Equine owners across North Carolina are urged to discuss their annual vaccination protocol with their veterinarians to protect their animals from mosquito-borne diseases.  West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis are endemic in the state and can cause illness or death, but can be prevented with a sequence of two vaccines.

More mosquitoes are expected this year because of the warmer-than-normal winter. Officials don't know for sure if that will mean an uptick in mosquito-borne viruses or if disease transmission will start earlier in the season. However, State Veterinarian David Marshall says that common sense would dictate being extra vigilant since the diseases are so easily preventable.

"In addition to getting vaccinated earlier this year, everyone needs to be vigilant in reducing the breeding grounds for mosquitoes," Marshall said. "Take the time now to rid your yard and pasture of any standing water to reduce your risk."

The EEE and WNV vaccinations initially require two shots, 3 to 4 weeks apart, for horses, mules and donkeys that have no prior vaccination history. Neither vaccination fully protects the animal until several weeks after the second shot, so it is best to vaccinate as early in the mosquito season as possible. 

Symptoms of EEE include impaired vision, aimless wandering, head pressing, circling, inability to swallow, irregular staggering gait, paralysis, convulsions and death.

Symptoms of WNV in horses can include loss of appetite and depression, fever, weakness or paralysis of hind limbs, convulsions, impaired vision or hyperexcitability.

            This year's 66th running of the Block House Steeplechase is dedicated to the memory of the late Gerald Helder who, for two generations of race fans, was the official "Voice of Tryon" as the announcer who called the card each spring for forty-seven years. Helder, who passed away in June of last year, had attended the races every year even after he retired from his announcing career in 1994.

            It was a career that began quite by accident with the very first Block House Steeplechase organized by Carter P. Brown and held on April 5th, 1947. Helder - like Carter Brown a native of Holland, Michigan - was working at Brown's Pine Crest Inn that spring and agreed to his employer's suggestion to act as the host for the radio announcer from Spartanburg who'd been assigned to call the three races on that first card. "Mr. Brown had asked me to take the sports reporter from WSPA to lunch, so I could bring him up to speed on the horses and jockeys who'd be running," Helder once recalled. After lunch, Helder led the reporter up onto the roof of the Block House, overlooking the original race course on Blockhouse Road, where a platform had been erected for officials. "But when the horses started coming out of the paddock," Helder went on, "the man froze up and forgot everything I'd told him. Next thing I knew, he handed me the microphone." Helder did such a fine job that he returned for the job every year afterward.

            But Helder's participation in the races wasn't limited to announcing. He and his brother Jimmy were among the riders in the steeplechase's race over timber for several years, as both men were enthusiastic horsemen. Nor was his announcing limited to the Block House Steeplechase. Helder frequently announced at equestrian events in and around Tryon, including the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club's annual spring horse show at Harmon Field and at hunter trials held at Fairview Farms during the mid-1970's.

FERA FEATURED 

AT ANNUAL FHS MEETING

The Foothills Humane Society will hold its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in the Polk County Library Community Room. The public is cordially invited to attend.

 Margo Savage will present a program on animal cruelty investigations, and the work of FERA, Foothills Equine Rescue Assistance.

Selena Coffey, the new Executive Director, will also be introduced.  She will talk about the new construction at the shelter...a new inside/outside look to this organization. For more information call the Shelter at 828-863-4444.