The U.S. Equestrian Federation and Kentucky Horse Shows LLC announced Aug. 1 that the 2020 USEF Pony Finals was canceled due to individuals testing positive for coronavirus at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The press release sent out by both organizations is below:

“We have been notified today that two more individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, after attending the Kentucky Summer Classic, for a total of four reported cases. USEF and Kentucky Horse Shows prioritize the safety of our members, participants, support teams, staff and their families. To mitigate the risk of spread of the virus, USEF and the competition organizer together have made the decision to cancel the Kentucky Summer Classic effective at the end of competition today and to cancel the USEF Pony Finals event scheduled to start Tuesday, Aug. 4.  These cancellations will give the competition organizer time to sanitize the venue and determine whether competition can resume later this month.

“With regard to the new reports, one individual worked in Barns 9 & 10 with one of the previously reported individuals. Both of these individuals have been off competition grounds since Friday, July 31. The other newly reported individual is a braider who worked in multiple barns and has been off the grounds since early this morning [Aug. 1].

“Per the requirements of the USEF COVID-19 Action Plan, we are notifying all individuals who were in attendance at the competition. Although contact tracing is primarily the responsibility of public health agencies, in accordance with CDC guidelines we are asking these individuals for the names of others at the competition that they had close contact with starting from 48 hours before their symptoms appeared so that we can inform those persons directly that they may have been exposed to the virus.”