In Brief : Spain Still On for Equestrian Events

Organizers of the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games expect to hold equestrian events in Spain despite a recent outbreak of a deadly horse disease in two southern provinces, an official close to the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee said today.

Although Spain’s borders currently are closed to horses due to an outbreak of African Horse Sickness this fall, government veterinary officials recently declared the sickness under control and could lift restrictions as early as September, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

“Theoretically there shouldn’t be any problems and if there is no new epidemic we have plenty of time before the Olympics,” the official added.

He said the committee, known as COOB--its initials in Spanish--will comment officially Tuesday on an offer by the British Horse Society to host equestrian events in the case the Spanish border remains closed due to the outbreak, which killed 152 horses in Malaga and Cadiz provinces.

On Sunday, the Horse Society made public a letter to the Federation Equestrian International in which it proposed alternative British sites for the riding competitions.