Horse herpes outbreak forces rodeo queens to ride stick ponies – ksl.com.
Above is a shining example of how to craft a headline in order to expose more people to your ads, and generate clicks.
Millions of people are unfamiliar with equine herpes EHV-1 (out of 5 types), and will become curious as to the relationship of the disease with the rodeo queens. Click Click Click!
There is no direct relationship. Equine herpes is not an STD, not contagious to humans, but is highly contagious to other horses.
This outbreak of equine herpes is becoming a big concern, as this strain is potentially fatal, and it can remain latent in a horse which recovers from the clinical phase of the disease. From an Aggie standpoint it is serious business.
The Davis County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest had to subsitute their actual riding event with stick pony riding to prevent the horses from being exposed to each other and spreading herpes. A former contestant commented that this would be strange, but would still serve to test the contestants knowledge of the routine.
