Thoughts on EI
What to make of the EI epidemic and the total upheavel of our way of life and our businesses....As a long time full time proffessional in the business the abrupt end of free movement in what was possibly the least restrictive of all environments came as a very rude shock.
whether we be professionals, pony clubbers,dressage competitors,showjumpers,racehorse and trotting trainers,arab endurance riders, eventers, rodeo rider, hack riders,polo or polocrosse or just kids who like to ride up the road we all have been affected and halted in our tracks.
This has caused unfortunate division and a little paronoia amongst some people but we should not rush to judgement (or become paronoid ourselves).
The people whose livehood has been temporally and in some cases perhaps permantly ruined certainly have a point of view that will be different from the one and two horse owners....the horse transporters, farriers, coaches, saddlery stores and on and on cannot afford to wait the 3 months, six months or even twelve months that the authorities would like us to sit until the very infectious airborne virus burns itself out (if indeed it does).
Certainly the racehorse and trotting fraternity cannot wait that long and although it appears tempting to bash the uneven handed treatment that they seem to be receiving the other (less vocal) proffessional and amateur horse sports perhaps need to consider that without a powerful racing industry our smaller less influential voices would not be even rating on the register of concern with the responsible bodies.
The idea of eliminating EI from Australia seems a noble but perhaps forlorn hope although I believe the vast majority have tried very hard and followed very good bio.security. This has done very little to stop the spread of EI in the red zones and as someone who has just attended horse sales in Germany I can see how easily EI could be introduced or reintroduced inadvertantly.
I believe that all organisations are working towards freeing up movement restrictions and getting all horse industries moving through vaccination programs etc. This program must be pushed ahead and all resources aimed at this target. Staying home and not moving your horse will not guarantee safety.. The disease itself can be managed (like a lot of horse diseases) and we have had mares foal successfully who had EI only a few days before foaling.
If countries such as Germany , England and France cannot eliminate EI and use vaccination as their chief control method how could we with our vast areas and feral populations hope to do better or differently.
I believe the horse owners with only one or a few horses should consider joining with the professional and semi professional groups in advocating a vaccine based solution but understand that this is their choice ..I for one would like the choice to be able to vaccinate so this does not happen again. If this is not proceeded with at great speed then the horse industry as we knew it may take years to recover (if the recovery happens at all).
EI has been a huge blow on top of years of rising feed prices caused by an extended drought and the danger is that the better or bigger operators will just find something else to do with their time. The whole horse scene in Australia will be the worse for this scenario.
Peter Jenkyn
whether we be professionals, pony clubbers,dressage competitors,showjumpers,racehorse and trotting trainers,arab endurance riders, eventers, rodeo rider, hack riders,polo or polocrosse or just kids who like to ride up the road we all have been affected and halted in our tracks.
This has caused unfortunate division and a little paronoia amongst some people but we should not rush to judgement (or become paronoid ourselves).
The people whose livehood has been temporally and in some cases perhaps permantly ruined certainly have a point of view that will be different from the one and two horse owners....the horse transporters, farriers, coaches, saddlery stores and on and on cannot afford to wait the 3 months, six months or even twelve months that the authorities would like us to sit until the very infectious airborne virus burns itself out (if indeed it does).
Certainly the racehorse and trotting fraternity cannot wait that long and although it appears tempting to bash the uneven handed treatment that they seem to be receiving the other (less vocal) proffessional and amateur horse sports perhaps need to consider that without a powerful racing industry our smaller less influential voices would not be even rating on the register of concern with the responsible bodies.
The idea of eliminating EI from Australia seems a noble but perhaps forlorn hope although I believe the vast majority have tried very hard and followed very good bio.security. This has done very little to stop the spread of EI in the red zones and as someone who has just attended horse sales in Germany I can see how easily EI could be introduced or reintroduced inadvertantly.
I believe that all organisations are working towards freeing up movement restrictions and getting all horse industries moving through vaccination programs etc. This program must be pushed ahead and all resources aimed at this target. Staying home and not moving your horse will not guarantee safety.. The disease itself can be managed (like a lot of horse diseases) and we have had mares foal successfully who had EI only a few days before foaling.
If countries such as Germany , England and France cannot eliminate EI and use vaccination as their chief control method how could we with our vast areas and feral populations hope to do better or differently.
I believe the horse owners with only one or a few horses should consider joining with the professional and semi professional groups in advocating a vaccine based solution but understand that this is their choice ..I for one would like the choice to be able to vaccinate so this does not happen again. If this is not proceeded with at great speed then the horse industry as we knew it may take years to recover (if the recovery happens at all).
EI has been a huge blow on top of years of rising feed prices caused by an extended drought and the danger is that the better or bigger operators will just find something else to do with their time. The whole horse scene in Australia will be the worse for this scenario.
Peter Jenkyn
posted by Horse Deals Reader at
10:39 am
1 Comments:
Certainly interesting reading and food for thought, However way we want to view this complete debarkle the performance horse scene in Australia has now changed forever and the way of life that we once enjoyed with our equine freinds will never be the same again. Those of us who train/compete and also breed the odd horse for our own use (not as a commercial breeder)and not as a business where we can use our horses as a tax deduction are not in a position to be able to afford to vaccinate twice yearly, pay mebership fees in the various breed societies,the organizations which run the horse sports we choose to compete in and then pay the entry fees to compete let alone the cost of getting there and back. Those of us in this position make sacrificies to be able to enjoy this life style and afford to have our horses and we do it because we want to, the result of EI in this country and the subsequent response has now I believe changed this forever.
The divisions created over the EI outbreak has been created by all goverments the horse racing fraturnity and commercial thoroughbred breeders with no thought given to the end result of there actions in the pursuite of the allmighty dollar, there whole attitude has been so long as I am ok and stuff everyone else.
Horse sports in Australia will go the way of Europe where only the rich will be able own a horse and be able to compete. If this is the way these greedy people want to live what sort of future are we in for in this once great country.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home