Return of the Horse equestrian series already breaking records

It's Australia’s largest equestrian event since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games – and already The Return of the Horse equestrian series is breaking records.

Entries have now closed and over 12 days more than 880 riders and 1,000 horses will compete in the key disciplines of showjumping, eventing and dressage at the world-class Sydney International Equestrian Centre, Horsley Park.

The Return of the Horse, which starts on Thursday, April 17, also includes the last Olympic qualifying/selection events to be held in Australia – the Bates Sydney International Three-Day Event, the ISS EFA Australian Showjumping Championships and the Sydney CDI 3 Star Dressage Event.

Olympic hopefuls, including Shane Rose, NSW; Heath Ryan, NSW; Rachael Sanna, NSW; Vicki Roycroft, NSW; Megan Jones, SA; Wendy Schaeffer, SA; and Sonja Johnson, WA, will be vying for the hotly contested berths to represent Australia at the Beijing Olympics.

Event director, Rose Read, said following the devastating Equine Influenza crisis and with just over 110 days to go till the Beijing Olympics, The Return of the Horse would be "one exhilarating competition".

"With multiple gold medals in eventing, Australian equestrian competition really does cut it on the global stage, and having such an elite list of equestrians competing at The Return of the Horse confirms the international quality of the Sydney International Equestrian Centre," Ms Read said.

"The cross country course, arenas and stables are truly world class and are equal to or if not better than most world-leading events like Badminton and Kentucky."

An exciting field of horse and rider combinations from around Australia will be competing for the top places, joined by riders from Canada, Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand.

The Return of the Horse will also give Australia’s up and coming young riders a chance to hone their equestrian skills at the EFA NSW / Mitavite Interschools Championships as they prepare for the National Championships.

"Rarely do all equestrian competition disciplines come together in one major event," Ms Read said.

"We’re celebrating the eradication of EI and I encourage everyone to come along to see the horses and cheer for the riders of all ages and abilities."

The Return of the Horse will be held at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre, Saxony Road, Horsley Park.

Stacy Westfall 2006

She dedicated this to her dad who had died 24 days before this competition.

No evidence EI vaccine hurts performance: trainers

Thoroughbred breeders in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales say there is no evidence to support claims the Equine Influenza vaccine is affecting the performance of horses.

Some trainers are reportedly claiming that their racehorses have been unable to reach peak performance because of reactions to the vaccines.

Queensland Thoroughbred Breeders Association President Bob Frapell says he has heard some anecdotal evidence to that effect, but doubts it is true.

"Over the next 12 months we'll know (anyway) and it'll take then that long to do the study," he said.

Trainers David Hayes and Michael Moroney say they have had few, if any problems.

Mr Hayes says his horses have performed exceptionally well since the vaccines.

"I've been lucky enough to not feel the affects of the vaccinations. I really haven't had a horse have any ill effects at all," he said.

Mr Moroney says only a few of his horses have been performing below par.

"Ninety per cent of them have been fine. I suppose the hardest thing is when we drive to NSW we've had to have the third shot," he said.

"But look on the whole it's a hard one to judge."

Queensland not worried about horse flu vaccine

Biosecurity Queensland has received few reports of negative side effects in horses which have been vaccinated against Equine Influenza.

Victorian trainers are complaining several of their horses have suffered side effects from the vaccine including pneumonia.

Queensland's Chief Vet Ron Glanville says around 70,000 horses in Qld have been vaccinated, most have had their second booster and the advice is the third booster may not be necessary

"We claim that we have eradicated equine influenza, we are very confident of that and because of that there is no technical reason to give the third round" he said.

"It is really up to the owners whether they give the third dose or not, that is only available up til the 30th of june and people must pay for that themselves."

Horses hit by vaccine side-effects

THE aftermath of the equine influenza crisis is an increasing number of racehorses unable to reach peak performance because of reactions to the vaccines imported to defeat the outbreak, which closed the bloodstock industry in NSW and Queensland.

The claims came mostly from Victorian trainers whose horses were vaccinated as a precautionary measure, despite protests that as the state was not affected by EI it was dangerous to expose the animals to the virus.

Six weeks after the Australian horse population was declared free of EI, the series of inoculations administered to protect horses from the debilitating illness are being viewed as anything but a panacea by some trainers.

Irregular white cell counts leaving horses lethargic or with a mild temperature are consistent with forecasts from the vaccine's distributors, who suggested 5 per cent of stock would experience mild, short-term side effects. However, some trainers are claiming the onset of respiratory problems is linked to the inoculations and the side-effects are more serious.

Melbourne trainer Colin Davies, with a dozen horses in training at outer southeastern Cranbourne, said sprinter Stanzout's form has tapered since winning a Group II race at Flemington last October and Davies said yesterday it coincided with the EI vaccinations.

"I think there have been more horses that have been damaged by these injections than we really think," he said.

"I was one of those guys that didn't believe we should give our horses the injections in Victoria. Fair enough to do it in Sydney, but it (vaccinating) should not have come into Victoria while it (the virus) wasn't here."

Stanzout was vetted after a disappointing run in the Victoria Handicap at Caulfield on Easter Monday and was found to have atrial fibrulation. Davies asked his veterinary surgeon to perform an exhaustive check of Stanzout that revealed pharyngitis.

"It is unusual for a five-year-old to get it. It is more common in a two- or three-year-old. His throat and windpipe was red raw, like it was sunburnt," Davies said. The vet cleared the horse to resume training on Friday. Davies' other well-performed horse, Shadow, won at Caulfield in the spring before being inoculated and "won't get out of his own way".

Riverina galloper Leica Falcon, which challenged champion stayer Makybe Diva for Melbourne Cup favouritism in 2005 before running fourth to the great mare, contracted pneumonia after his his third inoculation on January27. "It just stuffed him completely and we've had nothing but complications since. The horse was flying before that and now we need to give him a spell until June and hope we can get him up for the major cups this spring," said Rick Freyer, son of trainer Richard Freyer.

Ross McDonald, trainer of the world's highest-ranked three-year-old and Sydney's Doncaster Handicap favourite, Weekend Hussler, has successfully applied to stewards to delay the administration of the EI booster shot by about a week, for fear that the gelding's reaction may deny him any hope of winning the Group I race at the end of the month.

"It will be 168 days since his last shot when he runs in the Doncaster, which will make him eight days overdue.

"His white cell count was out last time and I don't want to take any chances," McDonald said.

The strain of the virus that struck in Australia was not as severe as those that devastated racing in other nations, such as South Africa almost 20 years ago.

Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy, who has had a hands-on role in the crisis, said there was not enough evidence to suggest EI had caused long-term effects. "Trainers grasp at straws when horses perform poorly," he said.

"Not every horse comes up every preparation. A study may show otherwise but I've seen no evidence of it inSydney."

Dope tests stepped up for Olympic horses

The international equestrian federation is stepping up the fight against horse doping to avoid a repeat of the 2004 Athens Olympics fiasco.

"Athens was really a bad moment for the sport," FEI spokeswoman Malina Gueorguiev told The Associated Press.

"It was a big problem and it was very spectacular. Should anything like that happen again it could be very detrimental for the sport."

Three gold medallists were stripped of their titles four years ago. The FEI is anxious to restore the sport's reputation when the three-day eventing - dressage, cross-country and showjumping - competition is staged in Hong Kong in August along with the regular dressage and showjumping disciplines.

The governing body approved its anti-doping strategy of more tests and better communication with riders and veterinarians after a week of meetings at Interlaken, Switzerland.

"For human athletes, we are not facing any serious problems: for the horses every medication is forbidden in competition - that is the bottom line," Gueorguiev said.

Testing teams will take urine samples from the leading three horses in each discipline and conduct further random tests.

"We are looking at about 50 to 60 tests from 200 horses competing, and some of those horses will be tested multiple times if they are leading from the first day," Gueorguiev said.

At the last Olympics, Cian O'Connor of Ireland was stripped of his showjumping gold in a doping case that saw a sample lost or stolen from a laboratory in England.

Germany lost the team showjumping gold medal after Ludger Beerbaum's horse returned a positive test. His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, failed.

In the most notorious Athens case, Bettina Hoy of Germany lost her three-day eventing gold for breaking the rules by crossing the start line twice in showjumping. Hoy's horse also tested positive for an antihistamine in a case further complicated by claims it was administered by a vet mistakenly thought to have been authorised by the governing body.

After the Athens debacle, the FEI appointed a task force which worked for a year to produce a new doping code.

It introduced a strict liability rule making riders responsible for any positive test by their horse and gave a clearer definition between doping and medication. Research was ordered into drug detection times so riders could know when permitted out-of-competition medications clear a horse's body.

"Horses do need treatment. Sometimes it might be that the horse is scratched, they apply some cream and there it is, a positive case. Riders have to be aware that this is very serious," Gueorguiev said.

Communication between the FEI and competitors has been improved by a doping guide published in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

Olympic equestrian events are being held in Hong Kong, at the Sha Tin race course, because quarantine rules on mainland China do not meet international standards.