No Direction Home

It is a big expedition to bring a truckload of horses from Western Australia to compete on the east coast. But for WA residents David and Linda Dobson, bringing their showjumpers from their base just outside Perth to compete in the east has been a fact of life for many years. Amongst the elite few in the showjumping world, it is essential they test themselves and their horses against other elite combinations, most of which are based in the eastern states. They set out with six horses to compete first at the Elysian Showjumping Championships in Queensland, do Brisbane Royal, and travel home via the South Australian World Cup shows and Adelaide Royal. They arrived in Adelaide just a few days before the EI outbreak was made public.

David takes up the story, “our horses have been at Michelle and Tim Clarke’s place since the 19th August and the only other horses there are some youngsters, about half a mile away. The SA DPI have been extremely good, as when they heard we had come from Brisbane, they came and monitored the horses for five days to determine that they did not have EI. I have been in contact with the WA DPI and we are not allowed across the border, even now, despite the fact that horses can move around SA and Victoria and cross that border. I can drive to the WA border but cannot cross the state line, despite the fact that we have been virtually in quarantine since the 19th August. The WA DPI have said that unlike the other states, they are not going to issue travel permits, with no explanation as to their reasoning. To my knowledge the WA DPI have not been in contact with the SA DPI regarding our situation. The irony is that if we put something on the truck with any sort of virus and headed off across the Nullabour, it would be dead by the time we got to Kalgolie, just from the trip, so it is a trip we always make with the utmost care.

“I contacted the WA EFA to ask if they were aware that some of their members, including Anna McGregor, Shaun Squire and I think a couple of eventers were stuck in SA? They have offered no support in any shape or form and I think support the border being locked. The Federal EFA have been very supportive, but locally no contact what so ever, which is disappointing. There seems to be some action now as we have engaged a lawyer with some political clout, and he has spoken to the WA Minister of Agriculture. Things have started to happen since then and we are told that the border may be open on the 30th. Before that we were told that it might be months before we could get the horses home and that is our priority.

“What I have been advised is that humans are most likely the cause if the spread of EI and anyone can just fly into WA. I flew back a couple of days after the outbreak, but I asked my vet what precautions I should take. People have complained that I was allowed back and that Chris Chugg should not be allowed to come over and give a clinic. Professional horse people are not the ones to spread the virus, certainly not at this stage. There is paranoia in WA like you would not believe”.

David’s comments bring up a couple of concerns, firstly regarding the “nationally co-ordinated response to EI”, and secondly the lack of informed education regarding EI. “The DPI have done a good job in getting across the seriousness of EI, but have made people paranoid in the process, which I suppose is to be expected”. Paranoia is no substitute for quarantine and good bio-security habits, which if we maintained the former, we would not experience the latter. What is also of concern, it that not everybody can resort to legal and political intervention. Common sense it would seem comes at a high price.