Fair, many don't think so...
To NSW and Qld horse lovers
I think that I can speak for all horse owners and say that we are very sorry for your misfortune of having ill horses or watching and hoping that your horse(s) escapes the flu. Reading the blogs, my admiration goes out to all and your positive attitude is incredible.
In regard to Victoria and other presently EI free states I find it's interesting that we are still not asked to track movements of our horses, follow hygienic procedures, monitor their temperate twice daily (charts and advice on the DPI web site) and follow what is asked of the racing industry.
I question how long the ban on competitions will continue as we are not being prepared for future comps. Of course it would be time consuming but the world for horse owners has changed, perhaps forever. In making these suggestions, I want to acknowledge that we agist our horse 15 minutes away and would be very inconvenienced by safety precautions but that would then become our choice if that's what would be required to compete.
Also I question why the RASV (at the same time as racing industry was asked) could not have given advice and insisted that if competitors still wanted to compete at Melbourne you would have to demonstrate all required procedures. And it's not too hard to insist that the general public be required to stay behind a 5-metre barrier as the racing industry. It's a kick in the guts to know that racing is going ahead with thousands of the general public involved only a few kms from the show grounds, makes Mark O'Sullivan's explanations (on RASV web site) seem like a joke.
There is time and cost involved for everyone who has a horse(s) but people who compete at a senior already incur huge costs on a weekly basis, and still do but can't compete even through there is not to date any EI in Victoria. For all those still seeing it as too much of a risk would naturally choose not to attend horse comps, PC, 3DE etc..
Many of us agree it's to protect the money driven, racing industry and if we are right I think we can safety assume that there will be no competitions for 'pleasure horses' till after the spring carnival. Of course then the Autumn carnival is only three months away after the Spring season so perhaps we should consider that there will be a 9 mth ban on 'pleasure horses' competing again. But in saying that I am very happy to be wrong and hope that we will soon compete.
All the organisations who we pay to support us may need to consider partial refunds for the time period that we can not compete as they are supporting the decisions for us not being able to compete! That may at least demonstrate fairness and their commitment to their decisions.
Thank you for this opportunity to voice my opinion and I look forward to feedback,
Best wishes to all
Lorraine Harvey
I think that I can speak for all horse owners and say that we are very sorry for your misfortune of having ill horses or watching and hoping that your horse(s) escapes the flu. Reading the blogs, my admiration goes out to all and your positive attitude is incredible.
In regard to Victoria and other presently EI free states I find it's interesting that we are still not asked to track movements of our horses, follow hygienic procedures, monitor their temperate twice daily (charts and advice on the DPI web site) and follow what is asked of the racing industry.
I question how long the ban on competitions will continue as we are not being prepared for future comps. Of course it would be time consuming but the world for horse owners has changed, perhaps forever. In making these suggestions, I want to acknowledge that we agist our horse 15 minutes away and would be very inconvenienced by safety precautions but that would then become our choice if that's what would be required to compete.
Also I question why the RASV (at the same time as racing industry was asked) could not have given advice and insisted that if competitors still wanted to compete at Melbourne you would have to demonstrate all required procedures. And it's not too hard to insist that the general public be required to stay behind a 5-metre barrier as the racing industry. It's a kick in the guts to know that racing is going ahead with thousands of the general public involved only a few kms from the show grounds, makes Mark O'Sullivan's explanations (on RASV web site) seem like a joke.
There is time and cost involved for everyone who has a horse(s) but people who compete at a senior already incur huge costs on a weekly basis, and still do but can't compete even through there is not to date any EI in Victoria. For all those still seeing it as too much of a risk would naturally choose not to attend horse comps, PC, 3DE etc..
Many of us agree it's to protect the money driven, racing industry and if we are right I think we can safety assume that there will be no competitions for 'pleasure horses' till after the spring carnival. Of course then the Autumn carnival is only three months away after the Spring season so perhaps we should consider that there will be a 9 mth ban on 'pleasure horses' competing again. But in saying that I am very happy to be wrong and hope that we will soon compete.
All the organisations who we pay to support us may need to consider partial refunds for the time period that we can not compete as they are supporting the decisions for us not being able to compete! That may at least demonstrate fairness and their commitment to their decisions.
Thank you for this opportunity to voice my opinion and I look forward to feedback,
Best wishes to all
Lorraine Harvey
posted by Horse Deals at
5:55 pm
1 Comments:
Money Talks.
It's interesting that attention has been directed to the financial cost of EI and not to equine welfare per se. I doubt that the general public will feel too sorry for the wealthy breeders in The Hunter Valley who's foals may catch the flu. they would likely assume that any losses are built into their business plan and can be written off, or are covered by insurance premiums. To an extent this same sentiment would apply to so-called recreational horse owners and breeders & trainers. The hay 'handouts' to a few individuals unlucky to be quarantined around NSW & Qld is paltry when compared to the revenue collected though GST and other taxes, even more disparity exhists between the dollars collected from gambling and other taxes associated with the racing industries. So breeders, trainers, dealers and Olympic aspirants (Olympians often involved also in the three former groups) get the majority of the general and equine media coverage surrounding EI.
What should be concerning everyone in the community is the likely short term quick-fix solutions which may be taken with regards EI. This could have massive implications for the future costs not only within equine husbandry but other health implications should another exotic desease arrive which is not as species-specific, bird-flu for example.
While the issue of the states applying seperate standards and measures to disease control is a worry, the scrabble to protect self-interests is equally of concern. We've heard members of the racing industry refer to any animal not of a certain pedigree dismissed as 'recreational' we've heard International jumping trainers refer to national level competitors as 'pleasure riders'. For Pete's sake.. "a horse is a horse of course of course" and his welfare and that of the human population of Australia is what I care about - not the incomes of a select few.
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