Long flights, long drives bring rodeo contestants flocking to Farmington

A sizzling 98 degrees and a scorching sun welcomed the first batch of National High School Finals Rodeo contestants to the Land of Enchantment on Thursday afternoon. Contestant and animal check-in began at noon Thursday and continues until Sunday. Sandwiches, cookies, cold water and sweating volunteers greeted contestants at shaded checkpoints in the McGee Park parking lot. Traveling with horses had the majority of contestants and their families driving great distances overnight to avoid excessive heat exposure. The horses have a separate check-in process that requires health and identification records and proof of the Coggins test. If owners fail to bring appropriate papers, the horse will be held in quarantine. In addition, all incoming horse trailers are washed and sprayed before being parked on the premises. Precautions are being taken to ease worries about the recent outbreak of the Vesticular Stomatitis horse virus. The virus forced some contestants to leave their horses at home. Seventeen-year-old Ali Mullin traveled three days from Cartwright, Manitoba, Canada. If Mullin brought her horse, she said it would have remained in quarantine for three weeks before re-entering Canada. Instead, she is renting a local horse, which a lot of competitors are doing...FarmingtonDailyTimes