Halyn Lide's Misfortune Forces 2025 NFR to Look Very Different

This virus has officially affected another contestant's NFR.

Nathan Meyer Photography

EHV-1 has taken over the western industry and has made times very uncertain. While there is no time that is a good time to have an outbreak like this, it feels increasingly unfortunate that it happened moments before the National Finals Rodeo.

It is still unknown where this originally started, but one thing quickly became clear: WPRA finals had many horses that got sick and multiple died from the mutated strain, EHM. With this in mind, the barrel racers for this year's NFR could ultimately be the most impacted with the implemented quarantine.

There could be quite a few horses that were expected to run at the Thomas & Mack, but will not be in attendance and one of those is unfortunately Halyn Lide's Jettin Ta Heaven aka Keeper, her No.1 mount.

After making it into the shootout round at the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls, SD, Lide propelled herself inside the top 10 of the world standings with over $144,600, 98% of which was won on Keeper. Now she is forced to head to Las Vegas as he not only was exposed, but also tested positive for the virus.

Lide took to her social media to update everyone as her family travels to Nevada:

"My family and I are headed to Vegas… but it doesn’t feel quite right. Keeper is at A&M doing a great job of getting better from EHV. And my other horses are (healthy so far) in quarantine at home. My mind is in a million places, and my heart is back home with my horses," said Lide.

What is EHV-1?

EHV-1 is Equine Herpesvirus type 1, which, according to UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is also referred to as equid alphaherpesvirus-1.

Outbreaks usually occur after horses have returned from a large event and then spread the virus to their home stall and barn mates. The highly contagious virus affects horses in different ways.

While this is "just a virus," it is the mutated version of EHM that is causing the real problems. EHM is the neurological form that is devastating many and causing horses to be humanely euthanized.

EHV-1 Symptoms | The Horse

The NFR is going to look a little different this year, but the health and safety of the horses is the number one priority no matter what is on the line. Lide is going to be without her partner who got here here, but she loves her horse too much to care about anything else but his health.

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