CARLSBORG — A horse show originally scheduled for this weekend has been canceled because of a highly contagious equine virus.
The Patterned Speed Horse Association show had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the Quarter Moon Ranch in Carlsborg.
It was canceled because of a recent outbreak of equine herpesvirus-1, which has infected horses in at least nine states, said Waynora Martin, Olympic Peninsula region chairwoman of the horse association.
State officials have recommended that horse owners avoid congregations of their animals temporarily.
“They’re recommending that everyone just stay home and shut down,” Martin said Tuesday.
The show was scheduled on her property “with my horses living there,” and she wants to avoid any possibility of exposure to the potentially fatal virus.
No confirmed cases here
No cases of the horse virus have been confirmed on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The association’s next show is scheduled June 11-12, Martin said.
Whether or not that one goes off as planned “will depend upon what the virus does or on what people do,” Martin said.
“If people stay home and let this thing stop traveling, then maybe we can do the show,” she said.
For more information, phone Martin at 360-683-6902.