The remaining weeks of the 2022 Desert Circuit, including Desert Circuit Weeks V-VIII and Desert Dressage IV, have been canceled due to the Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) outbreak on site.

Desert International Horse Park released the following statement:

Dear Desert Circuit Competitors,

We submitted 11 samples to the CDFA lab yesterday for testing.

One of the horses was being tested for the first time, having presented with a high temperature yesterday. This test came back with a negative result. The horse will be retested on February 27.

One of the horses tested was a horse that had previously tested negative and was going through its second test for confirmation. This horse has now tested positive and will be placed in isolation.

The other nine tests involved horses that had previously tested positive for EHV-1. Seven of those horses tested negative and two horses remained positive.

Two of the horses that tested negative had their second consecutive negative test, separated by seven days. These horses are now cleared to leave isolation, our first two horses to leave isolation. The other five horses will be retested in seven days.

We had four new horses with high temperatures that are currently being tested. We don’t have an expected date for the results yet because of the weekend.

Additionally, 13 quarantined horses have now gone 14 consecutive days without symptoms and will be released from quarantine. As we said, these horses will remain separated from the general horse population and carefully monitored.

We are disappointed to announce the decision to cancel the remaining competitions for this season (Desert Circuit Weeks V to VIII and Desert Dressage IV) at Desert International Horse Park. We love horses and horse shows. But for now, we need to focus on the care and safety of the horses here in isolation and quarantine and for the horses that need a home during this infection. The horse paddock will remain open for all such horses, especially those that cannot find a suitable location for further quarantine or where transportation creates additional risk, until we have passed this infection. We will take every precaution to continue to protect the horses here until we close for the season.

We will be back in the fall for the 2022/2023 season and we look forward to welcoming you back.

We will again organize a town hall tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. in VIP to answer any questions.

Steve