Yeee-hah! And some are not happy about it.
(I didn't know horses could get herpes.)
Posted on 05/27/2011 5:38:18 PM PDT by Gamecock
FARMINGTON -- While the state has yet to officially cancel any events involving horses that might have been exposed to a local recent equine herpes outbreak, owners and arenas are taking precautions.
Because of the outbreak, contestants at the Davis County Sheriff's Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest had to cowgirl up Thursday night without their mares.
Instead of competing on horses, as is typically the case, contestants were asked to trot around the arena with stick horses as their show ponies.
"It's kind of weird, but you can't really help that the disease is going around," said former queen Savanna Steed. She said the stick horses will test the riders' knowledge of whether they know the routine, rather than letting the horse do all the work.
Utah has 13 suspected and seven confirmed cases of equine herpes virus after horses at a regional cutting horse competition at the Golden Spike Arena in Ogden first showed symptoms of the illness.
Horse herpes is not sexually transmitted and is not considered a danger for humans, but it is highly contagious among horses and other animals of the equine family. The most common way for the virus to spread is by direct horse-to-horse contact, but it can also spread through the air, contaminated equipment, clothing and hands.
The disease can be fatal to horses and is incurable.
Posse member Kim Jensen said the annual contest has already been postponed for a week to possibly wait out the quarantine, but as it is still in effect for all public arenas, the Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest had to go on.
"Instead of using horses, we are testing the girls' knowledge and ability to adapt," she said. "This will test if they know the pattern, but they are disappointed they don't have their real horses."
The contestants still showed their horsemanship, though with a little more effort.
"With a stick horse it's a lot different because you have to do all the work, and I think it's going to be a lot more tiring than with a real horse," said contestant Kylie Felter.
What really shined were the true traits of a queen: poise and personality amid trying times.
"It will give you experience for if you happen to have a problem like this later in life," Steed said with a smile. "You already have the experience of riding a stick horse!"
Ladies, we tip our hats to you.
What is this, some kind of stick joke?
Looks like they’re playing pole-o.
I’m just glad my stick pony never had herpes....
Or at least the last time I checked Mr. Ed....
No wonder.
Her sister, Satonna Steed, also won.
The winner has to wear a sash that's four feet long.
LOL, you are really enjoying this thread, aren’t you?
lol!!!!
When those hooves get flying and those jaws get snapping...look out!
We literally can not tell the difference between “The Onion” and the MSM News nowadays. I mean, look at this story. The Onion could NOT have written a better satirical story.
I know. This is bizarre. Horse herpes is a problem, but somehow I don’t see stick ponies as the response. Unless maybe these are “rodeo queens” the way the Dallas Cowgirls were cowgirls.
3 cases confirmed here in Nevada, 2 in Washoe county and 1 in Elko county IIRC.
This outbreak has raised concerns on the annual Reno Rodeo coming up, whether to hold it at all or, if some simply decline to attend/compete how popular the event will be for the fans.
Apparently the EHV (equine herpes virus) has no effect on humans, but it is transmittable to other horse via aerosols (from breathing). Thus it can be transmitted within herds. And it is deadly to horses. In horses it causes myeloencephalopathy.
Yeee-hah! And some are not happy about it.
(I didn't know horses could get herpes.)
This is probably the second greatest headline of all time.
The first being, of course, from the NY Post:
HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR
but this rodeo queens thing is right up there!
Some articles are worth posting just because of the title!
I didn’t think it - Herpes in horses - sounded silly at all.
I was just commenting that Herpes, the virus, is a retro-virus, and whether in horses or humans most all retro-viruses are incurable; that is, they are near impossible to eliminate once they are in the body.
That one horse has an entirely too large smile on its face....
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