Quarantine of World Cup Horses Lifted After Minor Test Glitch With Foreign Horse

8 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Quarantine of World Cup Horses Lifted After Minor Test Glitch With Foreign Horse
Three trucks carrying 13 American-based horses at roadside in Omaha after flying from Palm Beach, Florida awaiting a final decision on lifting of quarantine at the World Cup venue. Dutta Corp. employees provided sandwiches and coffee for grooms and riders accompanying the horses, who already had hay and water. © 2017 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

OMAHA, Nebraska, Mar. 27, 2017–The United States Department of Agriculture-imposed quarantine on horses at the World Cups of dressage and jumping was lifted Monday afternoon after a questionable result on the blood test on one horse from Europe on Saturday.

Although the horse had tested negative prior to boarding the plane in Amsterdam, as it had earlier in March, the latest result from a U.S. government laboratory was reported Sunday night.

A retest was immediately conducted and employees for The Dutta Corp. that managed shipping of the World Cup horses both from Europe and within the United States, during the night drove the the new sample to a USDA lab more than two hours away in Des Moines, Iowa.

Quarantine was maintained until final lab results confirmed a negative test, well within the 72 hours required.

American-based horses that arrived from Palm Beach, Florida Monday were held outside the competition venue for about an hour. Arrangements were made for stalls elsewhere.

The quarantine was lifted at about 2:20 p.m. (2100 CET) and the alternative stabling was not necessary.

The United States horses were not subject to the quarantine as they were flown from within the country and were moved into a separate section of the sprawling CenturyLink Center before the quarantine was lifted and did not come into contact with the horses from Europe.

However, U.S. officials decided not to start working the American horses until the Europeans were able to work theirs so as provide as equal a playing field as possible for the world championship.