Easter Show horse ban 'mars Olympics bids'

The Equestrian Federation says the decision to cancel horse events at the Royal Easter Show has weakened Australia's hopes of competing in the Beijing Olympics.

The decision has been prompted by indefinite travel bans on horses in different quarantine zones across NSW because of horse flu.

Federation spokesman David Lawrence says it will mean there are less practice events for Olympics hopefuls in the run-up to Beijing.

"We have riders overseas, of course, which are positioned to be able to ride for Australia, but we have a lot of very good riders of horses in this country that we just won't have time to evaluate," he said.

Mr Lawrence says it seems "stupid" to be putting protocols in place now for an event that is running in March.

"We'd like to think that they could be a lot more liberal than what they are in what they're asking to be done," he said.

"They're talking about quarantine for two weeks before and two weeks after, and that's just an impost that most exhibitors can't handle."