9.6.2000 00:31
Equestrians take measures against virus
An expert says most horse owners have an emotional bond with their animals and are diligent about protecting them against the West Nile virus with bug repellent and commonsense precautions.

By ELIZABETH ABBOTT
Journal Staff Writer

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Gardiner McLintock gets so upset at the thought of a horse being put down, "I can't even think about it," he said yesterday.

McLintock was standing on a verdant 100-acre spread overlooking Route 1, watching Ain't No Saint and other horses gambol around at the Tower Hill Equestrian Center.

When people lose a horse, it's not the money that bothers them, though horses can cost several thousand dollars, McLintock said. Indeed, some people have life insurance on their horses because they are so valuable.

"They've got love for the animal," McLintock said.

That's why he has tremendous sympathy for the owners of the horse that had to be euthanized Aug. 28 and which state officials have since said was infected with the West Nile virus. To think of what the owners of that horse went through is "kind of heart-wrenching," McLintock said.

Officials have declined to name the owners of the dead horse out of respect for their privacy. The horse was stabled on Saugatucket Road in Wakefield, a meandering rural roadway on which there are several horse farms.

Whoever they are, their loss has reverberated through the equestrian world in South County and triggered fear for the animals who seem to hold a special place in their owners' hearts. As owner of Allie's Tack & Feed, in North Kingstown, Stephen Briggs sees this special bond all the time.

"A lot of horse people have an emotional tie to their horses," Briggs said.

Typically they name them, ride them and don't own more than one or two of them, all of which leads to a close relationship, he said. The majority of them also take good care of their horses, spraying them routinely with insecticide to keep flies and mosquitoes at bay. It's the rare owner, who doesn't spray their horse, Briggs said.

At the Tower Hill Equestrian Center, McLintock sprays the 40 or so horses stabled there at least once a day, he said. Some horses object to the sound of the spray so he wipes them down with a repellent-soaked rag instead.

"These horses can have all kinds of things wrong with them," McLintock said, as a black horse named Wally raised a ruckus nearby.

McLintock said he lost a few horses during the EEE scare that swept Rhode Island in 1996. The West Nile virus doesn't appear to be much kinder; last year, 20 horses were infected with the virus on Long Island, 9 of which died. Another horse was infected in New York this year, and one horse recently died in Massachusetts from the West Nile disease.

Until the frost arrives and permanently kills Rhode Island's mosquito population, horse owners are advised to continue spraying their horses and barns. They are also advised to bring their horses inside overnight.

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