Polo in the Park - Albert Park Melbourne

Horse Deals has received confirmation from Victorian DPI that organisers of the event are aware of and will comply with the bio-security measures put in place for all horse events in Victoria, You can view these guidelines here
General information for horse event organisers can be viewed here

Should any of our readers attend this event we would love a report & photo's , this may offer assistance to other organisers who wish to run events in public areas or even Agricultural Societies who face the dilemma of horses and spectators. Email claire@horsedeals.com.au

Polo in the Park - Albert Park Melbourne

Horse Deals has been in contact with the Victorian DPI regarding the Polo to be held in Albert Park tomorrow. With so many Pony Clubs and various groups unable to hold their events on public grounds due to fencing, gates, yards etc we would like to know how this event in such a public domain is able to firstly obtain a permit and secondly comply with the bio-security measures. Perhaps this is event may be a starting point for all the clubs and associations who wish to hold events in public areas.

11am – 7pm
Albert Park- Fields 4, 5, 6 On Saturday 15 December some of Australia's best professional polo players will play at Albert Park. The day showcases the best in corporate hospitality, fashion,
entertainment and on-field activities, ideal for Christmas parties and client entertainment. All enquiries welcome. For more information go to www.polointhecity.com.au.

Freedom of Vaccination Please

Interestingly when Royals are mentioned Tassie gets left off the list. Our early Royal was cancelled but our Summer one is a go ahead.
As a horse owner in a Green Zone/White Zone/Ei Free whatever zone I keep getting asked why dont we just go about our business, we haven't got Ei so whats the problem?
We aren't just going about our business because we are told we are under the constant threat of EI arriving on our shores via a human or via horses from interstate, especially racehorses that can move around alot freer than any others as it seems. This has been so successfully instilled into our minds that some are even afraid of riding their horses down the road, let alone taking them to a show. Shows get advertised then cancelled because of fine print in insurance cover or grounds won't allow you to use them because they couldn't hold horses in a lockdown situation. We have no opportunity to vaccinate any of our horses even on a user paid system as we haven't got EI and aren't part of any eradication scheme. So don't worry about any competition from down here as I have been reading we can not compete unless vaccinated in some zones, and these are where most of the bigger competitions are held, so sorry we won't be coming.
Bring on freedom of vaccination it is what we all as horse owners should be working towards. Why as a country do we always shut the gate after the horse has bolted??
M. Roberts
Tasmania

BIO-BETA SHOW - Junior / Young Rider showjumping

PRESS RELEASE:

The Mount Gambier Showjumping Club have applied for and been granted a permit from PIRSA to run a JUNIOR / YOUNG RIDER showjumping event on Saturday & Sunday the 5th & 6th January. 2008.
The club normally runs their Junior Carnival at the Velodrome each year but unfortunately due to very strict Bio security conditions they have decided to move to the Mt. Gambier Showgrounds.
The 22 event Programme and Bio Security information will be available for download on the Horse Deals Site from next Monday. In the meantime any information can be acquired from Club Secretary John Wilsher on Mobile 0418838673 or E mail john@johnwilsher.com.
Please note that this event is not the Annual Junior & Young Rider Festival normally held at the Blue Lake Sports Park Velodrome, Mt. Gambier but a one off alternative to known as the BIO BETA SHOW. It is hoped that after Equine Flu outbreak the Junior Carnival will return to the Velodrome.
It is hoped that next year’s Easter Carnival will be held at the Velodrome. With the cancellation of Horses at Sydney Royal it could be a big one!
Event Details:
22 Classes for Junior & Young Riders.
$3500 Prize money
Two rings.
Watered Surfaces.
Excellent Jumping Equipment.
Post Entries,
Camping.
Horses from NSW & QLD unfortunately will not be accepted due to Bio Security Regulations.

Toddler killed in freak horse attack

A timely reminder on the importance of supervision of children around horses, even with the best supervision accidents still happen.

AN 18-month-old Perth boy has died after a horse picked him up with his teeth and threw him several metres.
The toddler and his mother were in a paddock on their property in Oakford, south of Perth, when the accident happened on Monday afternoon.
A police spokesman said the horse picked the boy up by the neck with its teeth and threw him into the air several metres.
The boy had been in a critical condition and died in Princess Margaret Hospital this morning.

Apply now for DPI&F Multi-Movement Permits

Trainers are advised that multi-movement permits (horses being moved to and from tracks for the purposes of racing, trialing and training) are now available from the DPI&F. Please ensure that you apply for any permits required by Friday 14 December 2007 as no general movement permits will be issued from Tuesday 18 December 2007 until further notice. Trainers are reminded that they are required to maintain an approved log book in regard to all horse movements until further advised.
Log Books: The log book for racing and training horses away from home is to be filled out for any horse which is taken to any registered race track for the purpose of training, trialling or racing at a venue other than where the horse is stabled, and usually worked. For the form please click here: http://www.harness.org.au/qld/equine_influenza/Logbook%20racing%20&%20training%20away%20from%20home%20tracks.pdf
The log book for training at a race track is to be filled out for any horse which is taken to a registered race track for trackwork (i.e. Redcliffe, Gold Coast or Albion Park). For the form please click here:
http://www.harness.org.au/qld/equine_influenza/Logbook%20training%20at%20a%20race%20track.pdf
13 December 2007

Betting returns up since EI struck in August

Certainly, NSW punters haven't been bothered by concerns about backing horses who have had EI since Sydney racing resumed on December 1. NSW TAB betting turnover has exceeded Tabcorp expectations in the first two weeks including:
COMBINED NSW and Victorian TAB turnover reaching $146.5 million between Dcember 1-7 - eclipsing 2006 figures for the same week. This was the first time weekly betting returns have been up since EI struck in August;
NSW TAB turnover during the first week of the month reaching $80 million - only $1.1 million down on last year's returns despite virtually no midweek racing; and
TAB betting in NSW and Victoria last Saturday reaching $48.6 million, an increase of $1.3 million.
read the full story

Young jockey honoured in trackside memorial service

THE symbolism was powerful and deeply moving.

As the hearse carrying Daniel Baker drove slowly past the winning post at Coffs Harbour racetrack yesterday, spontaneous applause broke out among the mourners.
It was a surreal moment, Baker's final "victory" on a racecourse he knew so well.
More than 500 of NSW's leading racing identities attended Baker's funeral yesterday, honouring the memory of the popular 23-year-old jockey who died from head injuries sustained in an horrific race fall at Grafton earlier this month.
read the full story

Coff's Harbour trainer keen to find a way around EI.

Coff's Harbour trainer Gordon Yorke is also keen to find a way around EI.
Yorke said he had asked Victorian officials about Natural Destiny being able to compete in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in March.
Under EI protocols, Queensland and NSW racehorses are unable to travel to Melbourne.
"Horses are being taken into Victoria for sales so what's the difference if we go there. I've spoken to one of the racing managers at the VRC and he's working on a plan to get us down there for the Newmarket."

WA's strict EI protocols no barrier to Laing

TRAINER Robbie Laing is poised to become the only Melbourne trainer to jump through the equine influenza hoops and contest the rich Perth summer carnival.
read the full story

Fortune favours the brave

The horse flu disaster has hit home hard for young trainer Joseph Pride, as for so many others, but the fightback has begun, writes Craig Young.
JOSEPH PRIDE's wife Kylie was in the final term of her second pregnancy when equine influenza struck. Their business of training racehorses was thrown into chaos. The young couple already have a two-year-old son named Brave on the ground and as a racehorse trainer, Joseph Pride is the family breadwinner.
"It has been tough, I won't say it hasn't been," Pride said this week in the midst of gearing up for the stable's return to racing at Rosehill this weekend. "There was a lot of doubt about the future. I've got a young family, I've got to keep them. They were in my thinking about where my futures lies. read the whole story

EI probe targets mystery coughing horse

The hunt for a coughing horse that attended a New South Wales Hunter Valley equestrian event just before the equine influenza (EI) outbreak has intensified.
The flu outbreak has been blamed on a breakdown at Sydney's quarantine station, but the Carrolls Ranch equestrian event near Maitland, in August, is a considered a crucial link to its spread into the wider horse population.
Several competitors have told the inquiry they heard and saw a horse coughing at the competition.
Yesterday, counsel representing the state of NSW, John Agius SC, said: "It's now likely the person who had a coughing horse at Maitland recognises that their animal is of some significance, but they may be afraid to come forward."
The inquiry commissioner, retired High Court judge Ian Callinan, said he would be prepared to consider allowing the owner of the horse to remain anonymous, to encourage them to come forward.

Horse flu inquiry hears of Tamworth victimisation

The horse flu inquiry has revealed a degree of victimisation given to people who were caught up in the equine flu outbreak in the Tamworth district in north-west New South Wales.
A man has told the inquiry his daughter was ostracised at her Tamworth school after the outbreak.
Emma Hindmarsh and her father Norm were called to give evidence to the inquiry as they attended an equestrian event near Maitland, which is linked to the spread of the virus into the wider horse population.
Miss Hindmarsh told the inquiry the three horses she took to Maitland were well and did not get sick until several days later.
Even then she thought they only had a cold, prompting her to take two of them to another event at Moonbi the following weekend.
Her father told the inquiry his daughter was hassled at school because she was deemed unclean.
He said that is how stressful and harmful equine influenza has been in the Tamworth district.