SHE MADE IT

Hi, I am a 12 year old horse lover my life is horses and show jumping.

I just wanted to show you my dearest best friend Misty, she is a 30 year old Palouse pony, now retired, she taught me how to ride and of course fall LOL the best campdrafter & P.C pony.

She is the last of our horses to get the flu. I was dreading her getting it as we were told that she wouldn’t make it, I was so upset and scared I slept days in the stable checking her temp listening to her cough, waking my mum at all hours.

We have learnt a few things along the way. Vicks lightly rubbed up noses sure does help. Cough mixture, or 30mls of glycerine.

Mum doubled the amount of garlic and apple cider vinegar, bathed the snotty noses with warm salty water. Darn fly’s love that snotty nose.

SHE MADE IT THROUGH i am so happy, but I sure do miss riding.

To everyone who has old horses please have faith I think that old horse are tougher then we think.

Cheers,

Melanie

Democracy-what is that?

To say that I have lost just about everything I truly care about as a result of EI would be an understatement. I have lost my job, my horse, and my life as I knew it as a result of this outbreak. No, I don’t own a racehorse, no, I don’t contribute to our booming economy in any way more significant than paying my taxes and earning what I can so that I can pay some more.

We have are a country “ruled by the people” (loose translation of the Greek word democracy). My understanding of this system of government was that to be ‘ruled by the people’, each and every person must have a voice. It is our choice whether or not to use our voice, but when we do, it is my understanding that it is the government’s job to hear it.

The voice of Racing NSW has proven itself to be loud, emotive and eloquent. And so it should be; within the racing industry there are many people who work long hours, doing physically and mentally taxing jobs, and are paid relatively little. Track work riders each day risk their lives, sitting aboard a horse that is not yet old enough to be fully physically developed, traveling at the highest speed that horse can reach. I commend them. I commend the breeders who pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into producing the racehorses of the future, with no guarantee that there will be any return. It is so easy to lose a horse due to a careless injury, caused by something as simple as a rabbit hole, and have to begin all over again.

A voice not so loud is that of the sector the media has conveniently labeled the ‘pleasure’ industry. Perhaps the label is correct, professionals in this industry work equally long, hard days, earning minimal money (if they do manage to make ends meet at all)… Why would they do this, if not for pleasure? These voices are not so loud, these people do not contribute to our growing economy in the way the racing industry does - what is a mere tax when compared to the billions of dollars contributed by gambling? They go about their every day lives asking for very little, except perhaps a little compassion and respect.

The ‘pleasure’ industry covers all equestrian disciplines not related to racing. These include the Olympic disciplines of dressage, show jumping and eventing. Eventing in particular is a discipline in which we excel on the global stage. Eventers such as Bill Roycroft, Stuart Tinney, Gillian Rolton, Wendy Schaeffer, these are Olympic legends. They are names that people overseas recognise and remember. There are those in the ‘pleasure’ industry who spend tens of thousands of dollars breeding horses for the future glory of our country.

There are those who have lost these precious foals, these superstars of the future, and have gone without mention. These foals do not just represent a dollar value, they are a small, innocent creature, they have personalities and quirks, and they are loved deeply by those who have worked so hard to bring them safely into this world.

Is it fair to place a dollar value on a horse in an attempt to prove it is more worthwhile than another? Would you say that your faithful mutt is less valuable than one of well bred show dogs? Is one life more valuable than another, whether they be human or animal? Who has that right?In the same way, who has the right, in a democracy to decide that one voice deserves more attention than another, especially when they say the same things, only in different tones. When I picture democracy, I picture a room full of people, each speaking their views. Some yell and shout, some speak calmly and quietly, some, in the dark, back corner only just manage a whisper. In my picture of democracy each of them is heard, each of them is equal, no matter how loudly they may cry.

Where is our democracy, how are we to be heard? Or has that little corner grown too dark, too obscure, that none dare to venture there, lest they hear something just a little too confronting?

Keira, NSW

EI Numbers? Registration of recovered horses?

Does anyone know what are the current numbers of horses who have, or are recovering from, EI? Also what are the horse populations in NSW and Queensland (and in fact for all of Australia), so we can get an idea of the percentage now affected?

The DPI have a database for registration of horses - perhaps it would be an idea for them to set up another one for people whose horses are or have been sick, to register their horses' name/s (registered names, breed/reg numbers, if applicable), and the date they notified of EI. Also address of owner, etc (accessible by officials but not general public).

This would of course rely on honesty, but people have generally been pretty good during the crisis. DPI have records of date of infection of properties and numbers of horses already, but nothing to say which horses they actually were.

Such a database would then become a record for date of infection and date of end of quarantine period for those horses which have had EI and were not vaccinated, and assist when shows etc are resumed.

Maybe the database could generate a confirmation page that could then become a "passport" for shows, Pony Club etc within the Purple/Red zones once horses are better?

Just a thought...
Kerry Morgan
Ourimbah

What a Waste!

What a terrible waste of funds and precious vaccine!! To vaccinate horses at Rosehill, who were already highly likely to contract the disease. These horses have all been given 1 shot, and eight days later they have tested positive to EI. We need to use some common sense here guys.....if the vaccine takes two weeks minimum to become effective and give the horses some immunity then DON'T vaccinate anything likely to become infected in the next two weeks! Vaccination in the buffer zones was compared with fighting a bushfire.... well the bushfire just beat the back burn.....
Kristy

Breach Of Protocol

Since the start of the EI outbreak, international eventer, Blair Richardson has been helping Horse Deals with our regular Morgan Park updates. We all read, with some relief that the Warwick detainees were able to go home last week, or were they? For a while we had visions of shanty towns being established on the Queensland side of the Qld/NSW border, as NSW residents were not permitted to enter.

“It took me days to get a permit to just skirt through the Purple Zone”, commented Blair. “The first question they asked me when I applied was, is it a Thoroughbred mare going to stud? When I said no, they told me I could not get a permit. I persisted and of course I am now home and all the horses are well and have recovered from EI. But what really concerns me is that the Thoroughbred industry has pushed for the Purple Zone to allow movement and there is no doubt that the movement of horses has spread the disease in the area. That is what was expected. However, I am concerned that trucks loaded with horses are leaving the Purple Zone at night. I live on a back road 15 kilometers from Scone, on the border of the Purple and Red Zones. I drive into Scone every second day and there are no check points. I have seen trucks drive past at night and I was driving back from Scone the other night and was behind a truck with horses. Perhaps they had a permit and just ran out of daylight? I have tried to chase it up with the DPI and since my enquiries, they announced that any truck leaving the Purple Zone had to stop at the Scone saleyards to be decontaminated.

“A breach of bio-security protocol resulted in EI escaping from Eastern Creek and it is of the utmost importance we do not let EI get away from us because of possible breaches of movement bans. The Thoroughbred industry have got what they want at the expense of the ‘pleasure’ horse industry and it would be devastating for everyone if EI was prolonged because a few thought they could get by undetected.

“It is six weeks now since this all started and we are really beginning to feel the pinch. There are so many people out there really struggling and not many of them are Thoroughbred breeders in the Hunter Valley. We are trying to prepare horses for the Olympic Games and that may not be possible if there are not competitions in the New Year. To eradicate this so everyone can get on with their lives and business, it is so important that everyone sticks to the bio-security protocols”.

DPI Queensland

Saturday 6 October: There are 683 Infected Properties (IPs) in Queensland. Queensland will take delivery of an additional 4,800 vials of vaccine today, with another shipment on Monday. Vaccination is one component of the eradication and containment program.

Register your property with DPI&F by filling out a quick online form.

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/dpi/hs.xsl/27_7430_ENA_HTML.htm

Dr Glanville said that if the restrictions were adhered to by all horse owners, and people follow recommended decontamination and biosecurity procedures, the disease should die out.

The strategy for the eradication of equine influenza is based on a combination of:
rigorous movement restrictions strategic vaccination, in particular creation of a buffer zone around the south-east and promoting good biosecurity practices.

This strategy is part of an agreed national emergency response plan.

Two equine influenza zones remain declared for Queensland:
the Red Zone (South East Queensland) has stringent movement restrictions in place to minimise the risk of spread of the disease, with permits required for all horse movements, and
the Green Zone (the rest of Queensland) where movement of horses can occur under most conditions.

A strategic vaccination program began in Queensland on Saturday 29 September 2007.
All horses in the buffer zone will be vaccinated and microchipped for identification. The National Management Group, consisting of the most senior officers from primary industries departments around Australia, is overseeing the response. It has also agreed to use vaccination to protect high value, at-risk horse populations within the red zone.
However, vaccine supplies are limited and a strict prioritisation process is being applied according to national guidelines.

Blanket vaccination of all horses in the Red Zone is not supported because widespread vaccination would mask the disease and prevent the goal of eradication being achieved.
Vaccination:provides significant immunity within 14 days of the first of two injections
a booster dose after five months will provide protection for about one year in total
can be used safely on foals, pregnant mares, lactating mares and older horses, but not on sick or high risk horses such as those that have had severe pneumonia.

Visit the equine influenza page to view the buffer zone maps, register your horse, apply for a movement permits, or to subscribe to the e-newsletter for regular updates.
For more information call DPI&F on 13 25 23 (8am-8pm).

Equine influenza daily update - 5 October 2007

SITUATION UPDATE
There are currently 3455 Infected Properties (IPs), 361 Dangerous Contact Properties (DCPs) and 397 Suspect Properties (SPs). Encouraging progress is being made towards the eradication of equine influenza through the implementation of the vaccination buffer zones.The number of new IPs over the past three days has not shown a significant decline, but is remaining steady with 140 new IPs on October 2 and 102 new IPs on October 3.

However, there does appear to be a decline since the peak of 206 new IPs on September 24. The LDCC has reported that all DCPs associated with the three horse events identified at the commencement of the EI outbreak in NSW and that were located outside of the "hot areas" of the Red and Purple zones have now been investigated and tested.

Movement Restrictions

The use of Travelling Horse Statements in the green zone are providing a self-permitting process to allow horses to move within a NSW Green zone.

The Travelling Horse Statement for horse owners in the Green Zone can be completed online on the NSW DPI EI website or by contacting the Hotline on 1800 675 888. If you do not have internet access, you can seek assistance from local libraries to complete the form. Note that you need to be able to print the form off to sign it and carry it with you when moving your horse.

Vaccinations

The vaccination of horses in buffer zones continues across the State.
It is anticipated that vet training and registration will start at Berry on 10 October. At Dubbo and Armidale the Department now expects to vaccinate 1000 and 2000 respectively and at Forbes/Parkes and Berry estimates of 1200 have been given. At Gloucester the Local Vaccination Centre (LVC) is operating with up to 6 teams of vets. Each property is visited and all horses examined, swabbed, vaccinated and micro-chipped.

All horse owners are reminded that high standards of biosecurity must be maintained and quarantine and movement restrictions must continue to be observed. If you believe you are in a buffer zone in the Armidale, Dubbo, Berry, Gloucester or Parkes/Forbes areas, and you haven’t yet been contacted about the vaccination occurring in the zone, please ring the Hotline on 1800 675 888.

Community meetings

A number of new Community Information Meeting dates have been set for the Lower Hunter, South Coast and Sydney/Southern Highland regions. For details see: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/horse/influenza/community-meetings

Tocal horses contract EI

05 Oct 2007
Horses at the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ CB Alexander Agricultural College, ‘Tocal’, near Maitland have contracted equine influenza (EI).

The historic Hunter property had been free of the disease until late this week but some young horses in a back paddock have returned positive EI tests and are being closely monitored.
Despite the strict EI quarantine measures maintained by staff and students, horses several kilometres west of the main campus have been infected by EI.

Public access to the horses will continue to be restricted and only essential visits to the site are permitted.

Students are currently on spring vacation and while it will be business as usual for the majority of the campus not affected by EI, the college is examining how the situation will impact on the student program for the rest of the year.
‘Tocal’ runs more than 100 horses, including Clydesdales and Australian Stockhorses, and had cancelled all planned horse events when the EI outbreak was first declared.

EMAI horses contract EI

06 Oct 2007
Horses at the NSW Department of Primary Industries Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (EMAI)’s Belgenny Farm near Camden have contracted equine influenza (EI).
The historic property had been free of the disease but recently some horses have returned positive EI tests despite the strict quarantine measures maintained by staff.

Belgenny Farm has 11 horses, all of which have been moved into a higher level quarantine area away from public access.

The boundaries of this area have been marked by red/white DPI Quarantine signs.
Belgenny Farm, which is situated on the EMAI property, is a popular function centre for weddings and other events and as a school education centre. These functions will not be affected by the EMAI quarantine – visitor restrictions apply to the farm area only.
EI will not infect other animals or humans, however, the virus may be carried by people who come into close proximity to an infected horse thereby spreading the disease to uninfected horses.

The public and visitors are not to approach any horses located within the bounds of EMAI.

Sharon at Woodford

In reply to your blog about Vacinations of Standardbreds and ponies in your area.

The Thoroughbred Racing Industry are going to properties and only vaccinating thoroughbreds on said property whether they have other breed types there or not. The Qld Harmess Racing Board have surveyed all Trainers and asked what type of horse breeds are held on their property and numbers. In turn they have commenced vaccinating and are not only are doing the Harness racing population but ponies and other breeds held on the property in an effort to contain EI.

As for the pouring of vaccine on the ground, I am unable to comment on this. We are due for vaccination next week so I may be able to give you an answer then.

DPI BLUNDERINGS

The QLD DPI is not handling the EI outbreak well at all! Their databases and information our constantly out of date. Despite repeatedly informing them that myself and my neighbours have continued to test NEGATIVE and have never had sick horses, they have us all as having infections on all of their “latest” maps and reports. Ringing them does not help, they seem to operate by reading off a fact sheet without answering our questions at all. Two days before vaccines were distributed in buffer zones they could not tell me (even the Brisbane office) where the buffer zone would be and said to check the web site in a couple of days time. There seems to be little or no communication between the various regional offices and the Brisbane office. What I really want to know is if our information is incorrect (and they have no interest in rectifying their public records) then how many other “confirmed sites” are incorrect. This then makes me wonder how effective the zoning system is.

God help us all if there is a Foot and Mouth outbreak if this is how our Departments handle disease control. There seems to be a lot of bungling, not much communication and pretty much no system at all. Let’s hope they get it together for all of our sakes.

Denise

HOMEOPATHY

Please, anyone who has horses that are showing symptons or have the horse flu and are either coping or struggling, I implore you to go to www.bookswithspirit.com and follow the "how to make your own horse flu medicine". Homeopathic medicines have been around since the 1800's and this lady has generously put this on her website FREE OF CHARGE to allow people watching their animals suffer try to rectify the problem. PLEASE READ WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY - IT WORKS.

Also be aware that if you have had the flu and you think your horse has got over it OK, be aware that inside he has been stripped of magnesium and calcium, white and red blood cell counts are all over the place and while he may appear bright on the outside he will be suffering on the inside.

Give your horses high grade dolomite (1 tablespoon per day), feed them as much fresh lucerne as possible as this is an alkaliser, be careful of feeding cheap pellets that may have the wrong protein mix as this can upset the balance as well. Give them biotin as the flu wrecks the building properties in the future development of the hoof wall. Mix some organic cider vinegar (20ml) in their feed each day. Also coconut oil is very helpful as a recovery agent - if you cant get it - ebay does list it - buy some Copra feed that is rich in coconut oil.

If you haven’t got the flu yet, get some freeze dried garlic and rosehips and start introducing slowly until they accept the taste - this combination will build up their immune system. Up to two tablespoons per day to 450kg and less/more as per their size - ebay also lists this.

Best of luck, Janice

EI Story

Another EI heartache !I am just another horse owner who has been affected by this EI outbreak. I own a Australian Stock Horse mare, who is an absolute sweety ! I was at a friends riding on the day the EI outbreak occurred. My horse has been stuck there since this first happened, so around a month or so. We have been in contact with the DPI office for weeks now and nothing has happened. We have been doing the right thing going through all the correct procedures applying for a permit .

For two weeks we have been in contact with the DPI and today we got a call saying they have lost our file and we will have to go through the whole process again. We are stressed out and very upset and concerned for our horse and all we want is to take her home. The place she is at the moment is about 20kms from a small group of infected properties and then that is it for the town and surrounding areas. One of the drinking outlets for my horse at this place is washing machine water, she is sharing a paddock with 2 other large horses and there is no grass, it is practically dirt.

We have been supplying all the food for her and who knows if my horse is actually receiving it ? And paying agistment weekly. We live around 1 hour away from this property and having a full time job 7 days a week makes it extremely difficult to get food over to her and visit her and on top of that ride her. I have spent many nights crying and stressing over this situation I know there are a lot more people with far worse situations, I just hope that they can control this situation. I would also like to thank everyone that is working round the clock in the DPI offices and all other organizations that are really trying to help.

Breanna

Vaccine

I just want to post that I have been informed by the DPI that the vaccine isNOT suitable for High Risk horses like mine! I have been ranting and ravingto anyone who would listen ( and many who wouldn't or didn't want to) that I WANT vaccine for one of my horses. The gentleman from the DPI in QLd passed on a link about the vaccine and it says:Vaccination:

• a.. provides significant immunity within 14 days of the first of twoinjections
• b.. a booster dose after five months will provide protection for about oneyear in total
• c.. can be used safely on foals, pregnant mares, lactating mares and olderhorses, but not on sick or high risk horses such as those that have hadsevere pneumonia.

I just wanted to let every one know that now that I am equipped with thefacts I will NOT be persuing vaccine for my horses! In fact I will becontinuing to be as bio security wise as I have been in the last 5 or soweeks and hope it is cleaned up before getting to me at Woodford.Good luck to all of you out there both financially and pysically.

Sharon, Woodford.

Petition

This may do nothing however an online petition has been made to document those affected in the NON-racing community, it can't hurt to sign

Impact of Equine Influenza on Non-racing Horse Community in Australia. As part of the non-racing horse community we have no UNITED front to make the Federal and State politicians understand our plight. At this stage there is little understanding being shown of the hardship currently being experienced by many individuals and families faced with going to the wall due to the EI crisis. There are trainers, transporters, instructors, farriers, dentists, vets, saddlery and feed suppliers all struggling with the shut down of their income. The trouble we face is that the racing industry has a good database with numbers of horses and trainers, this makes it easy to show figures on numbers affected. As the sporting/leisure horse industry we do not have a united front with databases showing the numbers of horses we have and people involved. This makes it difficult to get the politicians to understand the extent of the devastating effect Equine Influenza is having of the non-racing horse community.

http://www.petitiononline.com/EIAus/petition.html

Horse Deals reader

2008 SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW

2008 SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW

No one knows when the full extent of the Equine Infleunza (EI) outbreak will be known and like others involved in the horse industry, we don’t know when horse events will be allowed to resume.

What we do know is that if we are allowed to stage the 2008 Sydney Royal Horse Show we want it to be as good as it possibly can be and to do that we need you, our horse exhibitors to enter.

We cannot possibly know what performances will be required because we don’t know what exhibitors may already have achieved. However, we understand that it will not be possible for exhibits to have gained the level of qualifications which have been required in previous years.

If you believe you have a horse that would otherwise have qualified for Sydney Royal 2008 please send in your entries. Remember everyone is in the same boat, and the Horse Committee understand the difficulties you are all under at present.

Important information for all Horse Exhibitors:

• The Horse schedule and entry forms will be available online this year. We will not be mailing out horse schedules in a general mail out as in previous years. We have done this to save you time and to give you a better, safer system of entry.
• We encourage you to visit this page of the website, (or visit www.sydneyroyal.com.au and go to the Horse page) to enter online, view the schedule and all other information relating to the Sydney Royal Horse Show.
• If you cannot access a computer, please write to the RAS Horse Section and we will download a copy of the schedule and entry form and send it to you.
• Please DO NOT RING as this will delay the response to your request.
• You are NOT required to pay nomination fees at this point in time. If the Show has to be cancelled, we don’t want you to be out of pocket waiting for a refund.
• Once we know the show can go ahead, we will advise you whether you have been accepted and we will then ask you to send in your nomination fees together with your acceptance fees.
• Please regularly visit this page of the website for the latest news and competition updates.

We know things are tough at the present time. Stay positive. The health of you and your horse is important and we will get through this current crisis.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2008 Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Graham Davey

Horse Committee Chair

Containment not working says Murrihy

Containment not working says Murrihy
Clinton Payne
Saturday, 6 October 2007

Racing NSW Chief Steward Ray Murrihy told Max Presnell’s Racing To The Max program on 2SM this morning that the latest outbreak of Equine Influenza (EI) at Rosehill is more proof the Department of Primary Industry’s (DPI) policy of containment and eradication of the disease is clearly not working.

“Wellington went down yesterday, we’ve got reports about Forbes, Dubbo went during the week, some of our biggest spelling properties went over during the week and these reports about it being contained are just wrong,” Murrihy said.

“There’s an AUSVET plan and that plan is to have a buffer zone to eradicate it by surrounding the EI outbreak which confines it and the theory is it burns out but I’m not so taken by that theory.”

Read more.

Vaccine too late, says Rosehill trainer

Top Rosehill trainer Allan Denham has questioned why it took so long for equine influenza (EI) vaccines to be imported into Australia after three of his horses, including multiple Group One winner Eremein, returned positive tests to the virus overnight.

Another two racehorses from the stable of Denham's father Jack are also confirmed to be infected.

Rosehill's racehorse population was inoculated against EI eight days ago when the first batch of vaccine arrived in Australia from France but the horses were not expected to obtain full immunity until they received booster shots scheduled for next Friday.

Denham said the vaccine had arrived too late.

"The bird's flown. It should have been out six weeks ago," Denham told Sydney radio station 2KY.

"Being truthful we could have run three meetings by now and we haven't and now they start inoculating.

"(Veterinarian) Tim Roberts, when he was over in South Africa it took him six or seven days to get the stuff (vaccine) over there but it takes us six weeks to get it to Australia."

Read more!

Horse flu diagnosis 'another nail in the coffin'

The Sydney Turf Club says another nail has been placed in the racing industry's coffin with news that five horses at Rosehill racecourse in the city's west have contracted horse flu.

Until now horses at Rosehill had escaped the virus, which has crippled the racing industry.

The chief executive of the Sydney Turf Club, Michael Kenny, says it had been hoped that racing would resume at Rosehill later this month.

Read more.

Ban on horse movement partially lifted

A quarantine ban on the movement of horses has been lifted at Centennial Park in Sydney.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said more than 100 horses stabled at the Sydney Equestrian Centre had been given a clean bill of health following the outbreak of equine influenza almost six weeks ago.

"It means all the horses now have been tested to have antibodies to the disease, not shedding the disease, so yes they've recovered," Mr Macdonald told reporters.

"This is a great moment.

Read more.

ASTOUNDING EVENTS

If this EI wasnt so serious, what I have been told over the last few days would make the cat laugh.

I thought I would bullet point some real events that have happened around Warwick in the last few weeks and maybe people would care to add their experiences to this list - then it could be emailed to the Qld & NSW DPI when it became quite obvious that what they are doing (?), is really not working.

* Quarantined a single property three times in one week - each time saying that the last time had not been done even though forms had been filled in and signed and notices were on the gates.
* Informed an elderly lady that she could not go out her back door as her house property backed onto a newly quarantined place - she had an outside toilet and laundry plus no horses
* Govt employee in the know transported horses from Morgan Park after the lock down was in place
* Landholder (doing the right thing) rang DPI to inform them that a neighbour was transporting horses in his gooseneck at 10.30pm and he did not own cattle so had to be horses. DPI staff answering phone asked what was a gooseneck, and it was a matter for the police so they would not act on it
* Lady who was having a follow up blood tests to ascertain that her horses had not got the flu over the last four weeks when been exposed to it, was told by the guy doing the blood samples that he had not cleaned his vehicle at all in the last two days
* After cutting and shampooing a bloke with filthy hair in a Warwick hairdressers, the girls (who own horses), were informed by the bloke that he was in lock down at Morgan Park, so therefore he had not followed even the most simple bio-security rules. The salon was closed while staff disinfected the place and themselves and had new clothes bought in from their homes

Has anyone else something to ad?
Jan

Dear Diary

Today emotions are running rampart, with tears of sorrow for Ann-Maree Lourey and her Briar baby, and tears of anger and frustration over Ian Metherall's report on the Victorian border crossing. I had emailed Joe Helper(Mr Joe Helper- our honourable Minister for Agricultural in Victoria!!) and was expecting a reply today, (STUPID ME!!!!!)but it was not till I read today’s paper tonight that I realize he was otherwise occupied today with the most monumental decision of his career, " DO I GET TAKEOVER TARGET AND LEICA FALCON OVER THE BORDER WITHOUT ANYBODY NOTICING??????"

Just have to ask the security guards.................................they won't tell a soul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I have been plagued with the questions running through my brain..................WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE HAVE IT????????????????????????How do I go to the stables and treat and care for my horses, then duck into the house for a phone call, or a head ache pill( MANY OF THESE!!), then jump in my car and go to bank, to passify the Bank manager, and into the supermarket to buy sausages(all we can afford!!!!) and not be a greater risk of contaminating something, or someone???? HOW DO YOU DO IT????? You ALL deserve something a bit more exciting than a PAT ON THE BACK( YOU PROBABLY HAVE NOT EVEN SEEN THIS???).....................YOU DESERVE THE REST OF AUSTRALIA'S PRAISE,ADMIRATION AND BUCKET LOADS OF THANKS, and MONEY from our gutless wonders at the top of the tree!!!

Australia was certainly, and still is, the "FREE COUNTRY" ...................FREE of GOVERNING BRAINS.

But then I console myself with the saying" one door closes, and another door opens". Don't SHOOT me down in flames when I say "WHAT IF". "Maybe HUSBAND (farrier) might be home long enough to mow the lawn,shoe some of our own horses( though there would not be much point), maybe water a few of my many thousand tree's that I have recently planted, and MAYBE, MAYBE take over the endless and thankless task of picking up the manure in all the paddocks everyday. STOP.............................NOW I have really blown the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please don't think I am making light of the situation, I know this is SERIOUS, but some of us have to look a little on the brighter side, just to try and help keep us SANE!!!! Another brighter note......................daughter(Becky) just rang from South Africa to say that both the Australian teams (Showjumping and Dressage) won today. Becky jumped double clean today after having 8 faults yesterday so she was very excited.

In case you are wondering, I have written this BEFORE bed time, so now I have NO EXCUSE.

To all those who are ROARING for the cause, bless you, and keep up the good work.



SARAH ALLEN (AGAIN AND AGAIN) ARTHUR'S CREEK , VICTORIA.
GOING TO BED NOW

Ipswich Meeting today 1pm

Organisers are expecting a large number of horse owners and service providers from all facets of the equine industry, to attend a forum being convened in Queensland at 1 pm at the Ipswich Showground today. A range of government departments are attending and having information booths for anyone who would like to find out more about the range of programs that have been set up to assist horse owners, and speakers from the industry and government will provide information on the way forward from here.

Organiser and Australian representative in Endurance riding, Peter Toft says he will endeavour to get minutes of the meeting to Horse Deals as soon as possible, for the benefit of all those who can't attend.


It would be great if you could add this to the blog ! No byline required.
cheers
AS.

AQUIS - What quarantine?

It is interesting reading the transcript from the government enquiry into the reason for the EI outbreak in Australia ( the website isprovided on one of your blogs). It seems that the shuttle stallions that come here from overseas only have to stay in post arrival quarantine for 14 or 21 days! They are supposed to have been recently vaccinated but given that a vaccinated horse can still carry the disease, I would have thought that 14 days is cutting it RATHER FINE,considering our EI infected horses here are now being quarantined aLOT longer than that. I have seen various estimates of how long an infected horse still excretes the virus for. Some saying 15 days from the first signs of illness & some saying 30 days. A

lso I note ( fromthe Horsedeals article) that the virus survives in water for up to 18 days. So I would assume that if a horse comes in carrying the virus then it is very likely it is going to be released from quarantine before it has got rid of it, especially if it is vaccinated as it may show no clinical signs but still be carrying it. It's a wonder we haven't had an outbreak before this! I realize that the horses doundergo some sort of pre departure quarantine in the country of origin but how do we know how secure that has been? I would also like to know if the race horses that come from overseas for the Melbourne Cup are quarantined at all, because how do they stay fit enough for the race if they are in quarantine for a number of weeks?????

We are lucky, being in Victoria & so far EI free & hope to remain that way. We are mini horse breeders & have around 30 horses (many own more than this) so compulsory vaccinations at $200 per horse per year would mean we would be no longer viable.

Thanks, Horsedeals, your articles, updates & peoples blogs on EIprovide interesting reading and much information.

Diane Cotton

Mass registration?

I know you can 'register' your horses on the Horse Council website but maybe what we need is the AHC to register every horse in the country, and maybe microchipping is the way to go. I don't think it would affect people buying or selling horses tax wise unless one had a registered business. Most recreational horse owners even small time breeders don't earn enough from their horses to pay taxes anyway and horses are GST free if sold privately. If all horses were reg with the one body and microchipped, there would be a dramatic reduction in horse thefts, movement could be traced easily in the event of another outbreak of EI or similar.maybe the horse council ( which I had never heard of before all this happened) could be more pro-active and organise this. I think the fed govt is totally resposible for the outbreak of EI and it could easily afford to pay the Horse Council costs and the costs to the horse owners to register and microchip their horses.

I agree with the other bloggers who say John Howard's Govt is responsible and acting like an ostrich with its head in the sand and hoping it will all just go away. Well IT WON'T! Just remenber Mr Howard ther will be an election soon and there are many thousands of voters who own horses!

Time to be VERY ANGRY!!!

Penelope