State Announcements:
6-7-2011
Goats will be tied down Monday, June
13th at 8:00am on the track south of the small arena.
6-7-2011
From Randy Austin:
I have spent a fair amount of time this week
discussing EHV 1 with some health officials and getting their
opinion about the check in procedure for horses coming to the IHSRA
State Finals. I am
confident after getting input from different vets that the widely
publicized virus continues to merit concern but no longer has the
impact it had even last week.
A 72 hour horse health certificate is not a requirement from
State Health officials and assistance they offer for checking horses
into the Bannock County fairgrounds would simply be a courtesy.
They do not feel it is necessary to post someone full time at
the stall check in area reviewing horse health certifications or
taking temperatures, but random inspections at our request may
occur.
In many cases, horses coming to the State Finals
have received health checks in the past few weeks, and that being
the case, we will not expect you to have another check up before
coming to Pocatello. Although we will no longer require 72 hour
health certifications, we do request that everyone have a clean
health check as recent as the last two weeks.
For many of the Districts, the health exam required to
compete in your last District rodeo would suffice.
Please make sure you have these horse health certifications
with you while on the fairgrounds because you may be requested to
present them to a State Health official.
We fully expect everyone to take full
responsibility for their own
horse(s) health and ask that everyone take common
sense precautions. I
would trust that no one would be so inconsiderate that they would
bring a horse to the State Finals displaying symptoms of any
concern.
However, I have been reminded, that by law, horses
coming from out of state do require a health, negative coggins and
brand inspection.
5-31-2011
From Randy Austin:
I have had numerous discussions with horse/health
professionals concerning EHV 1 and how we can best deal with this as
we check into the Idaho HS Finals.
I am confident that the worst of this virus is behind us but
feel precautionary measures should still be taken when entering the
Bannock County Fairgrounds.
Please notify each District secretary that all horses
entering the Bannock County Fairgrounds for the Idaho High School
State Finals rodeo will require a 72 hour health certificate.
This certificate will also include the temperature of each
horse recorded by the veterinarian performing the health check.
By turning in an entry for the State Finals we
accept the risk of exposure to EHV 1.
So please remind everyone that once an entry is received for
State, it is final, and unless there is a doctor's release no one is
entitled to getting their entry fees returned.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments
you may have.
Thanks.
Randy
5-24-2011
Per Randy Austin:
The state is staying in close contact
with the Idaho State Veterinarian and monitoring the outbreak of the
Equine Flu and nothing has been shutdown and there are no reported
cases in East Idaho (Vets must report any cases to the state).
As of now we will proceed with the
State Finals as scheduled. Please check the state website
www.ihsra.net
for updates such as if health papers will be required etc.
The State Ag has a website
www.agri.state.id.us that is updated each day with information.
As of 5/24/11 is states:
No new cases of suspected or confirmed EHV-1 infection in Idaho
horses have been reported to the Idaho State Veterinarian during the
past 24 hours .
Horse owners should
be aware that Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) is a notifiable disease in
the state of Idaho. All veterinarians in the state are required to
notify the State Veterinarian of suspected and or confirmed cases of
EHV. If your horse has had known exposure to horses that attended
the Ogden, Utah event or shows any symptoms of EHV, please contact
your veterinarian immediately so that your horse can be
appropriately examined and tested if necessary.
The Idaho State
Department of Agriculture (ISDA) encourages horse owners to continue
to monitor horses for signs of EHV-1 or any other disease symptoms
and to contact their veterinarian as the first sign of illness.
You must decide for
yourself if you choose to ENTER THE STATE FINALS however, once your
entries are submitted to state there will be no refunds. Late
stall and RV reservations will be AN ADDITIONAL $25.00 each.
Thanks,
Randy Austin IHSRA
Adult President