Equestrian event keen on major status

Adelaide's showcase equestrian event is keen to gain major event status from the South Australian Government.
The international three-day event will return to the parklands in November but remains under financial pressure.
Last year's three-day event was cancelled because of the equine infuenza outbreak in the eastern states.
Staying financially viable has always been a problem throughout the event's parklands tenure, which began in 1997.
The event will be back this year with added importance, courtesy of the Australian Equestrian Federation.
Olympic gold medallist and now event director Gillian Rolton hopes the future is bright.
"At the last board meeting last weekend we were given the rights to run the Australian championship in eventing for as long as we have a four-star event here in Adelaide," she said.

Beijing preparations

Rolton is also a national selector and knows that cancellation of the 2007 event disrupted Beijing preparations for the Australian team.
"The key to Olympic selection and our Olympic riders and the development of Olympic riders is really a four-star event here in Adelaide."
Rolton describes the Adelaide three-day event as the best in the southern hemisphere.
She also plans to follow the lead of cycling's Tour Down Under and the Adelaide 500 car race in trying to get major event status from the South Australian Government.

Why should we have to pay?????

Hi everyone,

I read yesterday about the government wanting the horse industry to pay them back, in my view get lost!!!! I’ve been very lucky and was in green zone, away from everything. but some of the blogs on here made you cry when reading about loved horses that had died. Regardless of which sector brought it here, there should have been better practices in place for when a horse comes in that is not quite right/well. If they can’t inpilment OH & S at the top, but make us farmers, industry etc people have equipment there to give to people when they arrive so they comply with the rules why couldn’t they do it??? it was bound to happen, it’s cost people their lively hoods, eg heath ryan stopping him from going to the games depending on what the equestrian committee decide about training for the Olympics. People from selling horses, etc.

We’re suffering from the drought out here still, we’ve not had much rain. Well we’ve not been soaked like some places we watch it go over our heads. But you have to jump through hoops, do back flips plus what ever else to get money for the drought at times, especially of centrelink. Feed prices are going up and there’s not much we can do about it. even when the drought breaks prices may not go down. What’s the point in selling produce overseas when we’re not able to grow it?? that’s what will happen with no water if the government takes it off us.

Look at the mess government is in now, we may just end up going down hill. Big time and the country will end up broke.

We still don’t deserve to clean up the mess made, it’s going to take yrs, to get things back on their feet. It won’t happen over night, but we can get there. What about the foals/horses had the flu, it could have long term effects, that may crop up every so often. Like things do with us ross river fever for example, it may not be around for awhile then suddenly you get sick this could happen with the horses for all we know. Who know what’s going to happen with it.

Remember we support to community, those who compete at the shows. Our bbq lunches provided by scouts, lions, tidy towns etc their there for us, and we help pay for them to be support the community or take kids away on a trip etc. they all missed out big time this season.

Any way take care everyone and lets have some fun being back in the saddle. Kisses and cuddles for all horses.

louise

50p punter wins £1m on birthday

A fertiliser salesman from North Yorkshire has come forward to claim his £1m winnings - amassed through a 50p eight horse accumulator bet.

Fred Craggs, from Thirsk, found he hit the bonanza on his 60th birthday at the weekend, but sat through a family meal without telling anyone.
He beat odds of two million to one when all his horses came home on Saturday.
A William Hill spokesman said the bet was "the most amazing ever" since betting shops were made legal in 1961.

Mr Craggs placed his bet last Friday in a William Hill shop in Thirsk.
He needed all eight horses to win - from the first horse called Isn't That Lucky, to the last horse called A Dream Come True.
But he only discovered he was a millionaire when he went to place another bet in Bedale on Saturday.
"I had quite a glowing feeling in the shop but none of the other customers seemed to notice."

"I've never spent more than the price of a packet of cigarettes on a bet so it is very surprising that I won this much money."

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "We are delighted that the wait to discover the identity of our fortunate client is now over, and that he has been in touch and arranged to receive his winning cheque - we can now put him forward for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records."
And he added: "Mr Craggs does follow form, but also uses his own instinct to make his final selections - that instinct was certainly spot on this occasion."

Horse absence leads to 'different' Canberra show

The Royal Canberra Show (RCS) kicks off today but it will be without horse events for the first time.
The outbreak of equine influenza and subsequent interstate movement restrictions forced the show to cancel horse competitions.
RCS chief executive Geoff Cannock says it is a big loss.
"We'll certainly miss the 6,500 people who would be associated with the horses and there's traders involved," he said.
"The horses used to be entertainment for people, horses were involved in so many things not just the competitive sections for instance - show jumping, campdrafting, tent pegging were features at night here."
But Mr Cannock says they are still expecting about 120,000 people to visit Exhibition Park over the weekend.
He says new entertainment is on offer to make up for the absence of horse events.
"We've had to get a bit more modern in a way and we've replaced them with things like wakeboarding...trail bikes...the Flying Lotahs, which are a traditional act," he said.
A new ferris wheel, dog 'drag racing' and woodchopping are other key attractions.
"There's going to be a lot of activity and it will be different activity," he said.
"So you'll see a very different show but you won't lose any of the traditions like the show bags and rides."

Record entries

Recent rain in many parts of New South Wales has lead to record entries in alpaca and goat competitions.
Mr Cannock says sheep entries are also strong, while the number of cattle is up 100 head on last year.
"Farmers have been able to - in most of New South Wales - stop supplementary feeding their animals which means they are buoyant at the moment. There's plenty of feed on a lot of properties," he said.
"I mean, the drought is not broken but there's certainly seed in a lot more paddocks than there was last year and that's reflective in our entry numbers.
"Prices have been very good in most of the rural products and so that gives people heart and confidence that maybe things are turning to the better."

Future funding

Mr Cannock says they are expecting a $300,000 loss this year, partly due to the loss of horse entry fees.
He says visitor numbers are also likely to be down about 10,000 from the usual 130,000.
"We hope to survive, we hope that Government [continues] to support us," he said.
"After all this is something that did escape from an Australian quarantine situation and should never have happened.
"But so far, both the Federal Government and the ACT Government have been very generous in helping us through the crisis."

Sanctuary for distressed donkeys

The chief vet at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, near Norwich, was doing her rounds checking up on the donkeys which the centre is "babysitting" following their rescue.
In January, the Redwings took in 21 neglected horses, ponies and donkeys rescued from a farm in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Eighty animals, many of them emaciated, had been found alive alongside 32 dead horses piled up against fences.
More than 1,100 equines are in the care of Redwings, either with the charity permanently, looking for a new home or being looked after for other organisations such as the RSPCA.
Timothy the donkey was born at Redwings the day after his mother was brought to the centre from the Amersham farm.
He is thriving and has attempted to befriend three-month-old Esther, another rescued donkey.
The animals are being housed temporarily at Redwings, until it is decided whether they will be returned to the farm or found new homes.
Ms Jarvis said the commonest medical problem faced by donkeys was stress.
Poorly donkey
"Imagine the fussiest person you know on the planet and that would be the equivalent of a donkey," Ms Jarvis said.
"They don't like sudden changes in diet. Rain and cold together is fairly lethal for a donkey.
"They don't like being separated from friends - if you know a donkey's paired up with one you have to keep them together.
"So if ever a donkey's poorly you have to bring the friend in with it.
"But they are not the brightest creatures and you can bring in another donkey that looks similar to its friend and use it as a substitute - we once used a goat.
"If there's anything at all they don't like they tend to react by going off their food."
Worst case seen
A donkey not eating is at risk of developing hyperglycaemia.
"If they don't eat they do mobilise the fat stores, but it is in the form of globules in the blood and it can settle out in the liver and kidneys and they actually end up with very bad liver damage," Ms Jarvis said.
Lynn Cutress, chief executive of Redwings, said: "One of our vets has been here 16 years and he felt that the Amersham case was one of the worst he had seen.
"We do have a lot of major rescues which we do, but not always all on one day like that one.
"The previous largest one we had was 72 ponies in one day in 2004."

Thurs Meeting May Allow Free Horse Movement In NSW

Racing NSW & Department Of Primary Industries officials are meeting on Thursday to discuss the possible early lifting of current horse movement restrictions to allow free travel within the state without quarantine. Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy confirmed: "The date set down was March 14, but we have a meeting on Thursday & we are hoping this will be brought forward to March 1. That would allow free movement."

Official doesn't believe AQIS to blame for EI outbreak

The inquiry into the equine influenza outbreak has heard that Australia's most senior quarantine official does not agree the outbreak was a failure by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries handles quarantine through AQIS which manages border security and Biosecurity Australia, which creates policy.
The secretary of the department, Conall O'Connell, says Biosecurity Australia had never done a formal risk assessment on horses, but he did not accept that the equine influenza outbreak was a failure by quarantine authorities.
Commissioner Ian Callinan has asked him to face the possibility of a finding that the virus escaped from either the Eastern Creek quarantine station, Sydney Airport or from horse transport; any of which would be a failure by AQIS.

Equestrians appeal to PM

THE Olympic gold medal prospects of Australia's three-day eventing equestrian squad lie in the hands of Kevin Rudd after the team's preparations for Beijing were ruined by the equine flu virus.

The Prime Minister is considering a joint submission from Sports Minister Kate Ellis and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke for $1.5 million for the team, which includes Olympic 2000 medallist Stuart Tinney.
The money would allow the team to go overseas next month to get international competition after domestic events were cancelled during the horse flu alert.
Brett Mace, high-performance manager for the Equestrian Federation of Australia, said the team, which is in contention for gold, had been involved in no competitions since August. He is is concerned the submission may hit federal financial constraints as the Rudd Government cuts back on spending in its first budget.
The National Rugby League lost $10million pledged by former prime minister John Howard for a hall of fame, the Australian Rugby Union had $25million for a national rugby academy withdrawn, and fishing lost $3million for a hall of fame.
"We're hoping for a decision any time," Mr Mace said. "But we're a bit nervous as there are going to be cutbacks."

Meeting this week to decide NSW zones

Racing officials are hopeful movement restrictions throughout the state will be lifted this week to allow horses to travel freely without quarantine.
Representatives from Racing NSW and the NSW Department of Primary Industries will meet on Thursday with an announcement expected later that day.
The state is currently divided into coloured zones which were established in the wake of the equine influenza (EI) outbreak last August.
Different protocols are in place regarding movement from one zone to another depending on whether the area was affected by EI.
"The date set down was March 14 but we have a meeting on Thursday and we are hoping this will be brought forward to March 1," Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy said.
"That would allow free movement."
At the moment, horses coming to Sydney from EI free zones such as Canberra, are required to spend time in quarantine at Canterbury racecourse before returning home.
But although restrictions are to be relaxed, Murrihy urged horse owners and trainer to ensure those horses not infected with EI received their third vaccination shot.
The board of Racing NSW has introduced a new rule which means horses that have not been vaccinated will be unable to compete.
"During the crisis the stewards went round all the training centres and ensured the vaccinations were carried out but this is now the responsibility of trainers," Murrihy said.
"Some people still have an expectation we will be out there to do it but that is not the case.
"At every meeting in the past couple of weeks there have been horses coming out because the vaccination had not been done.
"If it isn't done within three to four months of the second vaccination, the process might have to start all over again and we don't want that."