Posted on 05/27/2011 12:59:31 PM PDT by billorites
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.
The only horses in the arena were in this bucket.
"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. "Instead of using horses, we are testing the girls' knowledge and ability to adapt." -Posse Member Kim Jensen
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.
If this is true, I feel sorry for the girls who work very hard for the show.
If it isn’t true, this is the funniest headline of the year!
What’s the world coming to when you can’t even kiss your horse without having to worry about that stuff?
I don't think it was meant to be mocking. The sponsors just didn't want to cancel the event. They wanted to deliver the competition that they'd promised the girls.
The horse herpes thing is a real problem and has caused authorities to severely limit the movement of horses. What can ya do?
I didn't know Barney Frank was a rodeo fan.
The headline that has everything except a guy with the middle name Wayne.
The headline that has everything except a guy with the middle name Wayne.
OK. I have to admit it. My first thought after reading the headline was are they doing this to protect horses from further breakouts. I know. Pretty bad.
ping
At first I wondered if this was a headline from San Francisco? I never knew horses got herpes.
Horse herpes? Stick horses?
It is the end times, for sure.
Caption: “Baah, it doesn’t even vibrate.”
LOL!
Or a.... one-stick pony.
Snort, guffaw...
LOL! I hadn’t seen that one before and now, I can’t see anything through my coffee screen.
For a while, it seemed like I was the only one worried about the horses.
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