Vinery Stud, Good News and Bad News.

Just over a couple of weeks ago, Horse Deals spoke to Vinery Stud’s Bloodstock Manager, Adam White, to find out how the long established Hunter Valley Stud was dealing with the EI outbreak. At that time, EI had not reached the farm, but Adam expected that it was not far away and there was a good deal of anxiety concerning its arrival.

“We knew EI was going to get here and we were pretty anxious to get it, so we could move on and try and get back to a little bit of normality for the season”. EI did arrive as expected. “We are getting on fine, the virus is about half way through the farm now and they are all (about 400 horses) coping pretty well. Different horses are handling it differently. Most horses though are handling it fine. We do have a few mares that look a bit depressed, with spiking temperatures. Most have foals at foot and the foals are coping really well, in fact probably better than the mares. A couple of foals have gone off the suckle a little bit, but there has not been a situation where we have been really concerned about either an adult or a foal’s welfare. The relatively mild nature of the virus in the area has been a great relief, especially with the foals, where it has been suggested there might be a 40% mortality rate. To this day I have not heard of a foal dying from it in this area. We have great staff here who watch all the horses very, very carefully.

“A few of the stallions had the flu last week, including the shuttle stallion, More Than Ready (pictured) (Watch video conformation and race win). He came from the USA and would have been vaccinated, but he only had a very mild dose and was off serving for just a few days. As long as the horses are in good health, they might as well be serving. When we do the scans for the services done last week, we will be able to determine if, the mild flu they had affected their fertility at all. We have had strict protocols in place in the stallion barn, to make sure they recovered quite quickly. One stallion, Red Ransom, remains in quarantine at Eastern Creek and he will return as soon as possible to England.

“As soon as the Purple Zone was established last Friday, mares from agistment and walk on farms in the area have started to move onto the stud to be covered. We have also taken extra mares from outside the Purple Zone and they will have to stay here until further notice. So at least we are moving on now and getting quite a few mares covered and getting back to a bit of normality, although we are well past the stage where it is going to be like a normal season. We have to take one step at a time. It is difficult to gauge where numbers are with the stallions and we are contacting breeders that have booked, just to find out what mares are in the Purple Zone, what will come in and what will not. Some of the busy stallions might be busier and a couple a bit quieter than usual.

‘The situation is not as bad as we initially thought it would be. The introduction of the Purple Zone has been a great help to us, as well as the other breeders, as they are getting their mares covered, which gives them hope of a future income”.

Visit Vinery Stud website.