The equine herpes virus that forced the cancellation of some rodeos will not stop international equestrian events from going on at Spruce Meadows this week, although bio-security measures have been heightened.
The $800,000 National tournament starts Wednesday and includes horses worth millions of dollars.
Equestrian and rodeo horses do not mix and because there have been few confirmed cases of the EHV-1 virus in Alberta, the risk of it spreading at Canada's premier equestrian venue was deemed low by the veterinarians Spruce Meadows consults.
"Because the speedskaters are affected by something doesn't mean the hockey players are," Spruce Meadows vice-president Ian Allison said Tuesday. "It's been very well contained in one equine community and doesn't effect us.
"We have taken steps to mitigate any risk we determined was real."
EHV-1 poses no threat to humans, but can cause respiratory failure, miscarriages and brain and spinal cord disease in horses. It can also be fatal. The virus is extremely contagious and can be spread via people, feed or shared equipment.
It is believed to have originated at a cutting competition in Ogden, Utah, and has spread through the western United States. There have been some reported cases in western Canada. Rodeos in High River, Okotoks and Nanton, Alta., were cancelled as a precautionary measure.
All horses competing at Spruce Meadows must pass a veterinarian's inspection and arrive with records verifying their health and where they've been.
Allison says Spruce Meadows has consulted daily with a veterinary panel since May 1 about this virus. Some parade and colour horses will not be used during Spruce Meadows ceremonies because it can't be determined what other horses they've had contact with in the last three months.
Competitors and staff are reminded not to share feed buckets and to wash their hands often. The commercial carriers who transport horses to and from the airport have been asked to disinfect their vehicles and the Spruce Meadows stables have been cleaned and disinfected.
"We're satisfied that the steps and measures have been taken, yet we still emphasized it this morning at our riders meeting and really want people to understand there are ways to virtually put this thing to zero risk," Allison said.
"It never hurts to emphasize it in case people become more casual in their approach to things and think the threat may have passed, although the threat is minimal."
While many of those who attend Spruce Meadows to watch events are horse owners themselves, the public doesn't have access to the fenced-off stables, Allison pointed out.
No riders have pulled their horses out of the National, although Allison says he got calls from all over the world asking about the situation over the last month.
Eric Lamaze's horse Hickstead arrived early Tuesday morning from Europe. Lamaze, from Montreal, and Hickstead won Olympic gold in individual show jumping and silver in the team event in 2008. Lamaze has faith Spruce Meadows will keep his prized horse safe.
"We just arrived and I'm not too sure about what's going on in this part of the world," Lamaze said. "There are a lot of horses here, so it can't be that bad. If I was the only one here it would be different."
While equine herpes is not new to the horse community, this particular strain is and can attack the nervous system.
"It looks like there is a more aggressive strain," said Dan French, the resident veterinarian at Spruce Meadows. "This unique neurogenic strain that has surfaced is one we have not got a good vaccine for."
He reiterated that western and show-jumping horses are separate communities, which will help keep the virus away from the horses at Spruce Meadows this week.
"We don't often get common trainers and groomers between the disciplines," French said. "That's to our advantage."
