Moonbi Flu Diary

Number 2. 3^rd September.

Horse Deals Brings Welcome Relief to Marooned at Moonbi.

“We were all most appreciative of the copies of Horse Deals which arrived”, commented Meg Drury, President of the Tamworth Dressage Club. Certainly the Volume 2 Stallion Edition offers plenty to keep the reluctant campers in reading material for some time.

Meg informed us that all the 38 horses in the Moonbi lockdown have contracted the Equine Influenza virus. “There are still some pretty sick horses on the ground, and some have had temperatures as high as 40°. We have been observing and noting the passage of the virus and monitoring the condition of our own animals. We then relay our findings to the vets on their daily visit. From our observation we have noted :-

Day 1 They are lethargic and off their food.

Day 2 A bit of a cough, nasal discharge and their temperature goes up.

Days 3 and 4. They plateau and maintain the symptoms and the temperature stays high for 2-3 days

Day 5 They start to get back on their feet (literally and metaphorically).

“This will vary of course and my horse was quite sick for about five days.

We are not using a lot of antibiotics, just good nursing, anti-inflammatories for the temperature and something for the cough. We have been advised to let the virus run its course. Rest and hydration are very important in recovery and also giving them long enough to recover is important. I will not be able to work my horse for about four weeks. Thee are still horses that are unwell, but that they are usually only off their feed and miserable for 3-4 days.

“We are certainly on the count down to taking the horses home, we think by the end of September. I only live 15 kilometers away and can go home and the ladies from Armidale and Scone have organised a roster system, and take turns about going home. There are 38 horses here and usually about 10 to 15 people to look after them. The Sportsground here has good toilet and shower facilities and the locals have donated five caravans for them to stay in which is a bit of a plus.

“Every day at 12 pm we have a briefing with the DPI and that can get a little tense, but at this stage we are all getting on well. There is plenty to do mucking out and looking after the horses to get bored. Each night there is a bit of a Barbie and a get together with a couple of drinks.

“We are all learning a lot about EI and the care of sick animals and the strict decontamination process, as well as keeping the peace with humans. It will all stand us in good stead in the future I’m sure”.

At this stage there has been no progress on the Moonbi Lockdown Recipes, but Meg assures us she will get on to it.

We will check on the Moonbi Marooned in a few days. Thankfully they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately there are daily outbreaks in NSW and it is vital that the utmost care is taken with not only the horses, but gear and clothes need to be properly decontaminated. Where were your horses in the last few weeks, could they be carrying the virus?

This Flu outbreak has been a real wake up call to us all.

Short term pain long term gain is our new motto!

Our thoughts are with you all in lockdown and we hope your horses recover well.

We were in Forbes with our ponies when this broke out and as we are from Victoria we left ponies, float,all gear and swags etc up there.

We are very lucky that they are well looked after and we hope to see them some day soon when this is over.

It is sad to see here that some people are more concerned about getting to shows and ribbons than saftey of our Horses.

Short term pain long term gain is our new motto.

Julie & Chelsea.

Life Goes On At Warwick

Life Goes On At Warrick.
3^rd September.

Jimboomba teenager, Rochelle Aitkenhead will celebrate her 18^th birthday at the Morgan Park lockdown on the 16^th September. Horse Deals caught up with the soon to be birthday girl to find out how the 100 or so Morgan Park residents were settling down to their six week sentence. If Rochelle is any indication the Warwick inmates have a positive outlook and are taking advantage of the unforeseen opportunity to learn.

“I’ve got two horses here and one got the flu last Monday and one last Wednesday and they are both getting over it now. Everyone was pretty depressed last week, as the horses were sick, but they are getting better now and everyone is feeling better about it and we are all getting along well.

“ It looks as if we will be here at least until the end of September. Everyone is doing as much as they can to make us comfortable. There are about eight showers and some people have showers in their trucks. All the showers have mats in them now and shampoo. They have brought in toilets, washing machines and put up clothes lines.

“They have brought a classroom in for about 15 kids here. Some of the riders are teachers and they teach school for about three hours a day. Some of the kids are here looking after their horses, as their parents had to go back to work and it was not though a good idea for the kids to go to school in Warwick in case they infect the locals, even though they have to scrub out. But there is a lot of work looking after the horses, as they have to be walked three times a day, fed three to four times, mucked out and generally nursed. It all takes time.

“The hospital has been feeding us, but I’m told caterers will be taking over. The locals have been great and they have set up a fund for us and bring us food and magazines. I don’t go into Warwick much, only when my parents visit, as looking after the horses takes a lot of time.

“The vets have been great and I have learnt a lot, obviously about EI and also about what medications the vets give them for the various symptoms. I have learnt to look for the signs of illness and I help with the paperwork when the vets do their rounds. I left school last year and have been working in a racing stable, so I am interested in the care of the horses. I have thought about going to University, next year, but I have not made up my mind.

“There are a lot of sports activities for us to do and they will organise a football game or something like that every day. Mostly we read or listen to music to amuse ourselves”.

It really sounds as if Rochelle and everyone in the lockdown at Morgan Park are making the best of the situation. Certainly spirits are on the rise now that the worst of the flu is over, for them at least.

Julia Hargraves from Warwick

“Warwick lockdown not as bad as we thought it would be”.
1st September

Well-known young showjumping rider, Julia Hargreaves was recently in the Horse Deals news about a month ago, for her precocious Silver Classic Victory at the Elysian Showjumping Championships riding her imported gelding Haymen. However, the self-confessed “eventing groupie” was at the Warwick CIC/W to help her friend and well-known eventer Christopher Burton. Horse Deals caught up with Julia on the first day of Spring.

How are Chris’s horses?

Chris brought five horses up here, including Adelaide Four Star hopeful, Newsprint. They all have the flu, either had it or are in the middle of it now. This is good news as we wanted to be here to monitor them when they were sick. Now that they are coming out the other side we (not the horses) can think about returning home. They have all reacted a little bit differently, KS Secrets never went off his food, but Newsprint did a little and one had a very high temperature, but you would no even know he was sick. Chris is still optimistic about going to the Adelaide Four Star if it is still on. His other Adelaide horse, Unrepentant is with its owners on the NSW South Coast.

And the others?

All the horses here have or have had the virus now, so it is now a matter of waiting the 30 days from the last horse to become infected, until we can take them home. (Once a horse has had the virus it is highly unlikely to contract it again within a three month period)

How is life in Camp?

They are doing their best to look after us here, providing three meals a day and a regular bus into town. The Red Cross are making sure people have the basics like bread and mils etc. Confinement has not been as bad as we thought it was going to be.

How are things at home?

(Julia and her parents have the Copabella Stud at Arcadia, with the very successful imported stallion, Copabella Visage at the forefront of the breeding programme.)

It is a bit scary. We are free of the virus at the moment, but horses in the area have it and the virus is airborne. (A good analogy of the airborne contagion is to liken it to someone in the front of an aeroplane sneezing, and someone up the back catching a cold. However, The entire airport will not catch a cold. The virus can travel in the air up to 50 meters or maybe more in a high wind. It is important to try and establish an exclusion zone of more than 50m around horses if possible.) A lot of the European horses at home have been vaccinated and may have some immunity still, but I am worried about the mares and foals.

What shows are you missing?

The NSW State Showjumping Championships at Nowra (end September) have been postponed and I am not sure, but I think the Australian Showjumping Championships in Canberra from the 11^th to the 14^th October have been postponed as well.

The Warwick “while we wait” eventers calendar is in discussion mode. Horse Deals will keep you up to date as much as possible with the lockdown situation and EI outbreaks around the country.

Blair’s Letter from Warwick

Blair’s Letter from Warwick.

30^th August

It is to be hoped that eventer, Blair Richardson’s correspondence from the lockdown at Morgan Park will be short lived. Horse Deals caught up with Blair as he was preparing to return home to Scone to check on family and horses there.

So people are allowed out?

“Yes you can get out, but we must go through a strict process where we have to be washed and sign out. A bus service has been set up to take people from Morgan Park to the main shopping area in Warwick and they all have to follow the strict quarantine protocol to get out and back in. We have horses with EI at home and (my wife) Nikki left on Sunday night to look after them. I will return to Warwick on Sunday night. People are in discussion about sharing grooms and rationalizing resources. By next week more people will leave, having organised the care of their horses, but I want to be back early to monitor the condition of my Advanced horse, Maximum Overkill.

You would have had him set for the Adelaide Three Day Event in November, how is all that looking now?

“We are getting nervous about Adelaide and Claudia Graham, (Blazing Chief) is very worried. My horse and Shane Rose’s All Luck (third at the famous Burghley 3DE in England this time last year) have been vaccinated for EI in the last 12 months, so we don’t anticipate that they will get a bad bout. My horse has a runny nose this morning and Nikki Chapman told me that All Luck had a slightly elevated temperature. It is to be hoped they will get over it quickly and we can start them back in light work. Of course you have to be very careful not to work them too soon. All the horses are being monitored twice daily by the vets and are under constant supervision by owners and grooms. We think we have about two weeks up our sleeves with our Adelaide preparation. (The Adelaide Four Star 3DE this year is a serious selection trial for the domestic based 2008 Olympic hopefuls). The facilities are good here, with arenas and jumps etc. so it will be easy to work them whilst Morgan Park is still in lockdown.

How are you exercising the horses now?

“At the moment all the horses are being exercised in hand, but the promised 40 20x40 turnout yards are arriving today and the horses will be able to move around at liberty. These horses are all fit event horses so it is hard on them being so confined.

How many horses have contracted EI?

More than half the horses (over 125) have contracted the virus now and the vets tell us they all will, so really the sooner the better. (FEI vet, Julian Wilmore has told Horse Deals that the EI has not been as debilitating as expected, with horses continuing to eat and drink throughout and the horses that have contracted the flu recovering well)

So how is life in camp?

Everyone is making the best of a bad situation and maintaining their sense of humour and we are being looked after extremely well.

Today volunteers were walking around with wheelbarrows full of sandwiches drinks and fruit and handing them out. Our meals, as well as all the horse feed is being provided and they are trying to make us as comfortable as possible for the duration. Fortunately the weather is still fine.

The Endurance riders in NSW are thinking of a semi nude calendar to raise funds to cover costs for lost of income and so they can run there event next year. You are a young fit bunch up there, would you think of doing anything like that?

I’m sure we would as long as I was the photographer.

What is the feeling up there about the outbreak of EI?

It is very frustrating for everybody and of course the reason for the apparent breach of quarantine protocol needs to be investigated. The Thoroughbred industry is blaming the ‘pleasure horses’ but it would seem that the virus came in to the country via a Thoroughbred stallion from Japan, where the racing had been shut down for some time because of EI. They are rightly concerned about their breeding industry, but so are we; I know Heath (Ryan) is very worried about his 50 odd pregnant mares at Lochinvar. We are all victims.

Behind the Warwick Lockdown

Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Behind the Warwick Lockdown

Early Wednesday morning, Blair Richardson one of Australia’s popular and well known eventing riders contacted Horse Deals, Blair along with close to another 150 people are currently living in LOCKDOWN at Morgan Park in Warwick QLD. Blair and his counterparts are just another victim of the EI Outbreak.

Blair requested 100 HD magazines be delivered to the Morgan Park address to help provide some welcome relief to those ‘stuck’ in this most unfortunate position. Naturally we were happy to oblige and felt the story of those at Warwick lockdown should be shared.

Any of us involved with horses know the planning and effort it takes to head off on a road trip to any equine event, you take what you can for the duration of the trip, not without all the organization need for home, horses left at home have to be cared for, properties looked after and annual leave organised at work. To head off for a 3 day event that suddenly turns into an indefinite time frame beats all comprehension to any equestrian competitor. This is the exact situation Blair and others find themselves in right now.

So, Horse Deals asked Blair, how are the riders, grooms, parents and Co, coping in lockdown?

“At the moment there are approx 300 horses with around 80 struck down with EI with new cases cropping up daily. Early in the piece the horses that had EI were isolated from the other horses. The situation we are facing now is, we have to stay in lockdown for 30 days from when the last horse is diagnosed with EI, therefore the horses are now all together, the virus is gradually working its way through the horses, the sooner they get it, the sooner we can all get home. We are hoping by the end of next week most of the horses would have it. Then it’s 30 days from the last case, so potentially we could be here for over 60 days”

What are the facilities like at Warwick lockdown like for the Horses?

“The majority of horses are in basic undercover yards, there are around 20 or 30 horses that are in normal yards, which is fine for the moment as it’s fine and warm, but if it rains we will be in major trouble. We are walking our horses out in hand daily as that’s the only exercise they can get, as you can imagine the horses are getting a bit sick of being cooped up in yards so some are being a bit difficult now as you could imagine. After speaking with the the DPI & QLD Govt about this they are organising close to 40 small turnout paddocks around 20x40 in size, they will be built with panels as you would find in cattle yards, so they are safe for the horses. The paddocks will take a few days to set up, but it will be welcome relief for our horses to get some exercise. It will work to be one day yard for about 8 horses and we will rotate it so each horse has at least an hour out per day.

The vets are monitoring the horses constantly. They are going around all the horses twice a day taking their temperatures and hitting those with antibiotics that need to be treated and recording the information on each horse. They have a massive job to monitor all the horses, they are doing the most amazing job. Those horses struck down with EI are exhibiting the usual flu symptoms as you would see if humans, runny nose, coughing, generally just not feeling well.

The QLD govt, has supplied hay and feed for the horses so at this stage we are right there, in the next few days shipping containers will come in so the feed can be stored, this is critical when the rain finally comes.

And how is the 2-legged variety coping?

Its sort of like our own community, yesterday Premier of QLD Peter Beattie came on site, he has authorised a $20,000 contribution that is currently being used to keep all of us fed, we go to the communal ‘shed’ for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We told Peter Beattie what we needed and they are looking after us pretty well. They have organised laundry facilities on site for us so we can wash our clothes and last night was the first night we had TV access, which was great, we all saw ourselves on the channel 7 & 9 news, this is the first news we have watched. Tomorrow Sport and Recreation are bringing in some things for us to do which will be great. They are setting up a classroom and teachers for the children, it just goes on, you just wouldn’t believe how massive it is. Next week we should have computers and internet lines set up so we can have access to the ‘outside’ world, and I think tomorrow ATMS are being brought in. So you could certainly say it will basically be our home - our own little community.

And the morale?

It’s pretty good at the moment, most of us have stayed on to see what’s happening with our horses, plus to get things organised so if we can go away for a week how we can do it. Most people have jobs, so everyone will pull together so some of us can leave; we think one person can look after 10 horses so that we will eventually rotate it like that. A number of professional riders are going to feel the pinch, they can’t give lessons, any horse here that has had EI needs time to recover so financially it’s a worrying time. At this stage it’s just a waiting game and we have to take each day as it comes.

Horse Deals will be in regular contact with Blair & Co to keep you up to date on the Warwick Lockdown. To all of those at Warwick and other lockdown locations across NSW & QLD – our thoughts are with you.


Kerri Cock
Horse Deals General Manager