UPDATE: Latest Virginia Horse Center Statement on EHV-1
Lexington, Va. – April 20, 2026 – This is an UPDATE to yesterday’s communication.
Following a confirmed case of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) at HITS Culpeper this past weekend, US Equestrian (USEF) has contacted the Virginia Horse Center (VHC) to clarify that as a licensed USEF event, only USEF can prohibit entries and not the license holder for an infectious disease reason–not the competition organizer, in this case, the Virginia Horse Center.
VHC is bound to comply with USEF regulations. As a result, unexposed horses from HITS Culpeper will be permitted to compete at the upcoming Lexington Spring Premiere and Lexington Spring Encore Horse Shows. Specifically, the 55 quarantined horses may not attend the upcoming two VHC shows, however other horses who were at Culpeper are allowed to participate. VHC will stable them separately and enact enhanced biosecurity and safety protocols.
USEF sent the following guidance, abridged here:
“As a licensed USEF event, only USEF can prohibit entries and not the license holder for an infectious disease reason. The license holder has the option of cancelling the event or consulting with USEF Equine Health and Biosecurity Veterinarian on recommendations for best practices for biosecurity requirements for any population of horses. Possible enhanced biosecurity requirements may include separate stabling for a subpopulation, health declarations with temperature logs for the prior 3 days, enhanced monitoring with twice daily temperature recording and prohibition of sharing of equipment that is not cleaned and disinfected between uses.
Specific to the Culpeper event, the state veterinarian’s office has placed exposed horses under quarantine thus these horses will not be legally able to compete at the Virginia Horse Center. Based on a thorough epidemiologic investigation, the identified unexposed horses were allowed to compete. The unexposed horses who participated in the Culpeper event are of similar risk to any other horse coming from their home premises or another show to the Virginia Horse Center.”
The Virginia Horse Center remains firmly committed to prioritizing the health and safety of all horses and exhibitors on our grounds. Enhanced biosecurity protocols will continue to be strictly enforced, and we strongly encourage all participants to take every possible precaution.
At this time, the Lexington Spring Premiere Horse Show is scheduled to begin Thursday, April 23, 2026. An updated show schedule is now available online.