Manure from training facility concerns horse owners

Spread of the EHV-1 virus at Sunland Park Racetrack, where at least 14 horses are infected, understandably has horse owners throughout the Borderland worried about their own animals.

The dumping of horse manure from a quarantined training center near Sunland Park Racetrack has an Upper Valley horse owner concerned her own horses could possibly get the virus.

Spread of the virus at Sunland Park Racetrack has left the track, and three training facilities nearby, including the Frontera Training Center, under quarantine status by the state. However, an ABC-7 viewer said Frontera continues to dump horse waste at a farm in the Upper Valley, near other horses.

A horse owner who lives nearby told ABC-7 they dump the manure there about once a week. Her concern, with the EHV-1 virus spreading at Sunland Park, should the manure be dumped there and is it putting other horses in danger?

Frontera officials would not grant an interview, but told ABC-7 they do not know where their manure is dumped and none of the horses at the facility have yet been diagnosed with the EHV-1 virus.

The piles of manure in the Upper Valley, however, still have some worried.

New Mexico Livestock Board spokeswoman Katie Goetz told ABC-7 she spoke with state veterinarian Alexandra Eckhoff about the situation. Goetz said Eckhoff told her she spoke directly with Frontera Training Center.

“Some animals at Frontera have been exposed to the first confirmed case of EHV-1, but there have not been any other confirmed cases there,” Goetz said. “There are no suspect animals on site.”

Therefore, Goetz said, any manure being disposed from that facility is not of concern.

“This virus does not shed through the manure. it could act as a harbor for a virus, but it doesn’t originate from there,” Goetz said. “The primary risk is nose to nose contact.”