On the heels of Bullet Train V’s “Equine Infectious Anemia” death at Los Alamitos Sep 24, six more horses have been euthanized over the past two days for the same. The victims:
3-year-old Opt In
2-year-old El Vencedor V
3-year-old Amore for a Reason
3-year-old Goodtyme
2-year-old Assaultt
3-year-old The Marksman V
All seven had been trained by Heath Taylor.
Sadly the !/4 horse industry is notoriously cheap & we have seen many people reuse items that should never be used more than once. 1/4 performance horse owners in my state of Oregon are known for being cheap & neglectful of vaccines & allowing the use of what ever it takes to win a race or competition. We have had a 1/4 horse actually that tested later + for EIA raced here at our now thankfully redeveloped 1 mile track. The horse was tested because of its severe sickness & because of the symptoms he showed after the state vet requested the test.
Equine Infectious Anemia can be transmitted in several ways and one of those ways is through contaminated needles. All seven horses were “conditioned” by the same person, Heath Taylor.
This person is a multiple Grade One winning Quarter Horse “conditioner” according to the source I read.
So that seems to rule out mosquito bites, doesn’t it?!