouri- “Missouri only had one horse that attended the Utah event. It is now isolated and is being temped twice a day.”- Taylor Woods, Missouri State Veterinarian
Montana - Sixteen horse owners and 30-35 horses from Montana attended the Utah event, but no cases of the disease have been reported in the state, per a Montana Dept. of Livestock press release.
Nebraska - We have five owners and five horses involved. All quarantined as of 10:30 am CST today. No symptoms yet and temping twice a day. Two of them exhibited at a local cutting show in Kearney, Nebraska, four days after attending Utah event.
Nevada- Thirteen horses attended the NCHA Western National Championship. Nevada has provided information to all owners that attended the Utah event and advised them to monitor horse temperatures and to practice quality bio-security measures. We have not detected the disease within our state, yet. No additional movement requirements have been established due to the current situation.
New Jersey - A horse farm in Colts Neck, Monmouth County was quarantined after six horses contracted EHV-1 in early April, before the Utah event. The quarantined has since been lifted.
New York- “At this time there are no known exposed horses in New York. We advise all animal owners to be extremely cautious when returning from fairs and other competitions. Returning livestock should always be isolated from the rest of the herd for three weeks whenever possible.”- David Smith- NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets
North Carolina- No horses from North Carolina have been exposed at this time according to a call from COSDA this afternoon.
North Dakota- North Dakota has two horses listed that attended the Utah event, but they are both under the same owner’s name. The horses that are owned by the North Dakota owner are boarded in another state.
Ohio- There are no known horses that were exposed in Ohio.
Oklahoma- The Breeder’s Invitational, May 14-28 in Tulsa, OK has been cancelled, along with the NCHA event, the Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting.
Oregon - At this time there are no confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Oregon.
Pennsylvania- Pennsylvania has no known horses exposed at this time.
Rhode Island- There have been no reported exposed horses in Rhode Island at this time.
South Carolina- There are no known exposed or positive horses in South Carolina.
South Dakota- “Two owners and four horses that attended the event. No fevers or symptoms noted. Temped twice daily, under unofficial isolation and instruction to call if symptoms are noted”- Dustin Oedekoven, South Dakota State Veterinarian
Texas- “Texas Animal Health Commission veterinarians attempted to contact all 27 horse owners over the weekend that we believe attended the Utah event. They were advised to isolate the potentially exposed horses if possible, and contact their vet or TAHC is they had any animals become clinically ill. So far we have found no horses with clinical signs and no confirmed cases in Texas. I believe there were only a couple that we have not been able to contact yet, so that is good news from Texas for now.”- Dee Ellis, Texas State Veterinarian
The District of Columbia- The District of Columbia has no known exposed horses at this time.
Utah- “Utah, at this time, has no confirmed cases, but we are following up on several suspect cases, (horses with clinical signs consistent with EHV-1 and who attended the event.) There have been no travel restrictions put in place as of date. There may be cancellations of equine events in the state. Horse owners should call the event organizers for the latest status of the event.”- Wyatt Frampton, Utah State Veterinarian
-Last night, the Western Regional Zone 2 Show and Utah Paint Horse Club Paint-O-Rama, scheduled for May 26-31 in South Jordan has been cancelled.
-The No Bling/All Novice Show at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah, May 14-15 has been cancelled.
Virginia- There are no known exposed horses in Virginia.
Washington State - Washington has 34 horses that were entered in the NCHA Western Nationals in Ogden Utah. One horse that attended tested positive by PCR nasal swab after a temperature rise. Two horses that attended are showing neurological signs and we are waiting the test results. WSDA is sending information to all owners that attended and advising stop movement and isolation.
According to the Washington State University website: There are no horses exhibiting signs of EHV-1 at WSU, however they will not be admitting any new equine or camelid patients to the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, except for critical emergencies, because a horse was admitted recently that has since been found positive for EHV-1.
West Virginia- There are no known exposed horses in West Virginia.
Wisconsin - Two horses owned by Wisconsin residents attended the Utah event, but are boarded in another state and have not returned to Wisconsin.
Wyoming- Wyoming has nine owners and an uncertain number of horses, (some were shown in Utah, some were on the show premises, but not shown.) All have been notified and are under an unofficial hold order. They are isolated away from other horses. One is a febrile, [has a fever], but asymptomatic horse.
More information on the state information on the EHV-1 outbreak, and currently cancelled shows, see:
http://www.equinechronicle.com/breaking-news/latest-show-cancellations-and-individual-state-information-for-ehv-1-outbreak.html
May 17 2011
Updated Information About Specific States (from state veterinarian offices):
* A big thank you to the following state veterinary offices for helping to keep EquineChronicle.com readers updated with the most recent news about EHV-1 in their individual states. Please be advised that we are committed to relaying the most factually correct data regarding this issue.
The information below was provided to us directly, by each state veterinarian’s office. Although there is considerable speculation about additional cases in some states, it does take time to confirm positive reports before anything can be announced in an official capacity. The following notices will only be updated as we continue to receive e-mails from state veterinarian offices.
California The CA Dept. of AG was able to confirm that as of 9 am. this morning they have ten positive horses. Information to date suggests they were all at the Utah event.
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Hospital releases more information about the positive cases in Bakersfield.
Colorado - Two confirmed cases of EHV-1 in two Colorado horses, that competed at the NCHA Western Nationals in Ogden, Utah. Further investigation is underway. Six additional horses exposed are showing clinical signs of EHV-1. Horses in four counties (Boulder, Larimer, Mesa and Weld) are under hold/quarantine orders and being investigated for disease.
Latest Travel Requirements for horses entering Colorado
Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital is now restricting non-emergency equine and camelid patients as a precaution to prevent exposing the facility to EHV-1.
Connecticut- No exposed or diseased horses have been traced to Connecticut at this time.
Delaware- No horses from Delaware have been exposed at this time.
Florida- No exposed or diseased horses have been traced to Florida at this time.
Georgia- There are no known exposed or positive animals in Georgia.
Idaho - In Idaho, two horses that were in attendance at the Ogden, Utah event have died. Five other horses are currently under veterinary care. Laboratory confirmation of EHV-1 is pending. At least 26 Idaho horses were entered in the event. More information coming out of Idaho.
Illinois- Illinois had two owners and two horses participate at the Utah event. One horse returned to Illinois on 5/8. It is under current observation and is clinically normal. The second horse is currently stabled out of state, is under current observation, and is clinically normal.
Kentucky- Information/recommendations we are making available to the public can be found on our web page at www.kyagr.com/statevet/equine/index.htm. Kentucky has no horses reported to be exposed to the outbreak.
Louisiana- Louisiana had one owner with three horses that attended the Western Nationals. All horses are isolated and under a veterinarian’s observation since Saturday, May 14. There are asymptomatic as of now.
Maine- The state of Maine did not have any horses that attended the Utah event.
Maryland- Maryland does not have any horses listed as having attended the Utah event. There are no EHV-1 investigations, links or events in Maryland at this time.
Michigan- There are no known exposed horses in Michigan.
Missouri- “Missouri only had one horse that attended the Utah event. It is now isolated and is being temped twice a day.”- Taylor Woods, Missouri State Veterinarian
Montana - Sixteen horse owners and 30-35 horses from Montana attended the Utah event, but no cases of the disease have been reported in the state, per a Montana Dept. of Livestock press release.
Nebraska - We have five owners and five horses involved. All quarantined as of 10:30 am CST today. No symptoms yet and temping twice a day. Two of them exhibited at a local cutting show in Kearney, Nebraska, four days after attending Utah event.
Nevada- Thirteen horses attended the NCHA Western National Championship. Nevada has provided information to all owners that attended the Utah event and advised them to monitor horse temperatures and to practice quality bio-security measures. We have not detected the disease within our state, yet. No additional movement requirements have been established due to the current situation.
New Jersey - A horse farm in Colts Neck, Monmouth County was quarantined after six horses contracted EHV-1 in early April, before the Utah event. The quarantined has since been lifted.
New York- “At this time there are no known exposed horses in New York. We advise all animal owners to be extremely cautious when returning from fairs and other competitions. Returning livestock should always be isolated from the rest of the herd for three weeks whenever possible.”- David Smith- NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets
North Carolina- No horses from North Carolina have been exposed at this time according to a call from COSDA this afternoon.
North Dakota- North Dakota has two horses listed that attended the Utah event, but they are both under the same owner’s name. The horses that are owned by the North Dakota owner are boarded in another state.
Ohio- There are no known horses that were exposed in Ohio.
Oklahoma- The Breeder’s Invitational, May 14-28 in Tulsa, OK has been cancelled, along with the NCHA event, the Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting.
Oregon - At this time there are no confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Oregon.
Pennsylvania- Pennsylvania has no known horses exposed at this time.
Rhode Island- There have been no reported exposed horses in Rhode Island at this time.
South Carolina- There are no known exposed or positive horses in South Carolina.
South Dakota- “Two owners and four horses that attended the event. No fevers or symptoms noted. Temped twice daily, under unofficial isolation and instruction to call if symptoms are noted”- Dustin Oedekoven, South Dakota State Veterinarian
Texas- “Texas Animal Health Commission veterinarians attempted to contact all 27 horse owners over the weekend that we believe attended the Utah event. They were advised to isolate the potentially exposed horses if possible, and contact their vet or TAHC is they had any animals become clinically ill. So far we have found no horses with clinical signs and no confirmed cases in Texas. I believe there were only a couple that we have not been able to contact yet, so that is good news from Texas for now.”- Dee Ellis, Texas State Veterinarian
The District of Columbia- The District of Columbia has no known exposed horses at this time.
Utah- “Utah, at this time, has no confirmed cases, but we are following up on several suspect cases, (horses with clinical signs consistent with EHV-1 and who attended the event.) There have been no travel restrictions put in place as of date. There may be cancellations of equine events in the state. Horse owners should call the event organizers for the latest status of the event.”- Wyatt Frampton, Utah State Veterinarian
-Last night, the Western Regional Zone 2 Show and Utah Paint Horse Club Paint-O-Rama, scheduled for May 26-31 in South Jordan has been cancelled.
-The No Bling/All Novice Show at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah, May 14-15 has been cancelled.
Virginia- There are no known exposed horses in Virginia.
Washington State - Washington has 34 horses that were entered in the NCHA Western Nationals in Ogden Utah. One horse that attended tested positive by PCR nasal swab after a temperature rise. Two horses that attended are showing neurological signs and we are waiting the test results. WSDA is sending information to all owners that attended and advising stop movement and isolation.
According to the Washington State University website: There are no horses exhibiting signs of EHV-1 at WSU, however they will not be admitting any new equine or camelid patients to the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, except for critical emergencies, because a horse was admitted recently that has since been found positive for EHV-1.
West Virginia- There are no known exposed horses in West Virginia.
Wisconsin - Two horses owned by Wisconsin residents attended the Utah event, but are boarded in another state and have not returned to Wisconsin.
Wyoming- Wyoming has nine owners and an uncertain number of horses, (some were shown in Utah, some were on the show premises, but not shown.) All have been notified and are under an unofficial hold order. They are isolated away from other horses. One is a febrile, [has a fever], but asymptomatic horse.
More information on the state information on the EHV-1 outbreak, and currently cancelled shows, see:
http://www.equinechronicle.com/breaking-news/latest-show-cancellations-and-individual-state-information-for-ehv-1-outbreak.html
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
New Transportation Requirements for Horses Traveling to Colorado Due to the spread of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1)
May 17, 2011
Contact: Christi Lightcap, (303) 239-4190, Christi.lightcap@ag.state.co.us
LAKEWOOD, Colo. - The Colorado Department of Agriculture has implemented new travel requirements for horses entering the state due to the spread of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1).
"We are considering all of our options for protecting Colorado's horse industry. At this point, we do not believe it's necessary to stop horses from entering the state but we need to be able to know where those horses are coming from and where they are going; traceback is a vital part of disease control," said State Veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr.
New Travel Requirements for Horses Entering Colorado
Standard requirements for horses entering Colorado include a health issued certificate within 30 days of their arrival and a negative Coggins test within 12 months. The new requirement consists of a permit to enter the state. Horse owners who wish to bring their horse into Colorado must first call their veterinarian. That veterinarian can then contact the Colorado Department of Agriculture's State Veterinarian's Office at (303) 239-4161 and request a permit number. That number would then be included on the health certificate.
Additional Travel Tips for Horse Owners Traveling To or From Colorado
1. Consider the disease risk before transporting horses.
2. Contact the State Veterinarian's Office of the destination state to find out if travel requirements have changed for that state.
3. Call organizers of the event to see if they have new health requirements or if it has been cancelled.
4. If traveling, practice appropriate biosecurity measures. Biosecurity tips may be found at www.colorado.gov/ag.
5. Isolate any new animals and those returning to the home premises for three weeks when possible.
6. Use separate water, feed supplies and equipment.
7. Continue to monitor the CDA webpage at www.colorado.gov/ag for further information to aid in the decision making for transporting horses.
If your horse attended the Ogden, Utah event:
CDA encourages all horse owners who attended the Ogden, UT, event should notify their veterinarian and isolate and monitor their horses for clinical signs of the disease. These horses should have their temperature taken twice a day. Horses with elevated temperature can be sampled by a veterinarian to analyze whether their horse is shedding EHV-1. Individual horse and barn bio-security is very important. Some horses may not show signs of the disease but may still be a carrier. Those owners are also encouraged to restrict movement of their horses.
General Disease Information
EHV-1 is not transmissible to people; it can be a serious equine disease that can cause respiratory, neurologic disease and death. The most common way for EHV-1 to spread is by direct horse-to-horse contact. It can also be spread by contaminated tack, equipment, and people's clothing. In addition, the virus can be spread through aerosols (airborne) for a limited distance.
Symptoms include fever, decreased coordination, nasal discharge, urine dribbling, loss of tail tone, hind limb weakness, leaning against a wall or fence to maintain balance, lethargy, and the inability to rise. While there is no cure, the symptoms of the disease may be treatable.
Horse owners should isolate any sick horses and immediately contact their veterinarian. Any individual horse with clinical signs consistent with neurological EHV-1 infection should be removed immediately from the area and placed in a separate enclosure for isolation.
Questions?
The Department has received numerous calls from veterinarians, horse owners and media. To help facilitate a timely response, please see the following list.
1. If you want to get your horse tested: contact your local veterinarian.
2. If you are a horse owner and have questions about the disease, testing, or other aspects of the investigation:
a. Contact your local veterinarian
b. Dr. Kate Anderson, 303-239-4161, Kate.anderson@ag.state.co.us
c. Dr. Carl Heckendorf, 303-239-4161, Carl.Heckendorf@ag.state.co.us
3. If you are a media outlet and would like an interview: contact Christi Lightcap, 303-239-4190, Christi.lightcap@ag.state.co.us
Contact: Christi Lightcap, (303) 239-4190, Christi.lightcap@ag.state.co.us
LAKEWOOD, Colo. - The Colorado Department of Agriculture has implemented new travel requirements for horses entering the state due to the spread of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1).
"We are considering all of our options for protecting Colorado's horse industry. At this point, we do not believe it's necessary to stop horses from entering the state but we need to be able to know where those horses are coming from and where they are going; traceback is a vital part of disease control," said State Veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr.
New Travel Requirements for Horses Entering Colorado
Standard requirements for horses entering Colorado include a health issued certificate within 30 days of their arrival and a negative Coggins test within 12 months. The new requirement consists of a permit to enter the state. Horse owners who wish to bring their horse into Colorado must first call their veterinarian. That veterinarian can then contact the Colorado Department of Agriculture's State Veterinarian's Office at (303) 239-4161 and request a permit number. That number would then be included on the health certificate.
Additional Travel Tips for Horse Owners Traveling To or From Colorado
1. Consider the disease risk before transporting horses.
2. Contact the State Veterinarian's Office of the destination state to find out if travel requirements have changed for that state.
3. Call organizers of the event to see if they have new health requirements or if it has been cancelled.
4. If traveling, practice appropriate biosecurity measures. Biosecurity tips may be found at www.colorado.gov/ag.
5. Isolate any new animals and those returning to the home premises for three weeks when possible.
6. Use separate water, feed supplies and equipment.
7. Continue to monitor the CDA webpage at www.colorado.gov/ag for further information to aid in the decision making for transporting horses.
If your horse attended the Ogden, Utah event:
CDA encourages all horse owners who attended the Ogden, UT, event should notify their veterinarian and isolate and monitor their horses for clinical signs of the disease. These horses should have their temperature taken twice a day. Horses with elevated temperature can be sampled by a veterinarian to analyze whether their horse is shedding EHV-1. Individual horse and barn bio-security is very important. Some horses may not show signs of the disease but may still be a carrier. Those owners are also encouraged to restrict movement of their horses.
General Disease Information
EHV-1 is not transmissible to people; it can be a serious equine disease that can cause respiratory, neurologic disease and death. The most common way for EHV-1 to spread is by direct horse-to-horse contact. It can also be spread by contaminated tack, equipment, and people's clothing. In addition, the virus can be spread through aerosols (airborne) for a limited distance.
Symptoms include fever, decreased coordination, nasal discharge, urine dribbling, loss of tail tone, hind limb weakness, leaning against a wall or fence to maintain balance, lethargy, and the inability to rise. While there is no cure, the symptoms of the disease may be treatable.
Horse owners should isolate any sick horses and immediately contact their veterinarian. Any individual horse with clinical signs consistent with neurological EHV-1 infection should be removed immediately from the area and placed in a separate enclosure for isolation.
Questions?
The Department has received numerous calls from veterinarians, horse owners and media. To help facilitate a timely response, please see the following list.
1. If you want to get your horse tested: contact your local veterinarian.
2. If you are a horse owner and have questions about the disease, testing, or other aspects of the investigation:
a. Contact your local veterinarian
b. Dr. Kate Anderson, 303-239-4161, Kate.anderson@ag.state.co.us
c. Dr. Carl Heckendorf, 303-239-4161, Carl.Heckendorf@ag.state.co.us
3. If you are a media outlet and would like an interview: contact Christi Lightcap, 303-239-4190, Christi.lightcap@ag.state.co.us
EHV-1 Outbreak: URGENT RESPONSE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
May 16 2011
Currently, there are numerous reports of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) affecting horses and farms across the U.S. and Canada. This outbreak appears related to initial cases at a cutting horse show in Ogden Utah, which was held from April 29 - May 8. Horses at that event may have been exposed to this virus and subsequently spread the infection to other horses. While the true extent of this disease outbreak is uncertain, there is clearly a very significant elevated risk of EHM cases at this time.
At this time control of the outbreak is critically dependent on biosecurity. Laboratory submission of nasal swabs and whole blood samples collected from the exposed horse can be utilized for virus detection and isolation. Please consider testing any suspected cases. The EHV-1 organism spreads quickly from horse to horse but typically only causes neurological disease sporadically. However, in an outbreak of EHV-1 neurologic such as we are experiencing now, the disease can reach high morbidity and case fatality rates. The incubation period of EHV-1 infection is typically 1-2-days, with clinical signs of fever then occurring, often in a biphasic fever, over the following 10 days. When neurological disease occurs it is typically 8-12 days after the primary infection, starting often after the second fever spike. In horses infected with the neurologic strain of EHV-1, clinical signs may include: nasal discharge, incoordination, hind end weakness, recumbency, lethargy, urine dribbling and diminished tail tone. Prognosis depends on severity of signs and the period of recumbency.
There is no specific treatment for EHV-1, although antiviral drugs (i.e. valacyclovire) may have some value before neurological signs occur. Non-specific treatment may include intravenous fluids, and other appropriate supportive therapy; the use of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is strongly recommended. Currently, there is no equine vaccine that has a label claim for protection against the neurological strain of the virus. Horse-to-horse contact, aerosol transmission, and contaminated hands, equipment, tack, and feed all play a role in disease spread.
However, horses with severe clinical signs of neurological EHV-1 infection are thought to have large viral loads in their blood and nasal secretions and therefore, present the greatest danger for spreading the disease. Immediate separation and isolation of identified suspect cases and implementation of appropriate biosecurity measures are key elements for disease control. In order to assist you and your clients further, visit online here
Sincerely,
William Moyer, DVM
2011 AAEP President
Raising the Standard in Horse Health
American Association of Equine Practitioners
4075 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington , KY 40511
859-233-0147 · 859-233-1968 Fax
Currently, there are numerous reports of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) affecting horses and farms across the U.S. and Canada. This outbreak appears related to initial cases at a cutting horse show in Ogden Utah, which was held from April 29 - May 8. Horses at that event may have been exposed to this virus and subsequently spread the infection to other horses. While the true extent of this disease outbreak is uncertain, there is clearly a very significant elevated risk of EHM cases at this time.
At this time control of the outbreak is critically dependent on biosecurity. Laboratory submission of nasal swabs and whole blood samples collected from the exposed horse can be utilized for virus detection and isolation. Please consider testing any suspected cases. The EHV-1 organism spreads quickly from horse to horse but typically only causes neurological disease sporadically. However, in an outbreak of EHV-1 neurologic such as we are experiencing now, the disease can reach high morbidity and case fatality rates. The incubation period of EHV-1 infection is typically 1-2-days, with clinical signs of fever then occurring, often in a biphasic fever, over the following 10 days. When neurological disease occurs it is typically 8-12 days after the primary infection, starting often after the second fever spike. In horses infected with the neurologic strain of EHV-1, clinical signs may include: nasal discharge, incoordination, hind end weakness, recumbency, lethargy, urine dribbling and diminished tail tone. Prognosis depends on severity of signs and the period of recumbency.
There is no specific treatment for EHV-1, although antiviral drugs (i.e. valacyclovire) may have some value before neurological signs occur. Non-specific treatment may include intravenous fluids, and other appropriate supportive therapy; the use of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is strongly recommended. Currently, there is no equine vaccine that has a label claim for protection against the neurological strain of the virus. Horse-to-horse contact, aerosol transmission, and contaminated hands, equipment, tack, and feed all play a role in disease spread.
However, horses with severe clinical signs of neurological EHV-1 infection are thought to have large viral loads in their blood and nasal secretions and therefore, present the greatest danger for spreading the disease. Immediate separation and isolation of identified suspect cases and implementation of appropriate biosecurity measures are key elements for disease control. In order to assist you and your clients further, visit online here
Sincerely,
William Moyer, DVM
2011 AAEP President
Raising the Standard in Horse Health
American Association of Equine Practitioners
4075 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington , KY 40511
859-233-0147 · 859-233-1968 Fax
Monday, May 16, 2011
5/16/11 Update on local southern Idaho EHV-1 outbreak
Idahoequinehospital.com/blog
May 16th, 2011
As of today, May 16th we do not have any new clinical cases of EHV-1 that we are aware of in our area. We are closely monitoring horses on the farms that had clinical cases and as of 3 pm no horses on those farms have developed fevers or any associated clinical signs.
The state is not imposing any quarantines at this time and horse travel to and from the state has not been restricted. Any quarantined farms have done so at their own discresion.
Herpes virus is not particularly resistant in the environment. It may live up to 30 days in ideal conditions but likely does not live more than a week in most field situations. It is readily killed by most disinfectants including alcohol (including commercial hand sanitizers), chlorhexidine, betadine, and bleach (diluted 1:10 with water). Bleach is inactivated by organic material (dirt, manure, etc) so anything being disinfected should be washed first to remove organic matter. Phenolic disinfectants work better in the presence of organic material but can be toxic to cats so they should be rinsed after allowing a 10 minute contact time, and they work best when applied at >60 degrees F.
Please contact event coordinators to see if any changes have been made for events that may be occurring this weekend-it is at their discretion whether events will be held or rescheduled.
We will continue to update you on this situation as it develops.
For now we are continuing to recommend segregation of potentially exposed horses and monitoring of their temperatures twice a day to monitor for development of the disease.
Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.
208-466-4613
May 16th, 2011
As of today, May 16th we do not have any new clinical cases of EHV-1 that we are aware of in our area. We are closely monitoring horses on the farms that had clinical cases and as of 3 pm no horses on those farms have developed fevers or any associated clinical signs.
The state is not imposing any quarantines at this time and horse travel to and from the state has not been restricted. Any quarantined farms have done so at their own discresion.
Herpes virus is not particularly resistant in the environment. It may live up to 30 days in ideal conditions but likely does not live more than a week in most field situations. It is readily killed by most disinfectants including alcohol (including commercial hand sanitizers), chlorhexidine, betadine, and bleach (diluted 1:10 with water). Bleach is inactivated by organic material (dirt, manure, etc) so anything being disinfected should be washed first to remove organic matter. Phenolic disinfectants work better in the presence of organic material but can be toxic to cats so they should be rinsed after allowing a 10 minute contact time, and they work best when applied at >60 degrees F.
Please contact event coordinators to see if any changes have been made for events that may be occurring this weekend-it is at their discretion whether events will be held or rescheduled.
We will continue to update you on this situation as it develops.
For now we are continuing to recommend segregation of potentially exposed horses and monitoring of their temperatures twice a day to monitor for development of the disease.
Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.
208-466-4613
Nebraska State Authorities Quarantine Five Horse Farms as Precautionary Move Against Equine Herpes Virus
Equisearch.com - Full Article
May 16, 2011
A day that began with show cancellations and a vet school hospital closing is ending with a state government quarantining horse farms even though there are no signs of disease. The unfolding saga of the possible cutting horse dispersal EHV outbreak is challenging everyone from horse owners to farriers and all the way up to state government officials.
This evening, the State of Nebraska Department of Agriculture announced a precautionary move that is the most dramatic since Colorado announced the first definite diagnosis of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) on Friday afternoon. Two horses in Colorado’s Weld County had been at a National Cutting Horse Association event in Ogden, Utah over Mother’s Day weekend, where they and other horses are believed to have been infected with the neurologic form of EHV.
After evaluating the situation, Nebraska State Veterinarian Dr. Dennis Hughes has placed five horse premises in his state under quarantine.
“The horse premises that are quarantined in Nebraska may have come into contact with infected horses during the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah,” said Dr. Hughes. “We are acting quickly to take appropriate measures to protect our horse industry. Our staff is working with the quarantined horse premise owners to monitor for signs associated with the disease.”...
More at
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/nebraska-quarantine-equine-herpes-virus-ehv/
May 16, 2011
A day that began with show cancellations and a vet school hospital closing is ending with a state government quarantining horse farms even though there are no signs of disease. The unfolding saga of the possible cutting horse dispersal EHV outbreak is challenging everyone from horse owners to farriers and all the way up to state government officials.
This evening, the State of Nebraska Department of Agriculture announced a precautionary move that is the most dramatic since Colorado announced the first definite diagnosis of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) on Friday afternoon. Two horses in Colorado’s Weld County had been at a National Cutting Horse Association event in Ogden, Utah over Mother’s Day weekend, where they and other horses are believed to have been infected with the neurologic form of EHV.
After evaluating the situation, Nebraska State Veterinarian Dr. Dennis Hughes has placed five horse premises in his state under quarantine.
“The horse premises that are quarantined in Nebraska may have come into contact with infected horses during the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah,” said Dr. Hughes. “We are acting quickly to take appropriate measures to protect our horse industry. Our staff is working with the quarantined horse premise owners to monitor for signs associated with the disease.”...
More at
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/nebraska-quarantine-equine-herpes-virus-ehv/
Colorado State University Closes Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Response to Equine Herpes Virus Outbreak
Equisearch.com - Full Article
May 16, 2011
Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado issued a statement on May 16 regarding a university decision to restrict access to the hospital. The text of the statement reads:
“CSU Veterinary Hospital leadership has made a decision based on best practices to restrict equine and camelid client movement to the VTH for appointments. At this time, all non-emergency cases are being rescheduled as a precaution. This precaution is designed to prevent horses from multiple locations from coming into contact with each other, based on concerns about the current widespread outbreak.
“The VTH’s main equine service area in the veterinary hospital is not housing any equine cases suspected to have been exposed to equine herpesvirus and this is merely a precaution to protect the facility and client horses. Any horses that may have been exposed to the virus will be observed and treated in a separate isolation unit that is not connected to the main hospital, and veterinarians are screening all emergency cases carefully.
“Any horse with evidence of any contagious disease is routinely cared for in a separate isolation facility. As an added precaution, the main equine service area also has implemented high levels of biosafety practices to protect the grounds and client horses...
More at:
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/colorado-state-university-vet-hospital-closed-virus-disease-outbreak/
May 16, 2011
Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado issued a statement on May 16 regarding a university decision to restrict access to the hospital. The text of the statement reads:
“CSU Veterinary Hospital leadership has made a decision based on best practices to restrict equine and camelid client movement to the VTH for appointments. At this time, all non-emergency cases are being rescheduled as a precaution. This precaution is designed to prevent horses from multiple locations from coming into contact with each other, based on concerns about the current widespread outbreak.
“The VTH’s main equine service area in the veterinary hospital is not housing any equine cases suspected to have been exposed to equine herpesvirus and this is merely a precaution to protect the facility and client horses. Any horses that may have been exposed to the virus will be observed and treated in a separate isolation unit that is not connected to the main hospital, and veterinarians are screening all emergency cases carefully.
“Any horse with evidence of any contagious disease is routinely cared for in a separate isolation facility. As an added precaution, the main equine service area also has implemented high levels of biosafety practices to protect the grounds and client horses...
More at:
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/05/16/colorado-state-university-vet-hospital-closed-virus-disease-outbreak/
EHV-1 Outbreak
Equisearch.com - Full Article
May 15, 2011
Over the weekend, The Jurga Report was busy gathering reports from the western United States, after a warning was issued for horses that had competed at a cutting horse event in Ogden, Utah over Mother’s Day weekend. Two horses in Colorado returned from the show and became sick, and Colorado State University issued a diagnosis of Equine Herpes Virus, Type 1, also known as the “neurologic” mutation of the common Equine Herpes Virus. One of the horses was euthanized.
But by then, cutting horses from the Utah show had dispersed all over the western United States and Canada. Saturday we reported on this blog about sick horses in California, one of whom was euthanized; no diagnosis of EHV-1 has been issued by the state, but the sick horses had been at the Utah show.
Tonight we learned of additional sickness among horses that had been at the Utah event.
The Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine is located in Pullman, Washington, in the eastern part of that state. They are now one of the centers of interest as this cutting horse disease story is tracked through the West.
The following information has been released to the public:
“The Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital is entering a period of voluntary isolation for equine and camelid patients. This is in response to a patient that was confirmed to be shedding Equine Herpes Virus type 1 (EHV-1).
“In the past week there have been two confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado in horses that competed at the National Cutting Horse Association Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. A horse admitted to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) for evaluation of unrelated problems was found to have competed at the show. Subsequent diagnostic testing confirmed that the horse was positive for EHV-1.
“Due to the potential for spread of the virus, access to the VTH is currently restricted. During this time, no new equine or camelid patients may be admitted to the hospital except for critical emergencies. It is expected that the period of isolation will last at least 2 weeks. There are currently no horses exhibiting signs of EHV-1 at WSU.
“Equine Herpes Virus does not affect cattle, sheep, goats, pigs or birds, and the remainder of the VTH remains open. There is no risk of transmission to people.
“We are taking every precaution to ensure the health and well-being of animals. ”
Elsewhere in the Northwest, Idaho Equine Hospital in Nampa, Idaho reported on their blog, “Idaho Equine Hospital has seen 2 horses from the Ogden (Utah) show with signs of EHV 1.” (Signs of the disease are not the same as a confirmed diagnosis; at this time only Colorado and Washington have confirmed diagnoses.)...
More at
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/?utm_source=eqs&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=eqs
May 15, 2011
Over the weekend, The Jurga Report was busy gathering reports from the western United States, after a warning was issued for horses that had competed at a cutting horse event in Ogden, Utah over Mother’s Day weekend. Two horses in Colorado returned from the show and became sick, and Colorado State University issued a diagnosis of Equine Herpes Virus, Type 1, also known as the “neurologic” mutation of the common Equine Herpes Virus. One of the horses was euthanized.
But by then, cutting horses from the Utah show had dispersed all over the western United States and Canada. Saturday we reported on this blog about sick horses in California, one of whom was euthanized; no diagnosis of EHV-1 has been issued by the state, but the sick horses had been at the Utah show.
Tonight we learned of additional sickness among horses that had been at the Utah event.
The Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine is located in Pullman, Washington, in the eastern part of that state. They are now one of the centers of interest as this cutting horse disease story is tracked through the West.
The following information has been released to the public:
“The Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital is entering a period of voluntary isolation for equine and camelid patients. This is in response to a patient that was confirmed to be shedding Equine Herpes Virus type 1 (EHV-1).
“In the past week there have been two confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado in horses that competed at the National Cutting Horse Association Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. A horse admitted to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) for evaluation of unrelated problems was found to have competed at the show. Subsequent diagnostic testing confirmed that the horse was positive for EHV-1.
“Due to the potential for spread of the virus, access to the VTH is currently restricted. During this time, no new equine or camelid patients may be admitted to the hospital except for critical emergencies. It is expected that the period of isolation will last at least 2 weeks. There are currently no horses exhibiting signs of EHV-1 at WSU.
“Equine Herpes Virus does not affect cattle, sheep, goats, pigs or birds, and the remainder of the VTH remains open. There is no risk of transmission to people.
“We are taking every precaution to ensure the health and well-being of animals. ”
Elsewhere in the Northwest, Idaho Equine Hospital in Nampa, Idaho reported on their blog, “Idaho Equine Hospital has seen 2 horses from the Ogden (Utah) show with signs of EHV 1.” (Signs of the disease are not the same as a confirmed diagnosis; at this time only Colorado and Washington have confirmed diagnoses.)...
More at
http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/?utm_source=eqs&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=eqs
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Ask the Vet Live Q & A: Conditioning Horses
Hooray for warmer weather, and more riding and training days! Before we hit the trails and training rings, though, let's not forget that if our horses have been in "winter storage," their bodies (and ours!) will need some conditioning before they're ready for a heavy work schedule. How does your horse's body adapt to exercise, and how can you tailor your conditioning program to maximize his fitness and soundness? How do you know when he is (or isn't) ready for more work? Find out during our free Ask the Vet LIVE online Q&A chat about Conditioning Horses on Thursday, May 26, from 8-9 p.m. Eastern U.S. time!
When you register for this event, you'll be able to send in your questions ahead of time. You can also ask questions during the live event on May 26. This free live chat is brought to you by Farnam: http://www.farnamhorse.com.
Our on-call panelists for this event will include the following:
* Meg Sleeper, VMD, Associate Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine and the school's cardiology section chief.
* Todd Holbrook, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, associate Professor of Equine Medicine at Oklahoma State University and the Equine Section Chief.
To register for this Webinar, go to:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/653263904
When you register for this event, you'll be able to send in your questions ahead of time. You can also ask questions during the live event on May 26. This free live chat is brought to you by Farnam: http://www.farnamhorse.com.
Our on-call panelists for this event will include the following:
* Meg Sleeper, VMD, Associate Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine and the school's cardiology section chief.
* Todd Holbrook, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, associate Professor of Equine Medicine at Oklahoma State University and the Equine Section Chief.
To register for this Webinar, go to:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/653263904
May 16 Deadline to Comment on USFS Access to Trails
May 14, 2011
Endurance riders are slowly but steadily losing access to trails due to new Forest Service and BLM rulings. Please support access to US Forest Service trails by commenting on the USFS Planning Rule before the Monday May 16 deadline. We are a vital part of this process, and can make a real difference in the future of our sport.
AERC has made it easy by publishing the following guidelines and recommendations for commenting:
The U.S. Forest Service is required to develop a Planning Rule by the National Forest Management Act of 1976. The USFS began accepting public comments/input last year. AERC representatives have attended many of these public meetings/hearings. The purpose of the rule is to set requirements for land and resource management by the USFS. In general, these requirements regulate logging, mining, lease pasture and recreational use of USFS resources. AERC believes it is important to maintain a presence in this planning process. Members are encouraged to support equestrian access to USFS trails and lands as described below. Thank you for doing your part!
Recommendations for comments on the United States Forest Service Planning Rule
Address comments to:
Forest Service Planning DEIS
C/o Bear West Company
132 E 500 S
Bountiful, Utah 84010
Or by facsimile to 801-397-1605
Or through the public participation portal at http://www.govcomments.com/
Or through the internet website http://www.regulations.gov
Please identify your written comments by including “Planning Rule” on the cover sheet or first page. You may wish to include a note that you are an endurance rider and a member of the American Endurance Ride Conference. You can add that endurance riding is a competitive sport that emphasizes safety for horse and rider, and the AERC motto is “to finish is to win.”
The following is a list of talking points to assist AERC members in composing their comments to the USFS. A letter or comment of your own composition will be more effective than form letters. AERC encourages all members to exercise their rights as good citizens by commenting on the USFS Planning Rule.
Talking Points developed by the AERC Trails and Land Management Committee:
1. Provide a brief description of yourself including the fact that you are an endurance rider.
2. Note that the Planning Rule does not specifically address equine recreational trail use. We encourage the FS to include equine trail use.
3. We recommend that the rule specify that local equestrian trail users be notified of local plans or changes in plans for the use of forest trails and riding areas by the responsible authority.
4. Remind the FS that endurance riders are responsible stewards of our public lands and desire to be involved in efforts to plan and develop sustainable multi-use trails.
5. Point out exactly which forests you ride and how important they are to you.
Endurance riders are slowly but steadily losing access to trails due to new Forest Service and BLM rulings. Please support access to US Forest Service trails by commenting on the USFS Planning Rule before the Monday May 16 deadline. We are a vital part of this process, and can make a real difference in the future of our sport.
AERC has made it easy by publishing the following guidelines and recommendations for commenting:
The U.S. Forest Service is required to develop a Planning Rule by the National Forest Management Act of 1976. The USFS began accepting public comments/input last year. AERC representatives have attended many of these public meetings/hearings. The purpose of the rule is to set requirements for land and resource management by the USFS. In general, these requirements regulate logging, mining, lease pasture and recreational use of USFS resources. AERC believes it is important to maintain a presence in this planning process. Members are encouraged to support equestrian access to USFS trails and lands as described below. Thank you for doing your part!
Recommendations for comments on the United States Forest Service Planning Rule
Address comments to:
Forest Service Planning DEIS
C/o Bear West Company
132 E 500 S
Bountiful, Utah 84010
Or by facsimile to 801-397-1605
Or through the public participation portal at http://www.govcomments.com/
Or through the internet website http://www.regulations.gov
Please identify your written comments by including “Planning Rule” on the cover sheet or first page. You may wish to include a note that you are an endurance rider and a member of the American Endurance Ride Conference. You can add that endurance riding is a competitive sport that emphasizes safety for horse and rider, and the AERC motto is “to finish is to win.”
The following is a list of talking points to assist AERC members in composing their comments to the USFS. A letter or comment of your own composition will be more effective than form letters. AERC encourages all members to exercise their rights as good citizens by commenting on the USFS Planning Rule.
Talking Points developed by the AERC Trails and Land Management Committee:
1. Provide a brief description of yourself including the fact that you are an endurance rider.
2. Note that the Planning Rule does not specifically address equine recreational trail use. We encourage the FS to include equine trail use.
3. We recommend that the rule specify that local equestrian trail users be notified of local plans or changes in plans for the use of forest trails and riding areas by the responsible authority.
4. Remind the FS that endurance riders are responsible stewards of our public lands and desire to be involved in efforts to plan and develop sustainable multi-use trails.
5. Point out exactly which forests you ride and how important they are to you.
Friday, May 13, 2011
USEF Equestrians in Action
USEF.org
USEF Equestrians in Action tracks youth volunteer hours that are aimed at improving the welfare of the horse or positively promoting equestrian sport. Sponsored by the EQUUS Foundation, the program encourages youth to give back to equine sport – at horse shows, equine promotional events, equine businesses or organizations, trade fairs, therapeutic riding centers, horse rescue and 4-H events.
Who:
Participants must be 21 years of age or younger at the start of the award year and need current USEF membership.
Program Award Year:
Participants can begin recording hours December 1, 2010 through November 31, 2011. Hours worked prior to the award year cannot be counted.
Volunteer Hours:
Approved volunteer hours will include hours volunteered at any USEF recognized competition, schooling show, 4-H function or club event, service at an equine clinic, equestrian or horse-related charity such as a therapeutic riding center or horse rescue, any event that is working to improve the welfare of horses, or any event that is promoting equestrian sport in a positive manner (i.e. equine affaire). To ensure a level playing field, volunteer hours must be given freely, without payment or other compensation.
Levels:
Bronze—completed a minimum of 50 cumulative hours per year
Silver—completed a minimum of 100 cumulative hours per year
Gold—completed a minimum of 150 cumulative hours per year
Awards:
The participant with the most volunteer hours in the award year (minimum of 150 hours) will earn a $1,500 grant payable to the educational program of choice. All youth have the opportunity to earn one of three certificates depending on their participation level. Those who volunteer at least 50 hours will be awarded a Bronze level certificate while youth who volunteer at least 100 hours will receive a Silver level certificate. The highest level, the Gold certificate, will go to those who volunteer 150 or more hours. In addition, the top 10 participants will receive special “Top Ten” certificates.
How to sign up and keep track of hours:
Participants will create an account, which will track their volunteer hours. Individuals will record their hours in the online portal where they will identify their area of service (USEF competition/Event, Therapeutic riding center, etc.) number of hours, date of service, and organizations name, city, state, phone number, and email. A description of the volunteer work such as groomed horses, handed out ribbons, etc. is required. To log in to USEF Equestrians in Action or create a USEF account, click the login link below. Once you are logged in then you can add or view your hours in the volunteer log.
A top ten listing of participants for the current year and overall appear below. You can see how you compare to other participants and who is leading with the highest number of hours.
More:
http://usef.org/_IFrames/Youth/EquestriansInAction.aspx
USEF Equestrians in Action tracks youth volunteer hours that are aimed at improving the welfare of the horse or positively promoting equestrian sport. Sponsored by the EQUUS Foundation, the program encourages youth to give back to equine sport – at horse shows, equine promotional events, equine businesses or organizations, trade fairs, therapeutic riding centers, horse rescue and 4-H events.
Who:
Participants must be 21 years of age or younger at the start of the award year and need current USEF membership.
Program Award Year:
Participants can begin recording hours December 1, 2010 through November 31, 2011. Hours worked prior to the award year cannot be counted.
Volunteer Hours:
Approved volunteer hours will include hours volunteered at any USEF recognized competition, schooling show, 4-H function or club event, service at an equine clinic, equestrian or horse-related charity such as a therapeutic riding center or horse rescue, any event that is working to improve the welfare of horses, or any event that is promoting equestrian sport in a positive manner (i.e. equine affaire). To ensure a level playing field, volunteer hours must be given freely, without payment or other compensation.
Levels:
Bronze—completed a minimum of 50 cumulative hours per year
Silver—completed a minimum of 100 cumulative hours per year
Gold—completed a minimum of 150 cumulative hours per year
Awards:
The participant with the most volunteer hours in the award year (minimum of 150 hours) will earn a $1,500 grant payable to the educational program of choice. All youth have the opportunity to earn one of three certificates depending on their participation level. Those who volunteer at least 50 hours will be awarded a Bronze level certificate while youth who volunteer at least 100 hours will receive a Silver level certificate. The highest level, the Gold certificate, will go to those who volunteer 150 or more hours. In addition, the top 10 participants will receive special “Top Ten” certificates.
How to sign up and keep track of hours:
Participants will create an account, which will track their volunteer hours. Individuals will record their hours in the online portal where they will identify their area of service (USEF competition/Event, Therapeutic riding center, etc.) number of hours, date of service, and organizations name, city, state, phone number, and email. A description of the volunteer work such as groomed horses, handed out ribbons, etc. is required. To log in to USEF Equestrians in Action or create a USEF account, click the login link below. Once you are logged in then you can add or view your hours in the volunteer log.
A top ten listing of participants for the current year and overall appear below. You can see how you compare to other participants and who is leading with the highest number of hours.
More:
http://usef.org/_IFrames/Youth/EquestriansInAction.aspx
Biltmore Challenge Endurance Ride CEI/CEIY
USEF.org
Release: May 11 2011
Author: Joanie Morris
Endurance
The Biltmore Challenge Endurance Ride CEI/CEIY was held on the historic grounds of George Vanderbilt’s picturesque estate in Asheville, NC. The event boasted over 150 entries in both the Open and FEI divisions. Hot Desert Knight was the first horse across the finish line in the CEI3* 160km. Farzard Faryadi rode the Arabian gelding to the win in 10:19:12. Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Cadence took second in 10:38:44, barely edging out Ceci Butler-Stasiuk and DJB KD Fantasia who finished in 10:38:46. In the CEIY3* 160km, Kyle Gibbon was the only rider to finish, taking the win in 12:55:47.
In the CEI2* 120km, Valarie Kanavy and Reach for the Gold set the pace and won handily in a time of 7:14:56. Natalie Muzzio and Laconic were second in a time of 8:19:22 and Lithuanian rider Alisija Zabavska-Granger rounded out the top three. Kelsey Russell and My Wild Irish Gold came in for the win in the CEIY2* 120km in a time of 7:14:54, and hot on their heels was Cassandra Roberts with Destiny Gold, taking second in a time of 7:14:55. Coming in third was Steven Hay on Khalil Asam in 8:19:24.
TJ Vore rode BHF Flash Back to the win in the CEI1* 80km in a time of 6:01:48. Frank Murphy and Tumultuous were second, with Amy Atkins and SA Zacks Comet finishing third. In the CEIY1* 80km, Meghan Delp blazed home for the win in 5:09:37 aboard Layla Z Gold. Sophia Bashir and DJB Cyton Kon JMF were second, and Amos Cader and Blaze Star were third.
For more information, please visit http://www.biltmoreendurance.com/index.html
Release: May 11 2011
Author: Joanie Morris
Endurance
The Biltmore Challenge Endurance Ride CEI/CEIY was held on the historic grounds of George Vanderbilt’s picturesque estate in Asheville, NC. The event boasted over 150 entries in both the Open and FEI divisions. Hot Desert Knight was the first horse across the finish line in the CEI3* 160km. Farzard Faryadi rode the Arabian gelding to the win in 10:19:12. Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Cadence took second in 10:38:44, barely edging out Ceci Butler-Stasiuk and DJB KD Fantasia who finished in 10:38:46. In the CEIY3* 160km, Kyle Gibbon was the only rider to finish, taking the win in 12:55:47.
In the CEI2* 120km, Valarie Kanavy and Reach for the Gold set the pace and won handily in a time of 7:14:56. Natalie Muzzio and Laconic were second in a time of 8:19:22 and Lithuanian rider Alisija Zabavska-Granger rounded out the top three. Kelsey Russell and My Wild Irish Gold came in for the win in the CEIY2* 120km in a time of 7:14:54, and hot on their heels was Cassandra Roberts with Destiny Gold, taking second in a time of 7:14:55. Coming in third was Steven Hay on Khalil Asam in 8:19:24.
TJ Vore rode BHF Flash Back to the win in the CEI1* 80km in a time of 6:01:48. Frank Murphy and Tumultuous were second, with Amy Atkins and SA Zacks Comet finishing third. In the CEIY1* 80km, Meghan Delp blazed home for the win in 5:09:37 aboard Layla Z Gold. Sophia Bashir and DJB Cyton Kon JMF were second, and Amos Cader and Blaze Star were third.
For more information, please visit http://www.biltmoreendurance.com/index.html
Sunday, May 08, 2011
"Hoof care options for the competitive endurance horse" Clinic
Global Endurance Training Center presents:
“Hoof care options for the competitive endurance horse”
Presentation, Discussion & Demonstration
When: Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
9 am – 5 pm
Where: ONCE UPON A HORSE ARENA
2880 N Eagle Rd
Eagle, Id 83616
(Eagle Exit on I-84, 2 miles north of Eagle at corner of Eagle Rd and Beacon Light Rd)
Tel: 208 939 0785
Participation Fee: $ 200.00 if paid before May 18th ( $ 225.00 after deadline)
Program:
9 am – 10 am: Functional Anatomy of the Equine limb
10 am -11 am: Limb and Hoof Biomechanics
11 am – 12 am: Conformation and Hoof capsule distortion
12 am – 1 pm: Lunch ( lunch will be provided) During lunch, opportunity for Q&A
1 pm – 3 pm: Practical session with live horses: Conformation analysis, hoof care and trimming
3 pm – 5 pm: Choices of hoof protection and application
Clinicians:
Christoph Schork, Hoof Care Provider, Farrier and rider; Global Endurance Training Center, Moab Utah
-20 year experience as farrier, hoof care specialist, bare foot trimmer
-10 year experience as clinician in hoof care and horse training in the Americas, Australia and Europe (1st place in 2007 Quilty Gold Cup winner)
-25 year experience as horse trainer, endurance rider, national and international competitor(1st place in 2007 Quilty Gold Cup winner, PANAM, WEG rider)
-With partner Dian Woodward: combined completion mileage of over 35,000 miles and combined 1st place finishes of over 230
Olin Balch, DVM, MS, PhD, North Fork Veterinary Service, Cascade, Idaho
-Participant in endurance riding (vetting/judging, riding) and ride-in-tie events since 1980
-Resident farrier for the Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine from 1976 to 1980 and from 1986 –1991
-Ph.D. Degree in Equine Locomotion and Biomechanics; Ph.D. Dissertation: Effects of alterations in hoof angle, mediolateral balance, and toe length on kinetic and temporal parameters of horses walking, trotting, and cantering on a high-speed treadmill
-One of 38 veterinarians selected world-wide since 1997 to the International Equine Veterinarian Hall of Fame that recognizes veterinarians who have contributed to the knowledge and recognition of proper hoof care for horses
-51 national and international presentations and 34 refereed scientific papers and proceedings on shoeing, hoof balance, and lameness issues
Sign up at:
Global Endurance Training Center
4381 Heather Lane
Moab, Ut. 84532
Tel: 435 719 4033
Cell: 435 260 1494
Email: info@globalendurance.com
www.globalendurance.com
“Hoof care options for the competitive endurance horse”
Presentation, Discussion & Demonstration
When: Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
9 am – 5 pm
Where: ONCE UPON A HORSE ARENA
2880 N Eagle Rd
Eagle, Id 83616
(Eagle Exit on I-84, 2 miles north of Eagle at corner of Eagle Rd and Beacon Light Rd)
Tel: 208 939 0785
Participation Fee: $ 200.00 if paid before May 18th ( $ 225.00 after deadline)
Program:
9 am – 10 am: Functional Anatomy of the Equine limb
10 am -11 am: Limb and Hoof Biomechanics
11 am – 12 am: Conformation and Hoof capsule distortion
12 am – 1 pm: Lunch ( lunch will be provided) During lunch, opportunity for Q&A
1 pm – 3 pm: Practical session with live horses: Conformation analysis, hoof care and trimming
3 pm – 5 pm: Choices of hoof protection and application
Clinicians:
Christoph Schork, Hoof Care Provider, Farrier and rider; Global Endurance Training Center, Moab Utah
-20 year experience as farrier, hoof care specialist, bare foot trimmer
-10 year experience as clinician in hoof care and horse training in the Americas, Australia and Europe (1st place in 2007 Quilty Gold Cup winner)
-25 year experience as horse trainer, endurance rider, national and international competitor(1st place in 2007 Quilty Gold Cup winner, PANAM, WEG rider)
-With partner Dian Woodward: combined completion mileage of over 35,000 miles and combined 1st place finishes of over 230
Olin Balch, DVM, MS, PhD, North Fork Veterinary Service, Cascade, Idaho
-Participant in endurance riding (vetting/judging, riding) and ride-in-tie events since 1980
-Resident farrier for the Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine from 1976 to 1980 and from 1986 –1991
-Ph.D. Degree in Equine Locomotion and Biomechanics; Ph.D. Dissertation: Effects of alterations in hoof angle, mediolateral balance, and toe length on kinetic and temporal parameters of horses walking, trotting, and cantering on a high-speed treadmill
-One of 38 veterinarians selected world-wide since 1997 to the International Equine Veterinarian Hall of Fame that recognizes veterinarians who have contributed to the knowledge and recognition of proper hoof care for horses
-51 national and international presentations and 34 refereed scientific papers and proceedings on shoeing, hoof balance, and lameness issues
Sign up at:
Global Endurance Training Center
4381 Heather Lane
Moab, Ut. 84532
Tel: 435 719 4033
Cell: 435 260 1494
Email: info@globalendurance.com
www.globalendurance.com
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Six Endurance Riders Still Competing for America's Favorite Equestrian
Garrett Ford, Becky Hart, Dave Rabe, Robert Ribley, Julie Suhr, Bill Wilson - six popular AERC endurance riders - are still in the running to become America's Favorite Equestrian, a fundraiser for USEF's Equus Foundation.
They are competing against 6 equestrians from each of the eight disciplines that participated in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Having survived Round 1, the 48 equestrians have now moved on to Round 2.
For a compete list of America's Favorite Equestrians Round 2, see USEF.org.
One more equestrian with the lowest number of votes in each discipline will drop off the list at the end of Round 2 on May 31, 2011. Don't let it be your favorite! All it takes is a $5 gift to The EQUUS Foundation to keep your favorite in the competition.
How to Vote:
Visit the link at http://www.equusfoundation.org/vote
For a $5 contribution, you can select your favorite equestrian (listed by discipline) and follow the instructions provided to use mobile texting to vote. After texting your vote, you must reply YES to confirm your vote and $5 donation.
You can also vote using an online form or vote by mail.
All donations received by the EQUUS Foundation will be used in support of horse-related charitable causes.
How it Works:
Round 2 - Voting ends May 31, 2011. In each featured discipline, the five equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 3.
Round 3 - Voting ends on July 31, 2011. In each featured discipline, the four equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 4.
Round 4 - Voting ends on September 30, 2011. In each featured discipline, the three equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 5, the final round.
Round 5 - Voting ends on October 31, 2011. America's Favorite Equestrian will be selected based on the athletes with the highest number of votes recorded in each of the eight disciplines.
Winner Selections:
The athlete from each discipline with the most votes will join the ranks of America's Favorite Equestrian. These winners will be announced in November 2011 at the National Horse Show, taking place at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
About America's Favorite Equestrian:
The EQUUS Foundation and the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) jointly launched the charitable mobile texting competition in celebration of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the eight international disciplines represented on the field of play.
The objective is for America's Favorite Equestrian to be an ongoing program with all equestrian disciplines/breeds represented and the winners recognized in a permanent "Hall of Fame". For this inaugural program, the disciplines competing in the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games were selected for the program, with the many of the equestrians selected by the respective Recognized Affiliates of USEF.
The EQUUS Foundation has pledged to award a minimum of $10,000 in grants in support of USEF programs within these eight international equestrian disciplines. The discipline generating the greatest number of votes will receive an additional $5,000 grant award for its USEF-affiliated association subject to raising sufficient funds. Donations raised over $15,000 will be used to support horse-related charitable causes.
For additional information on The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., visit the EQUUS website at www.equusfoundation.org or contact The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., at telephone (203) 259-1550, email to equus@equusfoundation.org.
They are competing against 6 equestrians from each of the eight disciplines that participated in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Having survived Round 1, the 48 equestrians have now moved on to Round 2.
For a compete list of America's Favorite Equestrians Round 2, see USEF.org.
One more equestrian with the lowest number of votes in each discipline will drop off the list at the end of Round 2 on May 31, 2011. Don't let it be your favorite! All it takes is a $5 gift to The EQUUS Foundation to keep your favorite in the competition.
How to Vote:
Visit the link at http://www.equusfoundation.org/vote
For a $5 contribution, you can select your favorite equestrian (listed by discipline) and follow the instructions provided to use mobile texting to vote. After texting your vote, you must reply YES to confirm your vote and $5 donation.
You can also vote using an online form or vote by mail.
All donations received by the EQUUS Foundation will be used in support of horse-related charitable causes.
How it Works:
Round 2 - Voting ends May 31, 2011. In each featured discipline, the five equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 3.
Round 3 - Voting ends on July 31, 2011. In each featured discipline, the four equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 4.
Round 4 - Voting ends on September 30, 2011. In each featured discipline, the three equestrians with the most votes will continue to Round 5, the final round.
Round 5 - Voting ends on October 31, 2011. America's Favorite Equestrian will be selected based on the athletes with the highest number of votes recorded in each of the eight disciplines.
Winner Selections:
The athlete from each discipline with the most votes will join the ranks of America's Favorite Equestrian. These winners will be announced in November 2011 at the National Horse Show, taking place at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
About America's Favorite Equestrian:
The EQUUS Foundation and the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) jointly launched the charitable mobile texting competition in celebration of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the eight international disciplines represented on the field of play.
The objective is for America's Favorite Equestrian to be an ongoing program with all equestrian disciplines/breeds represented and the winners recognized in a permanent "Hall of Fame". For this inaugural program, the disciplines competing in the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games were selected for the program, with the many of the equestrians selected by the respective Recognized Affiliates of USEF.
The EQUUS Foundation has pledged to award a minimum of $10,000 in grants in support of USEF programs within these eight international equestrian disciplines. The discipline generating the greatest number of votes will receive an additional $5,000 grant award for its USEF-affiliated association subject to raising sufficient funds. Donations raised over $15,000 will be used to support horse-related charitable causes.
For additional information on The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., visit the EQUUS website at www.equusfoundation.org or contact The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., at telephone (203) 259-1550, email to equus@equusfoundation.org.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Whiskeytown Trail Work Day Scheduled Saturday
Anewscafe.com
By Paul Shigley May 3, 2011
A major volunteer trail work day is scheduled for this Saturday, May 7, at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. You might call it Don’t Tread on the Salmon Day.
Let me explain.
The Clear Creek Canal Trail runs for more than four miles roughly parallel to Paige Bar Road from just below Clair Hill Whiskeytown Dam to Horse Camp. Because the trail mostly follows an old water ditch, it has a very slight, imperceptible grade – with one major exception. At Orofino Gulch, the trail plunges sharply downhill to Orofino Creek and then back up.
This short section is known not-so-fondly as The Ditch of Death and has eroded badly. In the 15 years that I’ve been a regular user, I’ve seen the combination of use and rain carve the trail two to four feet into the hillsides. All of that soil washed into Orofino Creek, which flows into Clear Creek. Numerous agencies have poured a ton of money and effort into reviving Clear Creek’s salmon and steelhead fishery, and the fish have returned. However, fine sediment can choke a stream and harm spawning grounds.
So Whiskeytown park officials with major assistance from you, dear hiker-mountain biker-trail runner-horseback rider-nature lover, intend to reroute Clear Creek Canal Trail around the Ditch of Death in order to decrease erosion and let the old trail heal.
The new route will be roughly 400 yards long and will snake down to the creek more gently. Bob Boecking, who heads the Redding Mountain Bike club and works on the Whiskeytown crew, has heard from fellow mountain bikers who don’t want to see the trail moved. Advanced riders enjoy the challenge presented by the Ditch of Death’s steep slope, ruts, rocks and roots.
However, Boecking noted, most mountain bikers (including yours truly) have to dismount, as do many horse riders, because the trail is simply too treacherous. Yet the trail is part of the courses for the Lemurian and Whiskeytown Classic mountain bike races, the Whiskeytown Off-Road Duathlon, and the Whiskeytown Chaser endurance horse ride.
“The planned route is going to be a lot more fun to ride than the trail is now,” Boecking said. He likens the project to the one a few years ago that rerouted the Rich Gulch Trail at the infamous “chimney” above Upper Brandy Creek Trail. Mountain bikers called that ride The Chimney (they still do) because shooting down that steep section that had eroded deeply into the hillside was just like dropping down a chimney. However, just about everyone loves the rerouted trail because it’s more fun to traverse and much prettier.
The park’s crew has already cleared the poison oak and other brush at the location of the Clear Creek Canal Trail’s new route. Now, the park is looking for about 100 volunteers to put in the actual trail tread.
Volunteers should plan to arrive at the NEED camp on Paige Bar Road by 8 a.m. on Saturday for coffee, doughnut and a quick training session before heading out for about a half day’s worth of work. Barbecued burgers and dogs will be waiting afterward. You don’t need to register in advance, and you don’t need any special equipment other than work gloves and sturdy shoes. Sunscreen, bug juice and a full water bottle are good ideas. To learn more, call the park headquarters at (530) 242-3400.
By Paul Shigley May 3, 2011
A major volunteer trail work day is scheduled for this Saturday, May 7, at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. You might call it Don’t Tread on the Salmon Day.
Let me explain.
The Clear Creek Canal Trail runs for more than four miles roughly parallel to Paige Bar Road from just below Clair Hill Whiskeytown Dam to Horse Camp. Because the trail mostly follows an old water ditch, it has a very slight, imperceptible grade – with one major exception. At Orofino Gulch, the trail plunges sharply downhill to Orofino Creek and then back up.
This short section is known not-so-fondly as The Ditch of Death and has eroded badly. In the 15 years that I’ve been a regular user, I’ve seen the combination of use and rain carve the trail two to four feet into the hillsides. All of that soil washed into Orofino Creek, which flows into Clear Creek. Numerous agencies have poured a ton of money and effort into reviving Clear Creek’s salmon and steelhead fishery, and the fish have returned. However, fine sediment can choke a stream and harm spawning grounds.
So Whiskeytown park officials with major assistance from you, dear hiker-mountain biker-trail runner-horseback rider-nature lover, intend to reroute Clear Creek Canal Trail around the Ditch of Death in order to decrease erosion and let the old trail heal.
The new route will be roughly 400 yards long and will snake down to the creek more gently. Bob Boecking, who heads the Redding Mountain Bike club and works on the Whiskeytown crew, has heard from fellow mountain bikers who don’t want to see the trail moved. Advanced riders enjoy the challenge presented by the Ditch of Death’s steep slope, ruts, rocks and roots.
However, Boecking noted, most mountain bikers (including yours truly) have to dismount, as do many horse riders, because the trail is simply too treacherous. Yet the trail is part of the courses for the Lemurian and Whiskeytown Classic mountain bike races, the Whiskeytown Off-Road Duathlon, and the Whiskeytown Chaser endurance horse ride.
“The planned route is going to be a lot more fun to ride than the trail is now,” Boecking said. He likens the project to the one a few years ago that rerouted the Rich Gulch Trail at the infamous “chimney” above Upper Brandy Creek Trail. Mountain bikers called that ride The Chimney (they still do) because shooting down that steep section that had eroded deeply into the hillside was just like dropping down a chimney. However, just about everyone loves the rerouted trail because it’s more fun to traverse and much prettier.
The park’s crew has already cleared the poison oak and other brush at the location of the Clear Creek Canal Trail’s new route. Now, the park is looking for about 100 volunteers to put in the actual trail tread.
Volunteers should plan to arrive at the NEED camp on Paige Bar Road by 8 a.m. on Saturday for coffee, doughnut and a quick training session before heading out for about a half day’s worth of work. Barbecued burgers and dogs will be waiting afterward. You don’t need to register in advance, and you don’t need any special equipment other than work gloves and sturdy shoes. Sunscreen, bug juice and a full water bottle are good ideas. To learn more, call the park headquarters at (530) 242-3400.
USTA to present Standardbred Endurance Award
USTRotting.com
Tuesday, May 03, 2011 - by Jessica Schroeder, U.S. Trotting Association Outreach
Columbus, OH --- The USTA’s Standardbred Equine Program has teamed up with the American Endurance Ride Conference to present the “Standardbred Endurance Award” for 2011. The award will be given to the Standardbred that has the most miles ridden during the season (Dec. 1, 2010–Nov. 30, 2011).
All rides will be considered, including the limited distance 25-35 mile rides, and standard endurance rides (50-plus miles).
Riders must be a member of AERC in order to track horse and rider mileage. New membership is $63.75 and includes one horse registration; additional horse registration is $15 each. For more information about AERC, visit Tuesday, May 03, 2011 - by Jessica Schroeder, U.S. Trotting Association Outreach
Columbus, OH --- The USTA’s Standardbred Equine Program has teamed up with the American Endurance Ride Conference to present the “Standardbred Endurance Award” for 2011. The award will be given to the Standardbred that has the most miles ridden during the season (Dec. 1, 2010–Nov. 30, 2011).
All rides will be considered, including the limited distance 25-35 mile rides, and standard endurance rides (50-plus miles).
Riders must be a member of AERC in order to track horse and rider mileage. New membership is $63.75 and includes one horse registration; additional horse registration is $15 each. For more information about AERC, visit www.aerc.org.
Since 1996, the Standardbred Equine Program has worked with off-the-track Standardbreds and their owners to educate the general public on the many disciplines at which Standardbreds excel once they are retired from racing. For more information about the SEP at the USTA, visit standardbreds.ustrotting.com, or send e-mail inquiries to sep@ustrotting.com.
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Since 1996, the Standardbred Equine Program has worked with off-the-track Standardbreds and their owners to educate the general public on the many disciplines at which Standardbreds excel once they are retired from racing. For more information about the SEP at the USTA, visit standardbreds.ustrotting.com, or send e-mail inquiries to sep@ustrotting.com.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011 - by Jessica Schroeder, U.S. Trotting Association Outreach
Columbus, OH --- The USTA’s Standardbred Equine Program has teamed up with the American Endurance Ride Conference to present the “Standardbred Endurance Award” for 2011. The award will be given to the Standardbred that has the most miles ridden during the season (Dec. 1, 2010–Nov. 30, 2011).
All rides will be considered, including the limited distance 25-35 mile rides, and standard endurance rides (50-plus miles).
Riders must be a member of AERC in order to track horse and rider mileage. New membership is $63.75 and includes one horse registration; additional horse registration is $15 each. For more information about AERC, visit Tuesday, May 03, 2011 - by Jessica Schroeder, U.S. Trotting Association Outreach
Columbus, OH --- The USTA’s Standardbred Equine Program has teamed up with the American Endurance Ride Conference to present the “Standardbred Endurance Award” for 2011. The award will be given to the Standardbred that has the most miles ridden during the season (Dec. 1, 2010–Nov. 30, 2011).
All rides will be considered, including the limited distance 25-35 mile rides, and standard endurance rides (50-plus miles).
Riders must be a member of AERC in order to track horse and rider mileage. New membership is $63.75 and includes one horse registration; additional horse registration is $15 each. For more information about AERC, visit www.aerc.org.
Since 1996, the Standardbred Equine Program has worked with off-the-track Standardbreds and their owners to educate the general public on the many disciplines at which Standardbreds excel once they are retired from racing. For more information about the SEP at the USTA, visit standardbreds.ustrotting.com, or send e-mail inquiries to sep@ustrotting.com.
.
Since 1996, the Standardbred Equine Program has worked with off-the-track Standardbreds and their owners to educate the general public on the many disciplines at which Standardbreds excel once they are retired from racing. For more information about the SEP at the USTA, visit standardbreds.ustrotting.com, or send e-mail inquiries to sep@ustrotting.com.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Horse Health Clinic with Regan Golob
Horse Health Clinic with Regan Golob
Saturday, June 4 · 8:30am - 11:30am
High Star Ranch
970 N State Rd. 32, Kamas, UT 84036
What is your horse trying to tell you?
Have you found yourself wondering who can help solve your challenges with horses? The answer can be found in this informative two day seminar. This class takes the guesswork and practice out of what to feed, teaches you to locate the lameness, and assists you to pinpoint the solutions for optimum health and performance!
AT THIS SEMINAR YOU WILL LEARN:
• Nutritional Reflex Points -- how to test your horse for any supplement, feed or deficiency!
• A Parasite Reflex Point -- does your horse need deworming, how often and with what?
• Why your horse probably has a rib out of place -- what common practice displaces it, and
how to fix it, regaining full performance!
• How acupuncture meridians in your horse’s feet affect performance, and ways to stimulate
these meridians for optimum performance!
• How to eliminate energy blocks that create musculo-skeletal and nervous system problems!
• Common Feeding Mistakes that hinder top performance!
You are guaranteed to come away from this seminar with major breakthrough information that will enable you to have a whole new relationship with your horses
Time: 8:30 registration, 9:00 am -4:30 pm Friday 9:00am-12 noon Sat.
$79 if paid before May 4. $89 after. Horse evaluations-Additional $60 during seminar as demo horse ( limit 5 )
Private horse/human evaluations that weekend $65
RSVP: for flyer and additional information
Marlo@vivenziodressage.com
801-801-918-9715
Seminar with Regan Golob
and Judy Sinner
Saturday, June 4 · 8:30am - 11:30am
High Star Ranch
970 N State Rd. 32, Kamas, UT 84036
What is your horse trying to tell you?
Have you found yourself wondering who can help solve your challenges with horses? The answer can be found in this informative two day seminar. This class takes the guesswork and practice out of what to feed, teaches you to locate the lameness, and assists you to pinpoint the solutions for optimum health and performance!
AT THIS SEMINAR YOU WILL LEARN:
• Nutritional Reflex Points -- how to test your horse for any supplement, feed or deficiency!
• A Parasite Reflex Point -- does your horse need deworming, how often and with what?
• Why your horse probably has a rib out of place -- what common practice displaces it, and
how to fix it, regaining full performance!
• How acupuncture meridians in your horse’s feet affect performance, and ways to stimulate
these meridians for optimum performance!
• How to eliminate energy blocks that create musculo-skeletal and nervous system problems!
• Common Feeding Mistakes that hinder top performance!
You are guaranteed to come away from this seminar with major breakthrough information that will enable you to have a whole new relationship with your horses
Time: 8:30 registration, 9:00 am -4:30 pm Friday 9:00am-12 noon Sat.
$79 if paid before May 4. $89 after. Horse evaluations-Additional $60 during seminar as demo horse ( limit 5 )
Private horse/human evaluations that weekend $65
RSVP: for flyer and additional information
Marlo@vivenziodressage.com
801-801-918-9715
Seminar with Regan Golob
and Judy Sinner
Louisiana’s Zydeco Trail
photo:The Pineywoods Trail Ride, held in Beaver, La., last Labor Day weekend, is one of a circuit of zydeco trail rides that take place in Cajun country around Lafayette, La., and in parts of Texas.
New York Times
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: April 22, 2011
I HAD never noticed how closely the syncopated rhythm of zydeco music echoes the rollicking stumble of horses on rough terrain. But on a September afternoon in the piney woods of Evangeline Parish, in Louisiana’s Cajun country, with hundreds of dusty horseback riders moving down a narrow trail, the kinship was impossible to miss. As the horses followed a tractor towing a D.J. and a zydeco-blaring sound system, they bucked and swayed in a cadence fit for the barroom floors of Lafayette, 70 miles away.
Eventually the riders — young and old, encumbered by cold beers or small children — reached a large clearing in the middle of the woods, which quickly filled with horses, flatbeds, wagons and buggies as the music continued to throb. People sold barbecue sandwiches and turkey legs from the backs of pick-up trucks. A group of women piled out of a wagon and serenely performed a line dance in the dust. Young people sang and flirted and held up their beers with a “Wooo!”
The clearing was the halfway point of the Pineywoods Trail Ride, one of a circuit of zydeco trail rides that take place in the countryside around Lafayette and in many parts of Texas from Mardi Gras through early December. Exuberant, untouched by corporate sponsors and run by a close-knit network of people who price their beer at $2 a can, the rides are a traditional way to celebrate the cowboy culture of rural blacks or Creoles (commonly understood as a mixture of black with French, Spanish and/or Native American ancestry).
Originally small affairs among relatives and neighbors, the rides have evolved over decades into organized events with a dedicated following, though they have remained largely unknown to outsiders. In recent years, trail rides have surged in popularity among rural youth, as zydeco musicians have incorporated strains of R&B and hip-hop, attracting a new generation for whom Creole is suddenly cool.
The Pineywoods ride, for which more than 2,000 people gathered over the course of three days, started and ended on a farm with an open-sided pavilion that, by the end, would be in a sorry shambles — its benches broken from the weight of people climbing up to get a look at the musicians, an industrial-size Dumpster outside overflowing with the detritus of revelry. It would be a huge, weird, miles-from-nowhere party, one that I had fantasized about for nearly five years.
IN July 2006, when my friend Lisa D’Amour and I embarked on a long, music-seeking weekend with Lafayette as our base, all we knew about zydeco trail rides had been gleaned from an endearingly amateurish Louisiana music fan site: they existed, they took place regularly on Sundays somewhere in the area and to find one, you might try listening to the local Cajun radio program. There was no mention of the fact that the program was in French.
Neither a more extensive Internet search nor the local newspapers got us any further. But the more elusive zydeco trail rides seemed, the more important it became to find one, even if it meant wasting an entire day.
We began our search with an inquiry at Prejean’s, a Cajun restaurant in Lafayette with a stuffed alligator in the entryway and a Webcam that provides worldwide access to views of tourists enjoying shrimp sassafras. Stupid questions are not a rarity at Prejean’s, but our waiter was stumped. Finally, he suggested we take a half-hour drive to Lawtell, the home of iconic zydeco clubs like the Offshore Lounge.
Lafayette is a small city, and you don’t have to go far in any direction before things turn very country, as in gas-station boudin and music venues that are open only on Saturday mornings. Travel south or east, and you will soon see signs for swamp tours; go north, toward Lawtell and Opelousas, and it’s scrub, forest and farms. We knew we had arrived when we saw a hand-painted sign: “Welcome to Lawtell, Home of the Town and Country Riders.” We found an old store that sold bait and rusty key chains, but when we mentioned trail rides, the white man behind the counter gave us a blank look.
At another gas station, a black cashier was more helpful, pointing us to an inebriated man buying a Sunday morning case of beer, who kindly led us to a large shade tree where a man was shoeing a horse. Several other men were hanging around, one of whom wore a rodeo championship belt buckle as big as a chicken-fried steak. Lisa and I looked at each other and grinned.
These men, we soon learned, were not the Lawtell Town and Country Riders, now defunct, but a different club, the Lawtell Low Riders. And yes, they could take us to a trail ride.
The riding clubs, we came to understand, are a fixture of life in Acadiana, the part of southern Louisiana named for the exiled French Canadians who settled it. Here, even Mardi Gras is traditionally celebrated on horseback; the riders are masked. The clubs are a formalization of the loose confederacies that developed among rural African-Americans out of kinship, friendship or necessity. The rides themselves have their roots in country traditions like boucheries, or hog butcherings.
Nowadays the clubs form the organizational core of the zydeco trail rides, competing to attract the most riders and hire the best bands and D.J.’s. Die-hard riders will bring their horses out every weekend, even if it means towing them across state lines, but most rides remain obscure to outsiders. Even a popular one like the Step-N-Strut, held in St. Landry Parish in early November, which has evolved into a multiday music festival that attracts thousands of people, is still not well known outside the circuit.The clubs strive to set their rides apart — Pineywoods, for example, is known for using an actual trail instead of backcountry roads. But they do have certain things in common: each begins and ends at a church, community center or private parcel of land, sometimes with a pavilion built for dancing.
Our new friend the horseshoe man, whose name was Paul Young, disappeared for a good while and returned with his family (son Paul and daughter Paula) and a trailer full of horses. First we followed him in one direction, seeing nothing but farmland and fishing holes. Then he turned around and went the other direction for an even longer ride. Later it was explained that he had changed plans after learning that the first ride had been canceled, but the detour gave Lisa and me ample time to consider what we were doing: following a bunch of men we had just met across two parishes to the middle of nowhere. Just as a sense of doom was sinking in, we pulled off onto a dirt road, passed a chicken coop and saw three runaway horses with men in pursuit. A guy stationed at the gate collected $5 a head as we passed.
The trail ride had already begun, so there was a scramble to saddle up the horses. Soon, we were headed down a country road at a fast clip. It was hot, and someone reached into a saddlebag and handed me a Coors Light, which bubbled over and spattered on the ground as I tried to drink and ride one-handed. (Note: saddles are not equipped with cup holders.)
Soon we caught up to the other riders: at least a couple hundred people on horseback; a horse-drawn buggy with red wheels and black tufted upholstery; and a wagon or two loaded up with coolers and people. (One flatbed trailer carried a portable toilet.) In the middle of it all was an old, slowly coasting yellow and white truck with a rabbit painted on the side, outfitted front and back with speakers, out of which issued the familiar canter of zydeco. Lisa and I were as awed as if we had unwittingly stumbled across Burning Man while trekking in the Black Rock Desert.
We had spent the previous two days hearing music in the area, and had begun to grasp the differences between the two kinds of music that are essential to the identity of Acadiana. Cajun music, a mournful back porch music of waltzes and fiddles, is still largely the province of white musicians. Zydeco, a more upbeat, catchy genre, is played mostly by blacks. It uses the accordion and washboard, more often called a scrub-board, and went mainstream in the mid-1980s with the help of the hit song “My Toot Toot” and the Dennis Quaid movie “The Big Easy.”
Perhaps because of the movie, many people associate zydeco with New Orleans. But zydeco is country music, created by Creole cowboys. The zydeco rides in Texas are a direct result of pollination by Louisiana Creoles, who went there to do seasonal farm work and brought the music along.
Much later, as my interest in trail rides grew keener, I called the owner of the yellow truck, Frank Malbrough Jr., at his home in Church Point, La. (he was watching a home video of a trail ride when the phone rang). Mr. Malbrough, 79, is known as the Breadman because of his truck’s former service at a Bunny Bread bakery. He claims to have attended a ride every weekend of the season since 1985.
“Trail rides used to be a neighbor thing,” he said. “I got a horse, you got a horse — these guys worked on horseback in the rice harvesting. They started mixing with that horse on Sundays, then they would meet and ride in the woods and have a good time. Trail riding became a family affair.”
There is no telling, according to this history, when the first zydeco trail ride officially occurred. But the rides ended, as they do now, in music and dancing, at a church or on someone’s porch. The Breadman takes credit for the innovation of bringing the music along on the ride itself, first with a borrowed boombox and later with the Bread Truck, purchased in the mid-1980s.
After several hours of following the Bread Truck, we all returned to the farm where we started. Under the shelter of what seemed like a picnic pavilion at a public park, a zydeco band played through a late afternoon rainstorm, and everybody danced. The ride, and all that went with it, encapsulated everything we loved about Louisiana, whose most inviolable traditions are built around enjoyment and leisure; where proud strangers will lend you a horse and hand you a cold beer not because they have a reputation of hospitality to uphold but because it would be a blot on their honor if you did not have fun; and where things coalesce not because of anything you or I might recognize as organization, but according to their own internal logic. With a little luck we had been welcomed into an afternoon of unmediated Creole culture. This was the side of Louisiana that anthropologists love to study, but I love to visit.
JOE FONTENOT, 65, was famous in his youth for riding a pet bull. He can remember capturing wild horses by dropping from a tree onto their backs. On his farm, he raises horses, naked-neck chickens and the guinea hens he says make for better gumbo.
Driving from Lafayette late on a Friday evening last September, I found the Fontenot farm by following cardboard signs that pointed the way. Ever since that first ride, I had wanted to attend another, but had not really known where to start. When I Googled “zydeco trail ride,” I found a forum whose most recent post was two years old, some YouTube videos of trail rides past and a 1989 album by Boozoo Chavis, the zydeco star. Frustrating as it may be to interested outsiders, riding clubs still rely primarily on a tried-and-true advertising method: distributing fliers to trail riders at trail rides.
I made some calls and finally got in touch with Torry Lemelle, who runs the Step-N-Strut and whose husband, Dave, is the president of Border2Border, one of two main Louisiana riding club associations. She told me that the Pineywoods ride, held in Beaver, La., on Labor Day weekend, had been run by the Fontenot family for 25 years, and gave me a number to call. Ultimately this led me to the farm’s gate, where I leaned out my car window and paid $20 for a weekend pass.
I had been delayed by a hurricane on the East Coast, so spent part of the evening nursing my disappointment that I had missed the free supper of cochon de lait — marinated suckling pig that had roasted all day in a metal box, or a “Cajun microwave,” as the Fontenots call it.
At first, the feel was a lot like that of the 2006 ride — the farm, the dance pavilion (where at least seven varieties of Boone’s Farm wine were on offer), the RVs and horse trailers lining the grounds in a vast encampment. There would be live bands all three nights, and I watched as the serious dancers took advantage of the one night when the floor would not be overcrowded. A determined young woman chomped her gum in time to JoJo Reed and the Happy Hill Band as she and her partner covered great swaths of dance floor, never pausing for breath.
On Saturday morning, adults hunched over domino games or tended to the ribs, gumbo or backbone stew they were cooking at their campsites, while children played and rode bareback. But as cars and campers steadily poured into the grounds, an influx that would continue right up to the start of the main trail ride on Sunday, the place took on a different feel. At my first ride, I had noticed a lot of old-timers — “originals,” they call themselves — wearing, as Joe Fontenot did, pressed Western shirts and string ties.
But at the Pineywoods ride, as more and more young people crowded the grounds, I noticed cargo shorts and rubber-soled boots with brightly colored uppers, some with an accumulation of paper wristbands from previous rides threaded through the pull straps in a display of trail ride status.
Virtually everyone wore T-shirts proclaiming their allegiance to a particular riding club: the No Limit Riders of Mamou, La., the Spare Time Riders of New Roads, the Hip Hop Ghetto Riders of Breaux Bridge. Some clubs, like the Exclusive Steppers, showed loyalty to a particular kind of mount, the high-stepping Tennessee walker, considered the Cadillac of trail riding (“If you ain’t steppin’, you ain’t reppin’ ”). Others, like the Wild Bird Riders, honored their favorite whiskey, while the Suga Riders were named in memory of “one of the realest cowboys you would ever get to know,” a Lafayette man who rode his horse to nightclubs. The Mixed Breed Riders, a youthful posse in short-shorts and tank tops, gave a nod to the racial mélange so common in Acadiana. I counted upward of 50 riding clubs, though a few of them didn’t seem to bother with actual horses.
I also heard, between bands, the D.J.’s play something I hadn’t heard at the earlier ride: the occasional hip-hop track (Lil Boosie, a Baton Rouge rapper, was a favorite). In fact, several attendees credited the surge in popularity of the rides to zydeco musicians like Brian Jack and Chris Ardoin, who have given the music a more contemporary feel. On Saturday night, Brian Jack would pack the pavilion, getting a loud cheer when he asked, “How many cowgirls you got out there?”
I met Arloe Fontenot, a 32-year-old member of the extended Fontenot clan, whose members, many of whom have green eyes, range in appearance from fair to dark. “When we were young, we fell into a middle ground in terms of race,” Arloe said. He added, good-naturedly, “Now everyone wants to be Creole, meaning everyone wants to have some freaking boots on and play zydeco in their car and go to one trail ride and call themselves Creole.” This yearning apparently applies to whites as well — I noticed a more racially diverse crowd than I had in 2006, when Lisa and I were the only nonblacks in attendance.
Daphne Rideaux, a 22-year-old member of the Mixed Breed Riders, told me that all any newcomer needs is “the boots, the belt, the spurs and the trail rider shirt,” adding, “They can make their own.” (Park Slope Steppers, are you reppin’?)
From a food truck, I bought a dozen tamales, made by Mr. Fontenot’s sister-in-law and served with saltine crackers and hot sauce, for $8. As I strolled the grounds, I met mail carriers and pipe fitters, a man called Mule who made extra money shoeing horses, and a bank teller named Angela Deculus, who patiently taught me the basic zydeco dance step. Zydeco dancers swear this step is all you need to know, but I have learned it countless times, only to be boot-scooted right off the floor. Figuring out what people are doing with their feet when they zydeco is like trying to determine whether all of a horse’s hooves leave the ground as it gallops.
But I still love to watch, especially the people who grew up dancing in this music-steeped culture. The older couples meld as if they had been specially machined to perform in unison; the younger couples clasp hands as they move one way, only to drop them on the return with inimitable insouciance. You can almost see the church halls, the linoleum floors, the lessons from grandpa, the generations that precede each particular dance — see the music moving through the blood. These dancers zydeco the way they sit a horse.
On Saturday afternoon, there was a “mini-ride,” or what Mr. Fontenot called a “vice-versa ride” because it follows the route of the big Sunday ride in reverse.
It was quieter than the Sunday ride would be, and together several hundred of us passed through woods filled with bright purple beautyberries. The temperature hovered at an amazingly cool 80 degrees. Mr. Fontenot no longer rides, but his grandson Casey, then 9, took the lead position, slung across his horse at a jaunty tilt, just as if he had been born up there and it had never occurred to him to get down.
SADDLE UP AND PASS THE BOUDIN
FINDING A TRAIL RIDE
Zydeco trail rides take place primarily in Louisiana and Texas.
Two of the biggest zydeco trail ride associations in Louisiana, which serve as umbrella groups for the clubs, are the Border2Border Trail Ride Association and the Rainbow Trail Ride Association, both of which include Texas rides on their calendars.
Their 2011 schedules are posted at billpickettrailriders.com and marcsobers.com. There are a lot of T.B.A.’s on those schedules, but I found updated information for rides in the next couple of months at zydecoevents.com/trailriders.
In Louisiana, the ride itself is held on Sunday; in Texas, it is often on Saturday with a rodeo on Sunday (and Louisiana folk will tell you that the food is not as good). If you do not have a horse, you can ride on a wagon; often at least one of these belongs to the ride organizers. Let them know you are a first-timer.
SLEEPING AND EATING
To camp at a trail ride, you will likely need a camper or RV — there are generally no facilities for tent camping. Otherwise, you can find a hotel close to your chosen ride’s location; there are accommodations in Opelousas, Eunice, Ville Platte and Breaux Bridge (where the Café des Amis is known for its zydeco brunch on Saturdays). Lafayette is a good base from which to explore the trail riding scene, but expect to drive an hour or more to get to one from there.
In Lafayette the Blue Moon Saloon (215 East Convent Street; 877-766-2583; bluemoonpresents.com), has a guest house catering to music lovers. Rooms start at $70; “dorm” rooms that sleep up to eight are $18 a person.
Prejean’s (3480 Northeast Evangeline Thruway; 337-896-3247; prejeans.com), is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
Ask the locals which gas station has the best boudin.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Desperado V turns 25
April 21 2011
Join Varian Arabians for the celebration of the 25th birthday of
Desperado V (Huckleberry Bey++ x Daraska) and the annual Spring Fling, on April 30-May 1, 2011.
Desperado V is a living legend in the Arabian world. Sired by legendary Huckleberry Bey++, Desperado has proudly carried on the incredible style and traditions that have made Varian Arabians so successful. Desperado V, foaled 2/26/1986, is tall (15.1 1/2 hands), dark and extremely handsome and he sires it! His exotic head is well known, but most of all, he has proven his ability to sire National Champions in both Halter and Performance. He carries a high set tail, beautiful eyes and emotes Arabian charisma. His disposition and trainability are transmitted to his offspring and are easily verified by contacting any trainer working with a Desperado V youngster. "Show quality" and "marketability" of Desperado V foals are well documented. Desperado V has been the leading sire on five of the AHRA stud books and he is a Sire of Significance.
Sire: Desperado V's sire line is four generations strong of Varian breeding. All, including Desperado V himself, have been Sires of Significance. Huckleberry Bey++, Desperado V's sire, has been a leading sire for years and now his sons have taken over the leading sire spot. Desperado V's sire line brings to him both beauty and athletic ability. Most notable is his ability to "breed on" his own unique look. Dam Desperado V's dam, Daraska, is a most exotic granddaughter of both *Bask and Comet, with a tail female line containing the legendary Mekeel mares to the aristocrat "Ghazna".
For a schedule of events or to register online, see http://www.varianarabians.com/events.asp
Monday, April 18, 2011
Western States Trail April 30th Work Day Reminder
April 18 2010
New Federal Agency Volunteer Form Requirement!
Please follow the link below
With the storms of March behind us, it's time to hit the trail to clear fallen trees and improve sections eroded from heavy rain and low snow. With the run and ride quickly approaching, there is plenty of work to do!
Our work now takes us to sections of the trail located on U.S. government land. The United States Forest Service has instituted a new policy requiring every volunteer to fill out a form and send it to the agency for approval. As time is running short, please go to http://ws100.com/projects.htm#fedform to access the form, follow the instructions and send immediately. We've tried to make this as painless and efficient as possible. It is very important that you send this form before you volunteer!
We can still use more help, so join us if you can. If you haven't responded, please do so at trails@ws100.com. As we'll be meeting 18 miles east of Auburn in Foresthill, please note the 8:30 am start time to give you a little extra time to arrive. The meeting place is Foresthill Joe's Coffee Shop (directions below.)
It's too soon to predict the weather but come prepared for variable temps. Please remember to bring water, snacks and gloves. Tools will be available but bring your own loppers or handsaw if you'd like.
We'll wrap up at about 1:30 PM and regroup for lunch.
This will be the final update unless a cancellation is necessary due to weather. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, April 30.
Donn Zea
WS Trail Manager
Mike Shackelford
Tevis Trail Manager
New Federal Agency Volunteer Form Requirement!
Please follow the link below
With the storms of March behind us, it's time to hit the trail to clear fallen trees and improve sections eroded from heavy rain and low snow. With the run and ride quickly approaching, there is plenty of work to do!
Our work now takes us to sections of the trail located on U.S. government land. The United States Forest Service has instituted a new policy requiring every volunteer to fill out a form and send it to the agency for approval. As time is running short, please go to http://ws100.com/projects.htm#fedform to access the form, follow the instructions and send immediately. We've tried to make this as painless and efficient as possible. It is very important that you send this form before you volunteer!
We can still use more help, so join us if you can. If you haven't responded, please do so at trails@ws100.com. As we'll be meeting 18 miles east of Auburn in Foresthill, please note the 8:30 am start time to give you a little extra time to arrive. The meeting place is Foresthill Joe's Coffee Shop (directions below.)
It's too soon to predict the weather but come prepared for variable temps. Please remember to bring water, snacks and gloves. Tools will be available but bring your own loppers or handsaw if you'd like.
We'll wrap up at about 1:30 PM and regroup for lunch.
This will be the final update unless a cancellation is necessary due to weather. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, April 30.
Donn Zea
WS Trail Manager
Mike Shackelford
Tevis Trail Manager
Friday, April 15, 2011
She’s in it for the long haul
Agweek.com - Full Article
April 15 2011
By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM
Wadena, Minn. - You could say that Angie Mikkelson loves to ride horses. But it would be more precise to say she loves to ride horses for hours and hours, miles and miles.
As a child, a congenital heart defect meant she couldn’t be as active in sports as she would have liked.
But her godparents introduced her to the joy of riding horses. “I’ve been riding,” she says, “ever since I remember.”
Later, a neighbor initiated her into the stay-in-the-saddle world of endurance riding.
In the 20 years since, she’s ridden more than 3,000 miles in endurance riding competitions. Distances vary from 25 miles to 50 miles on up to 100 miles.
Some might regard those marathon rides as a recipe for acute saddle soreness, but Mikkelson, 36, finds them a pleasurable way to experience the great outdoors from the back of a good horse...
Read more here:
http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/315942/publisher_ID/1/
April 15 2011
By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM
Wadena, Minn. - You could say that Angie Mikkelson loves to ride horses. But it would be more precise to say she loves to ride horses for hours and hours, miles and miles.
As a child, a congenital heart defect meant she couldn’t be as active in sports as she would have liked.
But her godparents introduced her to the joy of riding horses. “I’ve been riding,” she says, “ever since I remember.”
Later, a neighbor initiated her into the stay-in-the-saddle world of endurance riding.
In the 20 years since, she’s ridden more than 3,000 miles in endurance riding competitions. Distances vary from 25 miles to 50 miles on up to 100 miles.
Some might regard those marathon rides as a recipe for acute saddle soreness, but Mikkelson, 36, finds them a pleasurable way to experience the great outdoors from the back of a good horse...
Read more here:
http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/315942/publisher_ID/1/
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Houston to host major national equestrian event
Bixbybulletin.com - Full article
Tue Apr 12, 2011
Staff Reports Bixby Bulletin
HOUSTON, (GHHC) - Endurance riders from across the nation will bring their mounts to George Bush Intercontinental Airport May 14-15 for six rides to benefit St. Jude's Research Hospital. As an introductory for endurance rider wanabes, a 10 mile Fun Ride is for those that would like to find out more about the sport of Endurance or just get out and enjoy the beautiful airport trails, or explore becoming an AIRPORT RANGER, and be part of the "SADDLE UP" FOR ST. JUDE!.
Serious competitors will experience the thrill of daily 25 and 50 mile rides around the busy airport as passengers on jumbo jets from around the globe get a firsthand taste of Texas horsemanship as they land.
Houston has become a benchmark for distance running with the Houston Marathon which attracts runners from across the globe. Because of the setting at a major international airport, the Houston equine event could become another major sports venue for the Bayou City.
Endurance riding is an athletic event for both horse and rider. The goal is to complete the marked trail within the time given with a horse that is fit to continue. Rain or shine the ride goes on. All horses must pass a complete vet check before, during and after the ride. Because of the demands made on horse and rider, to finish is to win.
The general public will enjoy observation areas at the airport administration building on JFK, the Houston Fire Department Airport Substation at Will Clayton Parkway and Lee Road, Aircraft Viewing Area, on Lee Road, and the North Trailhead on FM 1060 East (watch for the signs) where the start/finish line is located.
Sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference
FOR ENTRY FORM OR MORE INFORMATION: http://aerc.org/Calendar/2011AirportExpress.pdf
Sponsors: Greater Houston Horse Council, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, City of Houston, Horseback Magazine, Texas Endurance Ride Association
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