Local Stables Voluntarily Lock Down to Help Protect Horses Against Virus

A  highly contagious, untreatable equine herpes virus seems to have turned the horse world in the western states on its proverbial head. But do not panic.

Good advice for horse owners is to keep your horses at home for the time being. Do not allow them to go nose to nose or have direct contact with other horses. Do not share brushs, grooming supplies or bits.  Also, refrain from petting and feeding other people’s horses with your hands, and wash your own hands before and after handling other horses. 

Ride and enjoy your horse, but do use common sense. Also, be sure that the information that you gather on your own is from reputable sources such as University of California, Davis Veterinary Hospital at  or the California Department of  Food and Agriculture. Always double check the source to be sure that what you are reading is accurate.

Many stables have voluntarily assumed a position of lockdown to help stop the spread of  this  highly contagious, dangerous virus known as EHM. (It cannot be passed to humans). There are currently no vaccinations against the virus and no proven treatment.

Castro Valley's Apple Creek Equestrian Center on Crow Canyon was one of the first to decide to lock down—no horses in or out for three weeks. Several Apple Creek horse people who had planned to participate in the Rowell Rodeo events were disappointed but left their horses at home and passed on it this year. Peggy Moore, owner of Graceland Equestrian Center on Crow Canyon, is following the same protocol for her boarders. Anyone who chooses to leave cannot return for three weeks.

According to trainer Joellen Osland, Alta Vista Equestrian Center in the Hayward Hills is also on a voluntary lockdown. Other local ranches—Diablo Arabians, Castle Rock Arabians, Basso's,  Summit Ranch, Leap of Faith and Brown Ranch—are doing the same.

Colleen Swift, horse show chair for the Diablo Arabian Horse Association, made the hard decision to cancel the group's four-day horse show, which was scheduled this last weekend at Brookside Equestrian Center in Elk Grove. Rod Hernandez, a well-known Castro Valley quarter horse trainer, made the decision to pull his  show horses out of an AQHA show planned to for Memorial Day weekend at the Brookside Center. According to Colleen and Rod, both dyed-in-the-wool horse show people, the horses' well-being and health are much more important than any show.

Nearby, Rancho Murieta Equestrian—a well-known horseshow venue—has also decided to shut down for three weeks. 

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, all of the current confirmed cases of this equine herpes virus (known as EHM) are horses that participated at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, UT, from April 30 to May 8, 2011. 

CDFA statistics show that California now has a total of 16 horses with confirmed EHM, and all of those are under state quarantine. All of these horses had contact with the recent cutting show in Utah. The confirmed cases are located in the following counties: Amador, Glenn, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Shasta and Stanislaus. Two confirmed cases are being treated at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Hospital at Davis.

“It’s spread by being in direct close contact with each other—horses that are nose to nose or who are within the same air space,” said Dr. Gary Magdesian, a critical care specialist at the Center for Equine Health and the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Magdesian also said that the virus could be spread through shared items such as water buckets, towels, bits,  and human hands that have contact with an infected horse’s nose and then make contact with the nose of another horse.

Basic advice to local horse owners: Don't panic, but be safe and use common sense. 

For more information, check out this video from the state Department of Food and Agriculture.