[Marla 100]

Wow, how could an operation be as clueless as HITS?

Money Talks. It's not about being clueless, it's about keeping the show going and money rolling in. To hell with the horses and owners.

I'm surprised that the TB industry around Ocala wasn't on top of this to stop the spread, they used to be a very influential group here.

[judybigredpony]

Hawthorne Racereack was struck with EVH-1 outbreak in late October early November..ALL .the horses were stuck there thru almost until Febuary...the horses had to test negotive and NO fevers for 30 days. The few who managed to leave had to go to quarentine farms and state vet had to approve and moniter.
Some tracks were very wary of letting these horses onto their stable area's even after ban was lifted and all horses...as in" all" on stable grounds tested negotive!!
This stuff can be fatal and cause neurologic issues.
NJ also had some ill horses after a horse show during the winter.
Go look on Race Horse Thread for EVH-1 threads there are several, alot of tracks get it.
Good on FL State for stepping in because they should have been notified by the attending vet IMMEDIATELY if EV H-1 was suspected and testing for that whole barn quarenteened and immediately and show extis shut down!!!
Inconvience and $$$ are better than dead horses and alot of outbreaks all over the country and NO shows for the rest of the year...

[NCRider]

someone above said that all the competitors were warned that the quarantine was coming in advance of yesterday's 2 o'clock gate closure and given the opportunity to trailer out before the hates closed. Can the chronicle confirm whether or not that is true. If so, it would seem like the show be, show manager and state of Florida have some explaining to do. Would be an important piece of journalism that shouldn't have to wait for the NY times.

[LizzyM]

someone above said that all the competitors were warned that the quarantine was coming in advance of yesterday's 2 o'clock gate closure and given the opportunity to trailer out before the hates closed. Can the chronicle confirm whether or not that is true. If so, it would seem like the show be, show manager and state of Florida have some explaining to do. Would be an important piece of journalism that shouldn't have to wait for the NY times.

^^^^ This.

Can we have some actual reporting instead of just a summary of released statements?

[Carry On]

This is still on the HITS Ocala home page referring to the first confirmed case and tent 7 quarantine:
"Florida EHV-1 Update: Quarantine Still in Effect, No New Cases Reported"
No mention of additional horses testing positive or of entire show being quarantined.

[oliverreed]

So sorry for all you H/J folks. This sounds like the most incredible incompetence - coupled with incredible greed and stupidity. Jingles for all of your horses who are there/have been exposed/might be exposed.

[alicen]

someone above said that all the competitors were warned that the quarantine was coming in advance of yesterday's 2 o'clock gate closure and given the opportunity to trailer out before the hates closed.

I would have thought that after the second confirmed case anyone could have seen the writing on the wall and would have left w/o any need of an approaching quarantine warning.

[leyla25]

I totally agree. What kind of effing quarantine is it if you give everyone time to leave first? Were there vans lined up on the way out of Post Time?

So horses are allowed to leave to spread the disease somewhere else?

[LauraKY]

It spread. Five horses, many barns quarantined. One at the FEI tent at WEG.

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/314...irmed-positive

[trubandloki]

I would have thought that after the second confirmed case anyone could have seen the writing on the wall and would have left w/o any need of an approaching quarantine warning.

You are assuming everyone there knew about the second case in a timely manner.

[findeight]

Just sayin here...

It's not that easy if you have a 1200+ mile haul home and depend on commercial haulers. Most can't just quickly pack up and go anyway and if the horse is healthy? Don't see that conducting classes in the open air using good sanitary protocol is any greater risk for the horse then stuffing them in a 10x10 show stall 24x7 for days.

In no way defending the handling of this by HITS, especially compared to Wellington but...sneaking 24 horses with 16 owners in 5 states out the back gate based on rumor is just not a great possibility.

if I had something down there, I'd be a great deal more concerned with having no horse at home for some length of time and handling the associated costs of unplanned long distance ownership. I'd like to know what arrangements show management is making for owners of quarantined horses or those forbidden from shipping out but done showing????

[trubandloki]

I'd like to know what arrangements show management is making for owners of quarantined horses or those forbidden from shipping out but done showing????

This was asked at the beginning of the discussion about those quarantined in the one tent. No answers yet. I sure hope the show is not digging people for show level stall fees in this case.

[pony4me]

If some horse were able to leave Ocala before the quarantine was announced, where would they go? Gulfport? Home? What other shows are nearby? Let's just hope that the management of other shows is on the alert for horses coming from Ocala. What a stressful situation! My sympathies to all of the owners and horses involved.

[Char0308]

Lets not forget one of the new cases is said to not even be related to the HITS Ocala show grounds, so we would have it in FL even without horses travelling from HITS. (Not excusing HITS, just saying) I believe that one is in Loxahatchee near Wellington. Thats what is even a little more scary to me; is that this can lay latent in horses and just pop up when immune system and stress levels are right for it to happen. Yikes!

[jody jaffe]

yes, of course it's about money, but its also about being clueless in how to manage this kind of situation where you come out looking good, thereby attracting more business in the future, thereby making more money.

Total transparency and being as helpful as possible (as in excusing scratch fees etc) is the only way to go. Then these forums would be full of posts about how well HITS handled an awful situation, instead of alienating the community it wants to make money from.

Whoever is advising them on their action is a dunce.

[Renn/aissance]

You know, if we're attributing the way HITS specifically handled this as being motivated by money... strikes me that if you can call the situation "grossly mishandled" (I know jack about epidemiology so I don't know if that really is the case) then when the dust clears, and hopefully all horses have recovered, somebody with an affected horse might have grounds for a lawsuit for negligence on HITS' part.

[ybiaw]

Latest update from FL Dept of Ag. Sorry if this has already been posted.

Ocala HITS showgrounds on lockdown until 3/14.

[LJD]

You know, if we're attributing the way HITS specifically handled this as being motivated by money... strikes me that if you can call the situation "grossly mishandled" (I know jack about epidemiology so I don't know if that really is the case) then when the dust clears, and hopefully all horses have recovered, somebody with an affected horse might have grounds for a lawsuit for negligence on HITS' part.

Agreed. I would be hiring an attorney to go after all of the decision-making parties for negligence.

[Jealoushe]

A good reference on EHV - 1

http://www.aaep.org/images/files/FAQ...rusFeb2013.pdf

[Event4Life]

Agreed. I would be hiring an attorney to go after all of the decision-making parties for negligence.

Absolutely! We can do all the complaining we want on here but only the people with horses who have been affected by this will be able to vote with their actions and money. I'm usually the "no drama" type, but in this case...I hope for the sake of the horses that someone does step up and hire an attorney.

What a mess, and I'm really sorry for anyone who has horses in this situation. Thinking of you guys, hang in there.