Coonabarabran Show feels EI impact

The Coonabarabran Show will be one of the first in the north-western New South Wales region to have equestrian events since the equine influenza (EI) outbreak.
The annual show begins today, with horse events to be held on Saturday.

However, the secretary of the Coonabarabran Show Society, Julie Shinton, says the usual two-day program of horse events has had to be reduced to one day.
She says onerous restrictions still apply, despite NSW being declared EI-free.
"We still have to register our events, we have to make sure that the public still is 20 metres away from the horse restricted area, we have to supply hoses to wash them down, receptacles to wash your hands and have soap and water and dispose of the droppings of the horses, and we have to mann gates to make sure that we've checked their travel statements, so yes there's a lot of work and a lot of extra staff," she said.
She says there has been strong interest in the show that will include ring, sporting and show jumping events.
"A lot of the people in the northern area they've got horses going to Sydney Royal and they've got no jumping courses, so we've just sort of opened it to say they can come too, so they can actually have an official jumping course and we've had a lot of general inquiry about all sorts of things, so I think people are excited it's going, yes," she said.