4-H horse show postponed

There will be no 4-H horse and pony show at the Jay County Fair this year.

This year’s show, which had been scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, has been postponed because of a disease outbreak in east central Indiana.

Nancy Kunk, who co-chairs the Jay County 4-H livestock committee, said she heard about the disease July 6 through Dr. Kelly Whitesell of Eaton Veterinary Clinic. It has been popping up in stables and private farms, said Kunk, including Hartmeyer Stables of Muncie.

On its Facebook page July 6, Hartmeyer Stables posted about the virus, saying Whitesell has seen many cases of it in the area. The post said the disease is not strangles, a highly contagious disease of the equine upper respiratory tract, but involves similar symptoms, including coughing.

Whitesell contacted Indiana State Board of Animal Health, Kunk said, and it was recommended that the horse show be delayed for two to three weeks in order to see how the disease progresses. (A call to the state board of health for more information was not returned before deadline.)

Kunk said while she’s unaware of any horses in Jay County that have been diagnosed with the disease, there are some that have been in contact with infected animals.

“We have families that house their horses at Hartmeyers, so we know that they had been exposed to it. Maybe it is nothing, maybe it’s not a big deal … but there are other horses on the grounds here. We erred on the side of caution.”

Allison Keen, Jay County’s Purdue Extension director and educator of 4-H development, said 4-H leaders didn’t want to hold a show and have some members left out because their animals had come in contact with infected animals. It also didn’t want to hold a show that could potentially put the health of other animals in danger, or have members decide not to participate in an effort to protect their animals.

“At the end of the day, we made the decision we did in the best interest of the kids and the animals,” she said, referring to the disease as a “regional” issue and noting that the Henry, Randolph and Delaware county fairs have faced similar difficult decisions about their horse shows.

Horses are also not expected to be part of the large animal supreme showmanship competition, which will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The suggested delay from the state board of animal health would push the local show into the same time as the Indiana State Fair, which runs July 30 through Aug. 22.(The lack of a local horse show will not affect local 4-H members’ Indiana State Fair status, as horses do not have to qualify for the state fair, Keen said.) Given that timing, Keen said the goal is to hold the Jay County 4-H Horse and Pony Show sometime in the fall, in consultation with 4-H members in order to allow as many of them as possible to perform. It has been tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 3.

With no show this week, there will instead be some activities for members of the horse and pony club. 4-H plans to have a water slide set up in the area near the Riding Arena, hold a pizza party and honor 10-year members.

This marks the third time in six years that the fair has been impacted by disease.

In 2015, there was no poultry at the Jay County Fair after the state board of animal health that May banned “commingling of birds from different locations” in an effort to stop the spread of bird flu. At the time of the board of health’s decision, more than 40 million birds had died of the disease. That year, 4-H poultry projects were still able to be presented through posters, and eggs were brought to the fair for judging.

Then, last summer, it was a human disease that made an impact. All Jay County 4-H shows were held on a “show and go” basis with no animals staying at the fairgrounds in an effort to limit contact between people during the coronavirus pandemic.