Heard there is a barn under quarantine at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal CA with 3 sick horses but the show is going on - can anyone confirm?
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Tent 34.
A horse at our small, non-show barn has come home from Thermal and will be quarantined for a week as a precautionary measure. He’s the only one that regularly leaves the property, and is exposed to hundreds of horses at shows. 
Does anyone know where the horses in “Tent 34” came from ? Not the trainer per se, but the location of their home barn ?
Clear span 34 FWIW.
Northern California.
Can you be more specific? Thanks!
@lintesia. Allegedly it was one of Hope Glyn’s horses…BUT…she handles a lot of sale horses so it would be difficult to pin point exactly where the horse came from, if it was one of her string. And since she moves a lot of horses it likely was not a horse that has been with her for too long, that is, likely that the horse came in already as a carrier of the virus and for some reason the virus became active.
Week 5 now cancelled.
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Here’s the latest press release from DIHP. There are links to the others below it.
I recommend the CDFA site mentioned in the article, but not sure if they’ll update today bc of the holiday.
My only complaint as someone who was there week four is that management could have been more proactive about pushing info to people who were there. It was USEF that sent out the emails I’ve gotten. DIHP posted on social media and provided a link there, but I talked to someone Saturday who didn’t know. There was also perimeter fencing around the one tent, but it’s a big place so someone could have missed it. They have our contact info, including via the badges they have you get and then scan as you arrive and depart each day
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And now a horse has died at the show, and others have tested positive, that previously tested negative. My condolences to the owner of the lost horse.
The “isolated” horse at our small barn, who returned from Thermal during the initial outbreak, and was to be isolated for a week and temp taken twice a day (per the barn owner), didn’t stay isolated for the entire week. His teenage owner/rider came to ride him with her friends on their horses; the groom walked him down the barn aisle (not the barn where he was in isolation) from the community cross ties, past other horses in their stalls, and to the mounting block, so she could get on. During the week, when he was turned out, he’d drink from the same water bucket as the other horses that use the same turnout.
After watching all this, I understand now that it was the barn owner who insisted on the isolation, and the owner/rider didn’t have enough respect for barn management, and the other horse owners, to follow management’s policy.
If this can happen at our very small barn, it’s happening at larger ones too.
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I wonder if many people will just leave with all the uncertainty. Such a shame.
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It’s really sad when individuals put their needs and gratification ahead of others, and put others at risk. I couldn’t help but wonder where the trainer was in all of this?
Regardless, unless people are strict about following precautions at the show and upon return, I imagine we will see cases pop up in other areas. I truly hope I am wrong…
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The trainer operates from another barn, and occasionally comes by to school this rider/horse and take them to shows.
But if it’s a kid and the parents aren’t horse-people (spitballing here… so have no idea if they are or aren’t), is there a chance that maybe they just don’t know any better?
Sounds like there’s not a ton of hands-on horsemanship going on. Is the kid doing the smaller stuff (stirrups/opportunity classes) or the bigger divisions (aka childrens/jr hunters/big eq)? If they didn’t know any better, then that’s really on the trainer and the BO to monitor and ensure everyone follows and understands protocol.
I would be hoping that the BO, as soon as safely possible, would be throwing this person out. Her behavior was unconscionable and selfish. So sorry you have to deal with this and praying your horse/horses remain healthy.
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I’m supposed to show during week 7 but there’s so much uncertainty right now, I’m not sure what will happen. I hope DIHP is enforcing safety protocols and can get things under control soon. Anyone have a sense of whether they’re planning to run week 6 and beyond?
Okay, now it’s hitting a little too close to home. My horse was competing at the LAEC show over the weekend. COTH is reporting that a horse at LAEC who had come from Thermal is febrile with test results pending after skipping the seven-day quarantine to show at LA.
Reportedly several horses had come from Thermal to chase ribbons.
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Why in the world would someone be so irresponsible??? Oh wait…
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I’m so sorry to hear this, that must be so concerning for you.
I read they were supposed to stay home for 7 days but came back after 5? How incredibly selfish to put their own and other horses at risk just to be horseshowing.
Also, 7 days does not even seem like enough?
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This is getting scary. There are now 12 positive cases at Thermal. Apparently the authorities asked everyone to stay put, but predictably a lot of people have left, thereby scattering potentially exposed horses all over the West coast. Although one is instructed to “isolate” upon returning home, the fact is that many boarding barns don’t have truly effective isolation space.
I’m concerned because here in Northern California, Murieta has just started the Winter Classics series of shows. I could imagine these shows may attract a fair number of horses who have fled Thermal. Much to our excitement, my daughter’s horse’s colt (now 5) was entered to get some show miles, but we’ll see what the trainer decides to do. It doesn’t feel like a great time to be moving horses all around California.
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