Australian Equine Influenza Outbreak

Horseland & Weatherbeeta helping victims of the Victorian Bushfires

2009-02-23T09:33:00.000+10:30

Dear fellow Horse enthusiasts,
To help support all horse owners and horses effected by the VIC bushfires, Horseland is running a donation program where customers can buy a Horseland Gift Card at their local store, the staff at the store then pass this Gift Card on to the local Pony Clubs and Vet Clinics affected by these fires to get them back on track after this horrible tragedy. We together with WeatherBeeta, are also committed to helping organizations like Triple R Equine and the RSCA with their efforts to help benefit the people and horses in need at this tragic time.

Horseland now requires your help to pass the word out to everyone in Victoria and Australia to ensure that we raise the maximum amount of money possible to help these people and horses. Whether you just have a website that this story
(please see link: www.horseland.com.au/Email/Bushfire2.html) and banner (labeled Vic Fire preview.jpg) can be featured or whether you can email this to your email newsletter list of people, it will help spread the word. Even if you print the information out from the link and display it at your local pony club or in your offices, it is getting the word out there. At the end of the day, we want to make a difference for these people.

Thank You from Horse Deals

2008-05-06T15:20:00.003+09:30

On behalf of the Horse Deals Team we would like to Thank You for being part of this Blog since August 2007. The Equine Influenza outbreak had devastating effects on all sectors of the Horse Industry and Horse Deals have been proud to offer this unique service to our readers in support of 'our' industry during this difficult time. We look forward to the findings of the Callinan Inquiry and thank you all for being part of the Horse Deals Blog.
For all the latest news head to the www.horsedeals.com.au email info@horsedeals.com.au

Hoy's campaign hit by Badminton setback

2008-05-05T09:15:00.001+09:30

TRIPLE Olympic gold medallist Andrew Hoy's Olympic campaign was dealt a severe blow at the weekend when he was eliminated from the three-day event at the Badminton Horse Trials in England.

Hoy was leading on 35.4 penalty points after the dressage discipline but was disqualified after his horse, Moon Fleet, had a fall in the cross-country.
The 49-year-old Australian won the event on Moon Fleet in 2006.
Compatriot Clayton Fredericks, riding Nullabor, was also in the top 10 after the dressage, but he and Olympic gold medallist Stuart Tinney, riding Vettori, retired during the cross-country. Fredericks was not riding his top horse and is expected to compete on Ben Along Time in the United Kingdom later this month.
The highest-placed Australian going into the showjumping last night was Matt Ryan, riding Bonza Puzzle. He was 10th on 56.3 penalty points.
There are five positions up for grabs in the Australian Olympic eventing team, to be announced on July 4.
Sonja Johnson, of Western Australia, has strong claims to a spot after winning the Bates Sydney International Three-Day event last month.
Selectors will be watching Shane Rose's performance at the Melbourne International next month. He was leading going into the showjumping at the Sydney International, but was ruled out after his horse, All Luck, failed to trot up.
The Beijing Olympic equestrian events will be staged in Hong Kong from August 9-21.

Boom times for breeders

2008-05-05T09:13:00.002+09:30

AUSTRALIAN breeders, despairing last spring when equine influenza hobbled the thoroughbred industry, are back riding high as stallion service fees rise after the dizzy prices of last month's Sydney yearling sales.

Arrowfield is leading the charge to take advantage of the boom and the booming race performances of its stallions' progeny. It has announced that Hussonet, sire of emerging champion Weekend Hussler, will stand in the NSW Hunter Valley at $137,500 next season, up almost $100,000 on last year's $38,500.

Arrowfield boss John Messara said yesterday that last September he could not have imagined that equine influenza could have become a thing of the past so quickly as the market showed its resilience and international players such as Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed invested heavily in the Australian thoroughbred.

Hussonet, bought cheaply in Chile to stand at $24,750 in 2003, had been at $38,500 for two seasons. Last year, the horse served about 140 mares, but Messara will restrict him to 120 to ensure the stud gets another four or five years from him.

Even with 30-40 of the matings to be with Arrowfield mares, including Miss Finland and Alinghi, two of the best racehorses this century, the rise will bring in at least another $8 million for the stud next spring.

Last season's leading stallion Flying Spur also will stand at $137,500, up from $99,000 on the back of another good racing season with three group 1 winners — Forensics, Casino Prince and Dealer Principal.

Arrowfield will keep the service fee of Australia's dearest stallion, Redoute's Choice, at $330,000 after he had 49 yearlings sell for an average of $791,735 this season, with the top colt at $2.7 million and the top filly at $1.8 million. "The Australian horse is making it big worldwide, and the internationals are investing here, too," Messara said.

Hussonet and Flying Spur will be the equal-third-dearest stallions behind Redoute's Choice and Encosta De Lago.

Vet criticises DPI over outstanding EI vaccination payments

2008-05-05T09:01:00.001+09:30

A Queensland vet says he is still thousands of dollars out of pocket for work he did for the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) during the horse flu outbreak.

Dr Stephen Tanner says he is disappointed that after stepping up to help during the equine influenza crisis, he is still waiting to be paid a third of the money he is owed by the DPI for vaccinations.
Dr Tanner runs a clinic at Warwick which was at the heart of the outbreak.
"We've had to pay our creditors and we've had pay bills along the way and we've had to increase our overdraft to cover that," Dr Tanner said.
Equine Veterinary Australia spokesman Dr Chris Reardon says DPI staff are working as quickly as they can.
"They have acknowledged they are behind and they're doing their best to catch up the situation," he said.
Dr Reardon says the DPI will try to pay all outstanding equine influenza accounts by the end of next month.

Lawyers Prepare To Sue Over EI Report

2008-05-02T15:29:00.001+09:30

Australia's Federal Government "is considering its response to the Callinan Inquiry into the equine influenza outbreak amid growing expectations it will face class actions seeking to recoup losses inflicted on business & individuals," reported The Australian Financial Review. "At least 2 law firms have collated hundreds of cases involving economic loss for potential class actions against the government, but are awaiting the release of the Callinan Report by Agriculture Minister Tony Burke, who received it last week." A spokesman for Burke told the newspaper he was "still considering the report & declined to comment on when it would be released". Gold Coast-based law firm Atwood Marshall "says more than 300 horse owners & individuals working in related industries have registered interest in a class action". Managing partner Jeff Garrett said interested parties "ranged from stablehands who had lost thousands of dollars to a breeder who claimed to have lost between $7-8 million". Chartered accountant PKF & Sydney law firm Clinch Neville Long Letherbarrow "are also working on a possible EI class action".

Horse death prompts call to revisit steeplechase review

2008-05-02T15:26:00.001+09:30

The RSPCA says there needs to be a re-examination of a review completed three years ago which looked at steeplechasing and hurdling in horse races.

Yesterday, a horse in the Grand Annual at Warrnambool badly injured a leg while trying to clear the last obstacle in the race and had to be put down.
The RSPCA's Hugh Wirth says the review committee should be reconvened to see if the recommendations that were made have happened.
"This covered the training of horses, jockeys and more particularly the obstacles and how they were built," he said.
"Now the traditionalists of course didn't like our recommendations on the construction of hurdles and or steeples, but there is anecdotal evidence that this has made a huge difference."

Jail looms for vet on cruelty

2008-05-01T10:19:00.003+09:30

A VET banned from keeping animals after she was convicted of gross animal cruelty is facing jail after claiming she did not understand she couldn't keep dogs, horses and a bird.

Julie Tilbrook wept in court yesterday as she held up a photo of one of her horses, telling a magistrate it felt sad and knew welfare inspectors were coming to take it.
RSPCA officers seized two stallions, five dogs and a canary - all in good condition - from her Lara property in January.
Tilbrook yesterday faced Geelong Magistrates' Court to answer eight new charges of owning animals in violation of a court order.
The fresh charges breached a six-month suspended sentence imposed last September after she was found guilty of starving and mistreating 22 horses, some of which were near death.
She was disqualified from owning animals for five years.
The court yesterday heard that Tilbrook last year applied for a stay of an order to remove the dogs, horses and bird so she could appeal the magistrate's ruling.
But it was rejected by a County Court judge on December 20 last year, meaning she could no longer keep the animals.
On January 15 RSPCA inspectors seized a Jack Russell terrier, four kelpies, two stallions and a canary.
Tilbrook, who represented herself, said she was distressed and confused by the judge's decision, and asked her daughters to feed the animals while she got legal advice.
"I told my daughter, 'I'm going to get out of town because I have a feeling they are going to lock me up'."
Tilbrook said she camped "up country" with no water because she feared a set-up.
She said she was forced back to her Lara house because it was being vandalised, but claimed she did not go near the animals.
Tilbrook showed magistrate Michael Coghlan a picture of a stallion removed by the RSPCA in January.
"This is a very sad horse. That is a horse who knows he is the next one. He has seen people come to the property and take away his herd," she said, crying.
Mr Coghlan said Tilbrook organised someone else to care for the animals because she knew the ban was in effect and was trying to get around it.
He said he was satisfied the animals were in her possession.
Mr Coghlan urged Tilbrook to hire a lawyer and arrange material relating to mental health problems.
"You are facing a significant term of imprisonment. It concerns me there may be material that may put things in a different light," he said.
Prosecutor Andrew Halse said the RSPCA hoped to find the animals new owners.
Tilbrook faces court on May 29. Click here to go to the Herald Sun website for this story

Being saddled with injuries is a royal pain

2008-05-01T09:46:00.001+09:30

FUNNILY enough, my interest in equestrianism dates back to the day I bumped into Princess Anne's husband, Captain Mark Phillips, in the gents' toilets at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. "Why the long face?" I asked unoriginally.

"Foggy" Phillips - as he was nicknamed by army chums on account of his wetness and thickness - paused, processed the question and mumbled something about "lots of aches and pains" before trying to exit through a broom cupboard.
Little was ever said about the horses, so one presumed Foggy, a British gold medallist at the Munich Games, was talking about injuries to the American riders he coached at Atlanta. But they were piffling compared with those of the two women in Australia's winning three-day event team.
Wendy Schaeffer competed on a still-broken leg, so painful she "walked" the course beforehand in a golf buggy. Gillian Rolton finished her round after twice falling off, chipping an elbow, breaking a collarbone and cracking two ribs.
Fond memories of the heroic "crocks of gold" came galloping back this week with the arrival of Trailblazers ($29.95, Rosenberg), the story of Australia's first Olympic equestrians, told by the only survivor, Wyatt "Bunty" Thompson and the writer Petronella McGovern.
It was 1956, the year of the Melbourne Olympics, but Australia's stringent quarantine regime meant the equestrian events were held in Stockholm. Never mind medal chances. As Bunty, a grazier from Trunkey Creek, near Bathurst, explains, it was a major achievement for Australian riders and horses even to compete. Some horses, including "The Queen of Downunder", were shipped out in January during a heatwave into a British snowstorm. Others were bought on arrival. Several succumbed to equine flu. All were sold after competing.
The team followed by boat for a six-month campaign of acclimatisation and competition. They paid themselves a £2-a-week living allowance. They rode largely untried horses, brought the wrong saddles and had to buy special "English" clothes - red coats, white breeches, black boots.
More used to bush roughriding, Bunty and his five teammates had no experience of "European style". Indeed, their Viennese trainer was appalled to discover Australians believed dressage - which relates to the training and deportment of horses - meant being best dressed on parade.
Remarkably, the team finished just outside the medal places, in fourth place. As Bunty recalls, they rode a fast-learning curve. In Sweden, they were shocked by easygoing attitudes towards casual sex. In England, they struggled with etiquette.
At a cocktail party in Harewood House, Yorkshire, Bunty was talking to Prince Phillip, when he stepped back to make way for a waiter, crushing the toes of a woman behind him - the Queen Mother. That's the thing about equestrianism: you're always bumping into royals.

Beijing bans our Vegemite

2008-04-30T10:38:00.003+09:30

FORGET Tibet and human rights - 2008 may become known as the year of the Vegemite riots after China's ban on Australia taking its own food to the Olympic Games.

In another example of the iron-clad control Beijing is trying to exert on foreigners, Games organisers have told Australia it must source all food from within China.

It is understood the Chinese have introduced the ban to maximise revenue for local food producers.

The policy is an abrupt departure from previous Olympics, when Australian athletes have been allowed to bring in foods to meet their strict dietary needs.

The Daily Telegraph has learned the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games added an unprecedented clause in its freight manual outlining the ban.

The Australian Olympic Committee raised the issue at a BOCOG planning meeting in Beijing last month but so far the Chinese have refused to relax their policy.
Click here to read the full stroy

Chopper pilot steers horse to campdraft glory

2008-04-30T10:09:00.002+09:30

Cameron Parker might spend most of his time in the cockpit, but he was more at home in the saddle at the weekend.

The Central Queensland helicopter pilot spent three days of fierce competition over the Anzac Day weekend, competing in the prestigious Rocky Rush at the Gracemere saleyards complex.

With the State's top cowboys, the competition combined cutting, reigning and camp-drafting and led into the annual Quarter Horse sale on Monday and Tuesday.

Against stiff competition, Mr Parker scored top prize in the Queensland Country Life junior challenge, scoring 452.5 points atop the horse One More Daddy, owned by Mack and Gail Shann, Centaur Park, Clermont.

Mr Parker lives in the Mount Coolon district, north of Moranbah, on Blair and Josie Angus's property, Sondella Station.

He rides most afternoons after a day of flying and said that it is important to get in the saddle every day.

With many major titles two his name, it marked the second consecutive year he has won the junior challenge of the Rocky Rush.

He came in ahead of Frank Green on Johnny Paycheque who placed second (447 points), while Berry Shann on Sandy Spin scored 446 points to place third.

In the senior challenge, Rick Frost (Pepe Wood) placed first ahead of Nathan Wilson (Chickasha Josie) in second and Andrew Currie (Early Oak) in third.

Horse owners to sue over flu

2008-04-30T09:56:00.001+09:30

A Queensland law firm is preparing to launch a multi-million dollar class action against the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) over the horse flu outbreak.

More than 300 horse owners have already registered their interest in joining a class action with Gold Coast-based law firm Atwood Marshall.
Lawyer Jeff Garrett said the action could not be launched until the findings of an independent inquiry into last year's equine influenza (EI) outbreak are tabled in federal parliament.
However, after hearing evidence presented to the inquiry that problems at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station were to blame for the outbreak, he expected the AQIS to be the subject of any action.
"If the findings come out as we expect, I am sure that not long after that we are probably going to have a number of court actions which will proceed," Mr Garrett said.
"If you look at the submissions of counsel assisting the inquiry, if they are accepted or even 50 per cent of them are accepted, it's hard to imagine that AQIS are not going to be in the firing line."
The total damages claim is yet to be determined but Mr Garrett estimated it could total tens of millions of dollars.
The outbreak crippled the thoroughbred industry in Queensland and NSW and resulted in losses estimated at more than $1 billion.
Mr Garrett said he expected thousands more horse owners to join the action once the findings were made public.
He said the outbreak had a "huge" impact on many of his clients.
"There's been people who have been completely devastated by it - right across the board there's just been complete devastation and widespread losses," Mr Garrett said.

EI class action against quarantine station

2008-04-30T09:46:00.002+09:30

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service is likely to be hit with a multi-million dollar damages claim over the equine influenza (EI) outbreak.

More than 300 Australian horse owners have registered with Queensland law firm Atwood Marshall, outlining their intention to join a class action to recoup their losses.
An independent inquiry into the outbreak heard that problems at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station were to blame.
Lawyer Jeff Garrett says the outbreak cost the industry at least $1 billion.
"Many people, their businesses simply ground to a halt , they just had nothing," he said.
"If the findings come in with what we heard at the inquiry itself I think there's little doubt that the relevant government authority is going to be held squarely responsible for the outbreak."
New South Wales Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald has publicly attacked the quarantine service, saying it is solely to blame for last year's horse flu outbreak.
"It'll show that Eastern Creek was slack, as many of my veterinary officers and others associated with the department have said right from the beginning," he said.
"This is straight out of Eastern Creek or pre-Eastern Creek and is a great demonstration of what should not happen in relation to quarantine services."
He says he believes the inquiry will prove that sub-standard quarantine protocols were to blame.
"It could have been a lot worse if we had an exotic disease enter this country that had some human potentiality or could spread to humans such as, they believe, avian influenza could," he said. Click here to go to the Story

"We need to have very strong bio-security protocols in place at all of our entry points."

LEVY TO FUND COST OF E I

2008-04-29T14:41:00.000+09:30

It is iniquitous that legislation to levy the horse industry to fund the 80% cost of E I is being rushed through before the result of the Callinan enquiry will be known. Any levy should be fair & equitable - so a levy on all service fees from all shuttle stallions for both 2008 & 2009 seasons would be an excellent starting point, followed closely by levy on all Thoroughbreds sold at auction in 2008/2009 financial year, and a levy on all prizemoney won by Thoroughbred racehorses in the 2008/2009 year. The taxes payable on the government grants and CHAPS payments should go directly to the fund and not to general revenue. The levy on registration of equestrian horses is OK but some horses are multi-registered so they should only have to pay once. There are plenty of people whose horses are not registered so they won't pay anything. There should be a levy on all horses slaughtered at meatworkds retrospective to 25 August and continuing to the end of 2008. I would be willing to bet however that there won't be any levies on shuttle stallion fees, Thoroughbred auctions or prizemoney on races.
Sally Pinnington, Gold Coast

Media Advisory Regarding the 2008 Rolex Kentucky CCI****

2008-04-29T09:26:00.002+09:30

Laine Ashker's horse Frodo Baggins was humanely euthanized after sustaining serious injuries as a result of a fall on the cross country course on Saturday, April 27. The entire eventing community is deeply saddened by the loss of this incredibly brave horse.

Laine was also injured in the fall. She was immediately attended to and is receiving the finest medial care available at the University of Kentucky emergency center. As of Sunday, April 28 at noon, she is in guarded condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her entire family.

In a separate incident Sarah Hansel's horse The Quiet Man sustained a serious shoulder injury as a result of a fall. The Quiet Man was humanely euthanized Sunday morning as a result of the fall. Sarah sustained minor injuries and didn't require hospitalization. The absence of this lovely horse is a tremendous loss to the entire sport of eventing.

Family Statement for Laine Ashker

First and foremost we'd like to thank everyone - Laine's friends, fellow competitors, fans and organizers - for all of the incredible support and well wishes sent our way. Given the sheer magnitude of Laine's fall, we have a great deal to be thankful for. The good news is there was no injury to either the brain or spinal chord. While Laine suffered multiple injuries, including a badly broken jaw, broken ribs and clavicle, the main concern is with her collapsed lungs. She is progressing normally and is currently in reasonably stable condition in the ICU unit at the University of Kentucky Hospital. We appreciate your continued support and heart felt prayers.

Laine's Family

Click here to go to the 2008 Rolex Kentucky CCI****

Alarm at buy now, pay later plan for dogs, cats

2008-04-29T09:08:00.001+09:30

PET stores are offering cats, dogs and other species for sale on payment plans.

Animal rights campaigners say the trend towards buying pets on layby will swell the number being abandoned or consigned to pounds, where there is a high risk that they will have to be put down.

Pets World is one NSW chain offering animals on payment plans.

Under the terms of the agreement, customers pay a 40 per cent deposit and the remainder over six months. They cannot bring the pet back or obtain a refund if it runs away or dies - nor are they entitled to compensation if the animal falls ill outside the 30-day "health guarantee".

Derek Knox, a volunteer with the charity CatRescue, said: "This is the dumbest and most socially irresponsible thing we have ever seen.

"If a person can't afford the full cost of the animal in the first place, how are they going to afford the food, the upkeep and the vets' fees?

"These animals are sold before they have been de-sexed, so there is also the risk that they will have kittens or puppies because the owner cannot afford to have them desexed, adding to the numbers that will end up being dumped."

Mr Knox said more than 60,000 healthy animals were killed every year in NSW pounds.

Karen Schlieper, supervisor of the RSPCA's Sydney animal shelter, said: "We are hugely concerned. A lot of pet store purchases are made on impulse and if people are offered this type of payment plan, there is a big risk that those who can't afford a pet will be enticed into buying one."

But Pets World director Jamie Buttigieg said: "The payment plan is interest-free and offers our customers an alternative from paying by credit card or cash or cheque.

"We take our responsibilities extremely seriously," he said.

Country Shows 2008

2008-04-29T09:02:00.003+09:30

I have recently competed at Orange, Wellington and Dubbo Ag Shows and i am very dissapointed to see that the Numbers of Hacks Galloways and Ponies is down compared to recent years.
Has the EI affected these shows more than we thought.
I was ready and raring to go but it seems alot of the usual competitors were absent.
Anyone else got any thoughts.......
Maybe the cost of fuel has turned people away or have alot of people realised a life beyond horses during the EI?
D.

Prayers for Robbie Allen

2008-04-28T12:48:00.003+09:30

It is reported that Robbie Allen was coaching at Werribee Park when the student fell off. Robbie went to collect the horse reached for the reins and it spun and got him in the face with both back legs. He is in the Alfred, with severe facial injuries and concussion. Our well wishes and prayers go out to Robbie and his family.

Parkes show dilemma over equine debacle

2008-04-28T12:09:00.002+09:30

SECOND time lucky. Well maybe. Parkes Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Association secretary, Kaye Bird, is frustrated a grant application to regain expenses after the equine influenza outbreak was knocked back.

For committee members of Parkes Show, it’s a do or go bust effort to regain some of the expense incurred for doing the right thing and stopping their 2007 show because of the Equine Influenza outbreak.

Parkes was the only three-day show in the state which voluntarily closed its gates to horse entry or departure more than 24 hours before NSW Primary Industries officials declared the showground a quarantine area and cancelled the event last August.

Horses that had arrived early, including a truck load from Sydney’s Centennial Park, were included in the lockdown which lasted for some 50 days.

Callinan report finalised

2008-04-28T09:46:00.001+09:30

SYDNEY – Ian Callinan, the Commissioner of the Inquiry into the equine influenza (EI) outbreak in Australia, has provided his report to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke.

The Commissioner was appointed by the previous Government in September, 2007 to investigate the outbreak of EI.

He was asked to report on the circumstances contributing to the outbreak of the disease and on the need for any strengthened biosecurity procedures for the quarantine management of imported horses.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke said he would consider Justice Callinan’s report and findings in detail before providing a public response.

“I will take the time needed to thoroughly review the report before making any comment or decision on the recommendations.

“It is my intention that the report will be publicly released once it has been considered by the Government.”

The Government will consult with a range of industry sectors on the future handling of imported horses, including the racing, breeding and recreational sectors.
Click here to go to Turf Monthly

Class action likely over horse flu

2008-04-24T16:36:00.002+09:30

The final report into how horse flu entered Australia will be handed to Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke today.

But even before it's tabled in parliament, a class action against Government agencies looks likely.

After six months and 80,000 documents, the horse flu inquiry has ended with Commissioner Ian Callinan delivering his single volume on time to the government.
But legal proceedings are far from over.
Partner with lawyers Atwood Marshall, Jeff Garrett, who represented livestock transporters and farriers in the inquiry, says he is ready to file a class action for 350 clients who suffered loss after the outbreak.
"We've been working very hard to asemble the various components of their claims, so that we are ready to proceed as soon as the findings are handed down by the inquiry," he said.
Interim recommendations from the Commissioner have already put the Commonwealth on notice that its entire quarantine system is facing a major shake-up.
It is not known if, or when, Mr Burke will make public the inquiry's final report. Click here to read the full story

Government receives Equine Influenza Inquiry Report

2008-04-24T15:19:00.001+09:30

The Hon. Tony Bur ke MP
Minister for Agricul ture, Fisheries and Forestry
M E D I A R E L E A S E

Government receives Equine Influenza Inquiry Report

The Commissioner of the Inquiry into the Outbreak of Equine Influenza in Australia in August 2007, the Hon. Ian Callinan AC, has provided his report to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke.

The Commissioner was appointed by the previous Government in September 2007 to investigate the outbreak of equine influenza.

He was asked to report on the circumstances contributing to the outbreak of the disease and on the need for any strengthened biosecurity procedures for the quarantine management of imported horses.

Mr Burke said he would consider Justice Callinan's report and findings in detail before providing a public response.

"I will take the time needed to thoroughly review the report before making any comment or decision on the recommendations," Mr Burke said.

"It is my intention that the report will be publicly released once it has been considered by the Government."

Following the release of the report, the Government will consult with a range of industry sectors on the future handling of imported horses, including the racing, breeding and recreational sectors.

24 April 2008 DAFF08/047B

Thoroughbred industry urges horse flu report release

2008-04-24T14:34:00.001+09:30

The Hunter's thoroughbred breeding sector is urging federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke not to delay releasing the equine influenza inquiry report, which is now with his department.

The independent inquiry heard several weeks of evidence from quarantine officials, stud representatives and riders involved in an event at Maitland, which is blamed for the virus escaping into the wider horse population.
The final report has been sent to Mr Burke.
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia president John Messara is hoping the document is released soon.
"I'd say the sooner the better. I think we need to sort ourselves out and know exactly where the industry stands, and in fact where the shortfalls have been, and how they're going to be remedied," he said.
"We're getting back into the shuttle season. It's on again in the next couple of months, horses are beginning to come out here and we need to be planning."

Click here to go to the ABC Newcastle website

Aust needs quarantine boost: Callinan

2008-04-24T14:27:00.001+09:30

The author of a report into the equine influenza crisis says Australia's quarantine measures need to be strengthened significantly to protect the country from another outbreak.

The horse flu epidemic crippled the racing and horse industries in Queensland and New South Wales last year.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan handed his report to the Federal Agriculture Minister yesterday.

The Federal Government says it will not publicly release the report into the equine influenza crisis until it has been properly considered.

In a statement, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said he had received the report and would take the time needed to thoroughly review it before making any decision on the recommendations.

While traveling in regional Queensland today, Mr Callinan said international quarantine measures also needed improvement. Click here to go to the ABC News website

Notebook sheds light on Phar Lap mystery

2008-04-24T10:21:00.000+09:30

A handwritten notebook of tonics used by the trainer of legendary racehorse Phar Lap, which may shed new light on his death from poisoning, has sold at auction for $37,000.

The 82-page notebook, which belonged to Phar Lap's trainer Harry Telford, provides the first written proof of the tonics and ointments he used on racehorses.

Twenty-eight of the homeopathic recipes in the notebook were written in Telford's hand, with two others added by his track-work jockey, Ernie Fellows, auctioneer Charles Leski of Charles Leski Auctions in Melbourne said.

Ingredients of some of them include arsenic, strychnine, belladonna, cocaine and caffeine - poisonous in large amounts but used to give horses an extra edge in the days before swabbing.

Phar Lap won 37 of his 51 starts, including 14 wins in a row and the 1930 Melbourne Cup.

He went to the United States in 1932, accompanied by his strapper and stand-in trainer Tom Woodcock.

The big red won his first race on US soil but died at the Menlo Park racetrack in California on April 5.

Conspiracy theories flourished, including suggestions gangsters killed off the champion Australian-owned, New Zealand-bred gelding.

But on his deathbed in 1985, Woodcock admitted Phar Lap might have died from ingesting too much of one of his tonics.

Mr Leski said the notebook was sold among a range of sporting memorabilia.

It was purchased by Museum Victoria, which has displayed Phar Lap's hide and other memorabilia since 1933.

Four bidders drove the price from the minimum bid of $7,500, with the final price well exceeding the estimate of $10,000 to $20,000.

"It's the first time that we have had, in writing, confirmation that caffeine, cocaine, belladonna, strychnine - all of them we think of as poisons - were actually used by Harry Telford in the maintenance of his horses," Mr Leski told AAP.

"In strictly measured doses and mixed in with other feed, presumably these served the purpose of being a stimulant and didn't adversely affect the horses.

"But if Phar Lap had been unwell in the trip over to America or if he had been in the hands of more than one person in the US, it's possible the dosage wasn't strictly adhered to and it would appear he overdoses on a concoction that was considered good for him.

"This was considered quite normal at the time."

Two riders preselected for Olympics

2008-04-24T10:19:00.001+09:30

Sydney Olympian Kristy Oatley and fellow rider Edwina Alexander have been pre-nominated for the Australian Olympic equestrian team to compete at the Beijing Games.

The Equestrian Federation of Australia announced the pre-nomination of two riders and a shortlist of potential dressage qualifiers.

Oatley and her horse Quando-Quando were nominated by dressage selectors after a number of solid international performances.

Showjumping selectors gave Alexander the nod as well, and will name which horse she will ride at the Games when they announce the rest of the team nominations on July 4.

Alexander has three horses in contention, Isovlas Pialotta, Isovlas Socrates and Isovlas Itot du Chateau.

Heath Ryan has been added to the Australian dressage Olympic shadow team on Greenoaks Dundee.

The Olympic equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong from August 9-21.

Australian Dressage shortlist for Olympic Games:

Rider Horse

Mary Hanna Port Said 10

Mary Hanna Rambo

Kristy Oatley Quando-Quando

Kristy Oatley Don Bolero

Brett Parbery Victory Salute

Rozzie Ryan Donna Carrera

Maree Tomkinson Lanzaro

Heath Ryan Greenoaks Dundee

Horse flu debrief highlights need for better communication

2008-04-22T14:04:00.001+09:30

A Tamworth-based Department of Primary Industries (DPI) equine flu debriefing has identified problems with the ability to communicate information effectively during the crisis.

The session was one of 12 being held across New South Wales to evaluate the department's response to the biosecurity situation.
The Australian Quarter Horse Association has described it as a collaborative process that included a frank and open assessment of the DPI's performance.
Association general manager Hunter Jones says the debriefing recognised a need for a better communications strategy.
"One of the things that came up was that most of the breed organisations such as ours work on a postcode system where the Government works on local government ... codes if they are primary produces," he said.
"So ... the meshing of data to be able to contact people quickly and readily was a real problem till at least October, November last year and there was certainly a well understood belief that more detailed information about where horse properties may have been was going to be of a great asset to them."

Rider dies in accident at Co Cork equestrian event

2008-04-22T09:42:00.002+09:30

Monday, April 21, 2008

Ireland's equestrian community is in mourning this morning following the death of Karen Rodgers during a competition yesterday.

The 41-year-old, from Kildare, was killed when her horse, Kilcoltrim Brigade, fell at a jump on the Ballindenisk cross-country course in Cork.

Ms Rodgers was an experienced rider and a regular competitor at the course.

Eventing Ireland and the organisers of the Ballindenisk competition have expressed deep sadness and shock following the death. Click here to go the website

Light Horsemen headed to Israel for memorial dedication

2008-04-22T09:26:00.002+09:30

SEVEN World War II veterans will attend the dedication of the Park of the Australian Soldier at Beersheba in Israel next week, the site of a famous World War I battle involving Australian Light Horse regiments.
The WWII veterans, in their 80s, will attend because there are no surviving light horsemen from WWI.
The centrepiece of the Israel park is a sculpture of a light horseman leaping the trenches, designed by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett.
It marks the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments against Turkish posts at Beersheba on October 31, 1917.
It will be dedicated by Governor-General Michael Jeffery and Israeli President Shimon Peres. Alan Griffin, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, will also attend.
Dale Robertson, now 86, is one of the WWII veterans attending the dedication. He served in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville for 12 months, beginning in 1944.
"I'm very, very honoured," he said. "Light Horsemen were all very close companions, (who) respected one another for their horsemanship and their abilities."
Mr Robertson enlisted in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in 1940.
The party travelling to Israel will also attend an Anzac Day dawn service to be held at Mount Scopus War Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Dog rescued after months at sea

2008-04-22T09:22:00.001+09:30

Snickers the Sea Dog is barely more than a pup, but he's already an old salt.

The eight-month-old pooch spent three months adrift on a 15-metre boat and survived four months on tiny Fanning Island - 1609 kilometres south of Hawaii - where his owners left him after their sailing boat ran aground last December.
Now the cocker spaniel, who is in quarantine on Oahu after being rescued April 9 by Norwegian Cruise Line workers and a group of other people, will be flown to Los Angeles to meet a man who desperately wants to adopt him: retired Las Vegas resident Jack Joslin.
"I love animals," Joslin said today. "I had two dogs up until the middle of March. Then I had to have my border collie euthanised. The day they called saying the ashes were back was when I read the story (about Snickers). It occurred to me I could do something."
Hawaiian Airlines, moved by the dog's survival story, has given the go-ahead on flying the animal for free to the mainland, said Peter Forman, a Hawaii-based airlines historian who helped negotiate Snickers' transport.
Forman said he expects Snickers to arrive sometime in the next three days.
Snickers' ordeal began when his owners catamaran began experiencing mast problems after setting off from California, said Gina Baurile of the Hawaiian Humane Society.
The boat drifted to Fanning Island where it hit a reef and the dog's owners, Jerry and Darla Merrow, swam 200 metres to shore with Snickers and their parrot, Gulliver. They left the island soon after on a cargo vessel leaving their pets in the care of islanders, Baurile said.
Efforts to contact the Merrows have been unsuccessful.
Robby Coleman, who owns a sail boat off Fanning Island then started watching out for the dog and parrot on the island, Forman said.
"Robby put out the SOS and a lot of people got involved," Forman said.
After being contacted by Formans wife the Hawaiian Humane Society took the lead on Snickers rescue and organised for a ship to be sent out to Fanning Island to pick up the dog, said Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman Krislyn Hashimoto.
The dog landed in Honolulu on Wednesday, cleared customs and has been in quarantine since, awaiting transport to LA, Hashimoto said.

Woman Of Steel

2008-04-22T09:18:00.002+09:30

Riding instructor Anne Skinner isn’t meant to be alive.

She spent years teaching children with disabilities the joy and therapeutic values of horse riding.

A freak car accident made her the first person to survive such extensive spinal and pelvic injuries. An Australian surgeon needed to invent a world-first metal bolt device to enable her just to walk again.

After a total of twenty operations and three months spent re-learning how to walk, Anne returned home and eventually, back into the saddle and back into competive riding.

On the path to the Beijing Paralympics, she crossed paths with Queensland horse, Cossack, who had also survived a harrowing car accident.

Having both cheated death, this unlikely pairing has produced a unique chemistry.

Click her to go the the Australian Story website to watch this inspiring program televised on the 21st April 2008

Showmen's Guild celebrates centenary this year

2008-04-21T10:54:00.001+09:30

Did the razzle dazzle, the chairoplane or the horseplane put the wind in your hair?

The Showmen's Guild of Australasia is this year celebrating its centenary and the rides have certainly changed with the times.
President George Pink of the "trade association for showmen" has been involved in the industry for 64 years and can remember some of the earliest rides dating back to the early 1940's.
"I can remember the last horse and wagon on the showground so there's been some big changes," he said.
"My grandfather had a very large merry-go-round for the early days, of last century and early this century, and he had a ride called a razzle dazzle and you pushed it around and it used to rock."
That was the biggest ride on the showground until the chairoplane made its appearance.
"It had the tractor chairs on the end and it used to swing out, it had about 35 to 36 tractor chairs on it."
"Of course now we've got all the modern equipment run by computers; they tip you upside down, turn you inside out, spit you out and put you back on the ground again. "Click here to read the full story

Andrew Hoy serious about Olympic Games record

2008-04-21T10:40:00.002+09:30

RACEHORSE trainer David Hayes is among a cast of experts consulted by Australia's record-chasing Olympian Andrew Hoy on ways to help his horse beat the heat at the Games competition in Hong Kong.

Hoy, a triple Olympic gold medallist, is closing in on an Australian record seventh team selection if he is picked in July.

And he says the secret of his longevity is his "attention to detail" and the quality of the people he has assisting his and wife Bettina's equestrian business.

Hoy, Winter Olympian Colin Coates and sailing's Colin Beashel are the only Australians to have been to six Olympics.

Many in the Australian Olympic movement believe he should have already been to seven Games. Hoy was selected to go to Moscow in 1980, but his sport chose not to send a team because of pressure from the Fraser Government to boycott.

Olympics veterinary services officer Chris Riggs last year said that temperatures of more than 30C in Hong Kong in August meant Olympic equestrian events could be postponed, cancelled or modified if required.

The equestrian events will be in Hong Kong due to quarantine issues on the Chinese mainland.

Hoy's attention to detail has led him to attend the Olympic test event at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club's Sha-Tin course, to inspect the stables and facilities.

Click here to read the full story

Equestian stalwart Wayne Roycroft sweats on equine break

2008-04-21T10:21:00.003+09:30

EQUESTRIAN stalwart Wayne Roycroft is eagerly awaiting this week's outcome of the inquiry into the equine influenza outbreak, which has hampered preparations for the Olympics.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan will deliver his findings later this week into what caused the equine influenza outbreak in eastern Australia last August.
His findings may pave the way for some equestrians to seek compensation for financial loss suffered as the sport was brought to a standstill.Read the full story

Horse flu inquiry to reveal source

2008-04-21T10:01:00.001+09:30

GREATER accountability and responsibility could be demanded from the nation's quarantine watchdog when retired High Court judge Ian Callinan this week hands down his findings on last year's outbreak of equine influenza.

After six months of public hearings, Mr Callinan's equine influenza inquiry -- established last year by the Howard government to investigate the outbreak of the virus -- will deliver its findings this Friday.Click here to read the full story

WWII horsemen step up for fallen mates

2008-04-21T09:50:00.002+09:30

SEVEN World War II veterans will attend the dedication of the Park of the Australian Soldier at Beersheba in Israel next week - the site of a famous World War I battle involving Australian Light Horse regiments.

The World War II veterans, in their 80s, will attend as there are no surviving light horsemen from War World I.
The centrepiece of the Israel park is a sculpture of a light horseman leaping the trenches, designed by the Australian sculptor Peter Corlett.
It marks the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments against Turkish posts at Beersheba on October 31, 1917.
It will be dedicated by the Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, and the President of Israel, Shimon Peres. Alan Griffin, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, will also attend.
Dale Robertson, now 86, is one of the seven World War II veterans to attend the service in Beersheba. He served in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville for 12 months, beginning in 1944.
"I'm very, very honoured," he said. "Light Horsemen were all very close companions, [who] respected one another for their horsemanship and their abilities." Mr Robertson said they were mostly from the country and all had a very good sense of humour.
Mr Robertson enlisted in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in 1940. It was the oldest regiment in Australia, Mr Robertson said, having begun as the Moreton regiment.
"They are men you must admire for their courage … we will never see [light horsemen from World War I] again in Australia," he said.
Mr Robertson has been a director of the Light Horse Association for 15 years. He says it is important for the Government to continue to recognise their unique contribution to Australia's war effort and that light horsemen should be allowed to march on Anzac Day like in other states. The party travelling to Israel will also attend an Anzac Day Dawn Service at Mt Scopus War Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Jinx hits top rider yet again

2008-04-21T09:43:00.002+09:30

SHANE ROSE is steeling himself for Melbourne in June, vowing to remain positive after his star horse All Luck was disqualified from a major Olympic selection event in Sydney yesterday.

Rose has suffered more setbacks than most.
He was selected for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his horse was injured while the team was acclimatising in the United States about two weeks before the Games began.
Rose was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001, battled for his life after a horse kicked him in the face in 2005 and was suspended for one month last August when the drug Pentobarbital was detected in his horse's system.
Yesterday, the 34-year-old from Camden was dealt another blow with All Luck failing the trot up at the Bates Sydney International Three Day Event, after finishing first in the cross country yesterday, and dressage on Friday.
After All Luck's disqualification, straight-talking Albany farmer Sonja Johnson won on Ringwould Jaguar, admitting her victory was less thrilling after Rose's misfortune.
"That's a prick of a thing. It's lovely to win but it takes a little bit of the gloss off it when this happens," she told reporters.
"It's a shame because Shane's horse was going fabulously. We need our best horses and riders of that calibre up there available for selection."
Rose must now compete at the Melbourne International Three Day Event at Werribee Park from June 6-9 if he is to have a chance at selection.
He said All Luck trod on his front left foot with his back foot and had a small cut.
"It sort of got me a bit by surprise because he has been pretty good and it shocked me a little when I went up and trotted," Rose said.

Set back for Rose after All Luck out

2008-04-21T09:41:00.001+09:30

Equestrian Shane Rose has suffered a set back in his bid to make the Olympic eventing team, with star horse All Luck being ruled out of a major selection event in Sydney.

The 34-year-old, who is based in Camden in NSW, was in the box seat to take out the Bates Sydney International Three Day Event after finishing top of the table in the cross country on Saturday, and dressage on Friday.
However All Luck failed trot-up in front of the ground jury, who were assessing whether each horse was fit before Sunday's show jumping.
After All Luck was examined by a vet, ground jury president Cara Whitham told Rose All Luck would not be allowed to continue.
Upon hearing the news, Rose doubled over, put his hands on his knees and hit his head with his whip.
He then left the main arena with team officials.
Rose must now compete on All Luck in the Melbourne International Three Day Event in June to have a chance at going to Hong Kong.
It the latest in a series of set backs for Rose, whose horses contracted equine influenza last year and were given the all clear in October.
In 2005, Rose was in an induced coma for a week and in intensive care for three weeks after being kicked in the face by a horse.
Rose had to have his face reconstructed after the accident.
He underwent radiation therapy for around three years after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001.
Rose was selected for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but his horse was injured while the team was acclimatising in the United States about two weeks before the Games began.
All Luck's disqualification means Sonja Johnson, riding Ringwould Jaguar, goes into the lead, ahead of Megan Jones, riding Kirby Park Irish Jester and Wendy Schaeffer, with her horse Koyuna Sun Shine.
Rose said All Luck had trodden on his front left foot with his back foot and had a small cut.

Never Give Up! You may just get your big break.

2008-04-18T10:35:00.001+09:30

Woman sues friends after fall from horse

2008-04-18T10:05:00.001+09:30

A woman left paraplegic after being thrown by her friends' horse launched a High Court damages claim against them yesterday.

Dawn Rebecca Rhodes, 33, and David Mark Land, of Oakenshaw Lane, Walton, Wakefield, Yorks, bought Balloo, a seven-year-old gelding, in 2003 and stabled the horse on a farm in the nearby village of Crofton. Balloo was a broken horse, but still "green". Click here to read the full story

Badminton hoping to play it safe

2008-04-18T09:59:00.001+09:30

The director of the Badminton Horse Trials says this year's event will have more safety precautions than ever.

The state of the ground caused concerns at last year's event, and a horse died in a freak accident when he ran into a flag pole and was speared.
Click here to read the full story

Six horses dumped in two months

2008-04-18T09:55:00.001+09:30

The bodies of six dead horses have been found dumped next to country lanes in a Kent village over a two-month period.

Residents who discovered the animal carcases in Shoreham, near Sevenoaks, believe they may have been mistreated and want it stopped. Click here for the full story

Museum acquires 1934 Melbourne Cup

2008-04-18T09:20:00.001+09:30

In 1934 a horse called Peter Pan stopped the nation when he defied the odds and won his second Melbourne Cup.

The story behind the chestnut horse, one of only five to win two Melbourne Cups, will be showcased at the National Museum of Australia that on Thursday acquired the 1934 cup.
The Australian thoroughbred won his first Melbourne Cup as a three-year-old colt in 1932 but was deemed unfit to contest the race in 1933 after suffering a near fatal viral disease that swept Sydney's racing stables.
In 1934 Peter Pan became a household name when at odds of 14/1 he took out the Melbourne Cup by four lengths - this time as a five-year-old horse ridden by Darby Munro.
The grandson of Peter Pan's owner Rodney Dangar on Thursday parted with the cup which had been locked in a family bank vault for the past 30 years.
Tim Ritchie, 55, said the only time the cup had seen the light of day during that time was at the 2004 Melbourne Cup.
"The story of Peter Pan was family folklore but the cup itself was never around the family home," Mr Ritchie said.
"The cup has been kept in a bank vault for the last 30 years.
"I think it's time that the cup sees the light of day."
Museum curator Laina Hall said Peter Pan's cup represents a very special period of racing in Australia.
"He was up there with Phar Lap, in the 1930s he was a household name so it fits really neatly into that 1930s fascination with racing," she said.
She said a Melbourne Cup is a very unique acquisition.
"Melbourne Cups don't come up for offer very often, it's such an honour to have won one that people tend to hold onto them."
The 1934 cup closely reflects the current design - a three-handled gold cup - that is worth $80,000 at 2007 prices.
Manager of collections at the museum Mathew Trinca said you cannot place a dollar value on a cup that has so much history behind it.
"The cup has great intrinsic value because of the amount of gold that is used in the construction but it also has a value that far exceeds that," he said.
The cup will be showcased along side Phar Lap's heart - the most frequented object at the museum.

Olympic eventing trials back on track

2008-04-18T09:15:00.001+09:30

Australia's quest to regain Olympic eventing gold finally gets back on track on Friday at the first major Beijing Games selection event since horse flu devastated the sport.

The Australians won their last team eventing gold at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre in 2000, and riders this weekend will no doubt be hoping some of that magic will rub off as they vie for selection for the Olympic event being staged in Hong Kong.
Five places are up for grabs in the eventing team, which clinched gold in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, but missed out in Athens.
Four locally-based equestrians will be out to impress selectors at the Bates Sydney International Three-Day Event on Friday and 11 Australian riders based in Europe will be assessed at the Badminton Horse Trials in the UK between May 1-4.
Shane Rose, who is based in NSW, is confident he and his star horse All Luck will put in a strong performance across the three disciplines that make up eventing - show-jumping, cross country and dressage.
All Luck, as well as Rose's other horse Ladybrook Remington, were struck down with horse flu last year.
They were stranded at Warwick, south-west of Brisbane, for around two months but were given the all clear in October.
"It (horse flu) has been majorly disruptive for many people but we're pretty resilient people in Australia, and we'll find a way to come out of it hopefully the best we can," Rose told AAP.
"I think we will have one of our strongest teams at these Games that we've had for many, many years."
Rose is yet to qualify for the Olympic Games and hopes to do that this weekend.
"All Luck is confident in all three phases, which is fortunate. He is going very well and I'm hopeful that if I do a good job then we'll be very competitive over the weekend," he said.
Wendy Schaeffer, who was part of Australia's gold medal-winning eventing team in Atlanta, was fortunate her three eventing horses - Koyuna Sun Magic, Koyuna Sun Dancer and Koyuna Sunshine - escaped equine influenza.
The South Australian-based rider said the outbreak had dramatically affected the sport and made her realise not to take anything for granted.
"It will be make us (Australia's equestrians) stronger and more hungry for success at the Olympics," she said.
Koyuna Sun Magic has had success at an elite level in Australia and the United States, while Koyuna Sun Dancer and Koyuna Sunshine are less experienced horses.
Megan Jones (SA) and Sonja Johnson (WA) are also in contention.
The dressage portion of the eventing discipline will be held Friday, with cross country Saturday and show jumping Sunday.
The Australian Olympic equestrian team will be revealed on July 4.
It is the first time Australia has qualified a team in all three Olympic events - eventing, show jumping and dressage.
Australia's main competition in Hong Kong is likely to come from Britain, Germany, the United States and New Zealand.

Horse imports from Australia resume

2008-04-17T15:48:00.001+09:30

April 17, 2008
MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) has today issued an Import Health Standard for horses from Australia, lifting the suspension on imports that has been in place since August last year.

Horse imports from Australia were halted after MAFBNZ received confirmation from the Australian Government of equine influenza outbreaks in New South Wales and Queensland. The new import requirements are designed to protect New Zealand from this highly contagious virus.
Import Standards Group Manager, Clive Gower Collins, says that the new import requirements are in accordance with agreements between the exporting country, Australia, and New Zealand.
"It has taken time to develop new import conditions because we needed to take every precaution to prevent the disease being introduced here. This included discussions with the Australian government over pre-export quarantine and testing requirements and consultation with the New Zealand Equine Health Association and industry over the practicality of the new import conditions."
"The outbreak in Australia has reinforced the importance of strict biosecurity requirements at the border. The new import requirements will ensure that horse imports do not present a biosecurity risk, and we are pleased that with its release, horses can now return home."
The IHS sets out following requirements:

Horses must be vaccinated against equine influenza between 42 and 120 days prior to export.
Horses must be held for at least 21 days immediately prior to export to New Zealand in approved Pre-Export Isolation (PEI) premises, where they will undergo two PCR tests, at least five days apart, for equine influenza.
Upon arrival in New Zealand, horses must remain in a transitional facility for at least 14 days, where they will undergo a PCR test for equine influenza.
Horses must have resided on properties free of equine influenza for three months prior to export.

The draft Import Health Standard for Horses from Australia is available at:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/animals/standards/horaniic.aus.htm

NZ lifts ban on Australian horse imports

2008-04-17T15:34:00.001+09:30

New Zealand biosecurity officials have lifted the suspension on trans-Tasman imports of horses imposed when equine influenza broke out in Sydney last August.

The Australian Government recently announced the outbreaks in NSW and Queensland were over.
"We needed to take every precaution to prevent the disease being introduced here," Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) import standards manager Clive Gower Collins said.
"The new import requirements will ensure that horse imports do not present a biosecurity risk, and we are pleased that with its release, horses can now return home."
Horses must be vaccinated against equine influenza at least 42 days before travelling and held in quarantine premises for 21 days before departure, and at least 14 days on the New Zealand side of the Tasman.

RSPCA reveals 'dark side' of its work

2008-04-17T09:47:00.002+09:30

A new RSPCA advertising campaign will show the organisation doesn't just deal with the cute and fluffy - it's also involved in combating domestic violence and torture of pets.

The documentary-style series of ads, on television and in print media in coming weeks, highlight the link between animal and human abuse, as well as the dangers faced by RSPCA inspectors, who often accompany police on raids.
The ads show confronting scenes of domestic violence, and promote RSPCA community programs to reduce animal cruelty.
The initiatives include the Pet Protection program that houses animals belonging to victims of domestic violence, to make it easier for people to escape an abusive environment.
"Research shows that perpetrators of domestic violence often threaten the family pet with torture as a way of maintaining control," the RSPCA said.
"By removing the pet and keeping it safe, the family can take action to get out of the violent situation."
A Humane Education program educates children about respecting animals, while RSPCA inspectors often seek psychological help for people who hoard animals in appalling conditions.
RSPCA NSW chief executive Steve Coleman said the public might not be aware of the interventions the organisation undertakes to help both animals and humans.
"Clearly we've been around for a long, long time, and clearly our core work is animal welfare, but it's just so much more," he told reporters.
"What's evolved over the last four to five years are these programs that directly and indirectly impact on human welfare.
"It's a pitch by the RSPCA just to show the general public exactly what the RSPCA does, warts and all, with humans and animals."
He said he expected the ads to shock audiences.
"The footage that you will see in this campaign is quite confronting, potentially controversial, but what it does is it simply highlights the breadth of work that the RSPCA does," Mr Coleman said.
Slade Macklin, an RSPCA inspector who features in the print ads, responds to cruelty reports and seizes animals on a daily basis.
He said showing the less pleasant side of the job was essential.
"The RSPCA is put across as quite warm and fuzzy, (that we) look after little kittens and puppies and things like that, which is true," he said.
"But needless to say, we're dealing with people that at times do horrendous things to animals and some of the things that are done ... don't get shown."
"Seeing some of the things we see ... is things you don't forget, you never forget."

The Police/Horse Prank

2008-04-16T09:42:00.000+09:30

Lightning kills horse rider as weather pounds north

2008-04-16T09:32:00.002+09:30

www.nzherald.co.nz
A 61-year-old man and his horse were killed instantly yesterday when they were struck by lightning during an annual hare hunt near Dargaville.

Witnesses say the Auckland man was struck on the top of his head, sending an electrical charge through his helmet, down his body and into the horse.
Dargaville Sergeant Jonathan Tier said four other riders were also hit by lightning, but had minor injuries.
The riders were among 85 people who had gathered for the annual Northland Hunt. They were about half an hour into the event when lightning hit the region at midday.
Click her to read the full story

Lightning bolt kills man and horse in NZ

2008-04-16T09:12:00.001+09:30

A man and his horse have died after being struck by lightning in northern New Zealand.

Police say the 50-year-old man was riding the horse on a farm near the rural town of Dargaville on North Island when a lightning bolt hit the pair.
Police say the strike instantly killed both the man and horse.
Sergeant Jonathan Thier says the man was on a club outing with a group from the Northland Hunt Club.
Staff at Whangarei Hospital say four other people who were near the man at the time of the strike have been taken to the hospital for checks, but appear unhurt.
Town residents say the thunderstorm lasted nearly three hours on Tuesday.
About a dozen people have been killed by lightning in New Zealand in the past 85 years.

Equestrian rider hopeful of Beijing berth

2008-04-15T09:52:00.002+09:30

Canberra paralympic hopeful Rob Oakley says he is confident of making the fifth and final spot in the Australian equestrian team.

Mr Oakley is one of three riders short listed for the last spot in the team.
He says he is happy with his performance so far, given his horse spent much of last year with an injury and the equine influenza outbreak hampered competition and training.
Mr Oakley will know in June whether he has been selected to compete in the three day dressage event in Beijing.
"I'm very confident, I've got a really good horse, and we're getting better every day. As I say we've only had four or five weeks to prepare and so every day we get a little bit better and we're training well, so I'm very confident that we'll get that spot," he said.
Mr Oakley says he has a rigorous training schedule ahead with a few local and interstate competitions before the selectors make a final decision.
"I'm very happy that I've been able to beat some of the more established combinations," he said.

Diary may hold key to the mystery of Phar Lap's death

2008-04-15T09:39:00.002+09:30

IT HAS been several years now since The Age, in articles by Patrick Bartley, revealed that the most likely cause of the death of Australia's great racehorse Phar Lap was accidental arsenic poisoning in a tonic administered by his devoted handler Tommy Woodcock.The theory was hotly disputed and pooh-poohed in other newspapers, mainly by friends of the late Tommy Woodcock rather than any real evidence to the contrary.

Now, 76 years after Phar Lap died at Menlo Park in California on April 5, 1932, the evidence to support the accidental poisoning theory has finally come to light in a diary kept by his trainer Harry Telford. A quick glance at the diary leaves no doubt that Telford was a trainer ahead of his time. Many of his treatments are still in use today, in one form or another.
Some of the staple ingredients included arsenic and strychnine, both deadly poisons if used incorrectly, as well as cocaine and caffeine, and a popular tonic of the day was Fowler's Solution, which was arsenic-based and administered to Phar Lap throughout his racing career.
Fowler's Solution was a great pick-me-up and horses taking it invariably looked pictures of health. The arsenic, however, took a long time to leave the body and constant or over-use produced a build-up of the poison in the system that could be deadly.
For all his loveable qualities, Woodcock was a very unworldly young man in his early 20s when he accompanied Phar Lap to the US and then to Mexico early in 1932.
It took Phar Lap three weeks as deck cargo on a freighter, without the benefit of stabilisers, pitching and tossing across the Pacific. In such conditions, it is reasonable to assume that Phar Lap may have gone off his feed from time to time and that Woodcock supplemented his diet with Fowler's Solution or some of Telford's other preparations, unaware that the horse was building up dangerous levels of arsenic.
Telford, who had a brother who was a chemist — hence his knowledge of such things — was also in dispute with owner Dick Davis at the time and remained in Australia, so there is no mention in the diary of what he might have recommended for Phar Lap on the trip to the US.
What we do know is that Phar Lap made a brilliant recovery from the arduous voyage and a cut hoof, which probably required further treatment, after he arrived in Mexico and won the Agua Caliente Handicap Handicap on March 20, 1932, at that time the richest race in the world. Two weeks later, Phar Lap died in Woodcock's arms after making a 1000-kilometre float trip back to California.
Years later, Telford gave the diary to his then track rider Ernie Fellows, who later became a celebrated trainer in France.
The diary was passed down to Fellows' son John, who also was a successful trainer in Europe and is now living in Melbourne.
Fellows has decided to sell the diary and it will be offered for auction in Melbourne on April 23.

Olympians' food spiked with paperclips

2008-04-15T09:35:00.000+09:30

15 muffins spiked at Olympic function
90 elite athletes in attendance
At least two people bit into the muffins

AT LEAST five Beijing-bound Olympians were exposed to metal-laced muffins in the second major food contamination scare this month.
Police have confirmed paperclips were found in up to 15 chocolate muffins served last week at a Queensland University of Technology function for 90 elite athletes.
The scare came two days after police stepped up a nationwide investigation into contaminated meat and frozen products after a fifth piece of metal was found in supermarket sausages in South Australia.
But police ruled out any links with the latest incident, which has led to three employees being stood down from the city's popular Merlo Kitchen Catering Company.
Up to five Olympians including breastroker Christian Sprenger and rhythmic gymnast Ayiesha Johnston were at the morning tea.
They, however, did not eat the chocolate-chip muffins.
It is believed at least two people bit into the muffins but no one was injured.
Separate investigations have been launched by police, Queensland Health and the Merlo Kitchen Catering Company, which supplied the baked treats.
Company director Dean Merlo said three staff from the company's Newmarket catering wing were stood down with pay.
He said it was still unclear whether the paperclips were baked into the muffins or inserted afterwards but said there was no risk of contaminated food at the nine Merlo Bars across Brisbane.
"That food is only used for private functions and we've kept the contaminated pieces as evidence for the police with the rest in quarantine," he said.
"We naturally are horrified and I personally hate to think any of our employees would be involved with something like this."
Sprenger said he was shocked to hear of the contamination because there were no announcements at the event.
"I didn't even know about it until now," he said.
"You freak out a little bit when you hear of food being contaminated with metal and it's definitely a concern.
"Luckily I didn't eat anything but it's not the best thing to hear about when you're preparing for the Olympics. The less distractions the better."
QUT vice-chancillor Peter Coaldrake was at the morning tea but also did not not hear of the scare until hours later.
"The matter was taken very seriously by all parties and it was reported to Queensland Health and the police immediately," he said.
"It was a one-off incident and it's very fortunate damage has not been done. But there's lessons to be learnt from this and I'm sure there will be a heightened attention on preparation and food safety."

EI Vaccine Side-Effects Blamed For Irregular Blood Counts

2008-04-15T09:30:00.001+09:30

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," reported The Australian newspaper. 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". Irregular white cell counts "leaving horses lethargic or with a mild temperature are consistent with forecasts from the vaccine's distributors, who suggested 5% of stock would experience mild, short-term side-effects"; however some trainers "are claiming the onset of respiratory problems is linked to the inoculations & the side-effects are more serious". The newspaper interviewed a series of trainers, however Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy retorted: "Trainers grasp at straws when horses perform poorly. Not every horse comes up every preparation. A study may show otherwise, but I've seen no evidence of it in Sydney."

Return of the Horse equestrian series already breaking records

2008-04-14T13:48:00.001+09:30

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

2008-04-14T13:19:00.001+09:30

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

No evidence EI vaccine hurts performance: trainers

2008-04-14T10:54:00.002+09:30

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

2008-04-14T10:51:00.002+09:30

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

2008-04-14T10:26:00.003+09:30

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

2008-04-14T10:20:00.001+09:30

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.

Interested in Show Hunters in Victoria?

2008-04-11T14:49:00.001+09:30

Vic Show Hunter Meeting to be held on the 18th April at Chirnside Restaurant Werribee.
Please contact Angie Perdrisat on 03 5281 7275 or Sue Wombwell on 03 5244 5367 to express your interest and confirm numbers. There will be dinner before the meeting and everyone is welcome to attend.

Fleeing horses seized from fields

2008-04-11T10:55:00.003+09:30

Eleven horses have been seized from fields in Staffordshire after hundreds of incidents of them escaping.

Police and council officials removed them from land near Reginald Mitchell Way and Lowlands Road in Tunstall. It is not clear who owns them.

The land is owned by Newcastle Borough Council and the horses do not have formal permission to be liveried there.

There have been about 400 incidents reported to police between January 2007 and March 2008, a spokesman said.

"Today's joint action has been taken after continual problems with horses escaping from the fields and endangering road users, " he added.

"As a result the horses have been seized under Section 7 of the Animals Act and taken to an unspecified location."

A vet was present throughout the operation.

Anyone with a claim to the horses should contact Staffordshire Police.

Opera star? I'm a bit horse

2008-04-11T10:29:00.002+09:30

FOR a menagerie of farm animals, including a horse, donkey and chickens, the sound of 70 operatic voices singing at full volume took some getting used to.

While the stars of Opera Australia's new production of Carmen had to take riding lessons before the show could go on, Jamieson the horse and his friend Drummer had to be trained to cope with the voices, lights and orchestra.

The animals are used in the show's teeming gypsy market scene, set in Seville.

The horses are ridden on stage by singer Joshua Bloom, playing Escamillo, and by Pamela Helen Stephen, as Bizet's sultry seductress, Carmen.

For the role the horses needed to wear rubber hoof covers to stop them slipping on the stage, and must become familiar with the cast surrounding them in the eight stage rehearsals.

All the fame is nothing new to Jamieson and Drummer, whose other stage work includes appearances at the Sydney Olympics and in The Man From Snowy River arena show.

Carmen opens at the State Theatre, the Arts Centre, tomorrow and runs until May 10.

Weapons from Light Horse brigade stolen

2008-04-11T10:18:00.002+09:30

A SWORD and rifle used in the Australian Light Horse Brigade at the Battle of Beersheba in 1917 have been stolen from an RSL in Sydney's west.
The World War I artefacts were taken during a break-in at the Auburn RSL, in Sydney's west, during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Pawn shops should be on the lookout for them, the NSW government says.

The Beersheba battle in southern Palestine is famous for the brigade's dramatic charge while under fire.

Both items were donated by a local man whose father was in the brigade and had them in his possession at Beersheba.

MP for Auburn Barbara Perry has asked the perpetrators to come forward and return the stolen items before Anzac Day on April 25.

"Pawn shops also need to be on the lookout for the items and if they see them, immediately notify the police," Ms Perry said.

She said anyone with further information should contact the police.

"I'm appealing to anyone who knows more about this to step forward so these items can be recovered and we can bring the perpetrators to justice."

Racing must replace funds

2008-04-11T10:15:00.002+09:30

The Victorian Government has committed to developing alternate funding arrangements that will not disadvantage the state's racing industry in the wake of sweeping changes to the gaming industry announced yesterday.

The thoroughbred code receives almost $70 million from Tabcorp's gaming profits, but the funding will end when licensing changes take effect in 2012.

The envy of other states for its gaming income, the Victorian racing industry entered into a joint venture agreement with Tabcorp when the TAB was privatised in 1994 for 25 per cent of poker machine profits. Racing Minister Rob Hulls told parliament yesterday the Government was committed to developing funding arrangements that are "no less favourable" to the racing industry.

"The announcement also provides Victoria's world-famous racing industry the opportunity really to be the master of its own destiny," Hulls said.

"The decision to fund the racing industry to the greatest possible extent from wagering will indeed provide new opportunities for an even greater racing and wagering product," Hulls said.

The $700 million wagering network will be put to tender, but the racing industry will not be able to bid for the single, exclusive licence, which is based on the existing pari-mutuel and fixed-odds betting model. An eight-week period of consultation with the racing industry begins today.

"These decisions, we believe, will give the racing industry control of its own destiny and the opportunity to work with a wagering partner which will have the racing industry as its main focus," Hulls said.

Bernard Saundry, Racing Victoria's acting chief executive, said the industry wanted to ensure it would be better off, rather than no worse off with the new arrangements.

"RVL is pleased that the Government's announcement has reaffirmed its commitment to creating funding arrangements that will be no less favourable to the Victorian racing industry than the current joint venture funding arrangements. However, it is important to note that RVL's intention is to ensure that this process sees the racing industry better off than it is today," Saundry said.

"While we have only been informed of this decision this morning, it is clear that there are serious ramifications for the racing industry that will need to be considered."

Opposition racing spokesman Denis Napthine viewed the announcement in a grave light, saying the proposed changes to gaming and wagering would cripple the racing industry.

"The Brumby Government has just devastated racing in Victoria in one fell swoop. These changes mean the multi-billion-dollar racing industry faces a very uncertain future after 2012," Napthine said.

"Without this significant revenue stream from gaming machine profits, it will be impossible for the racing industry to maintain prizemoney and marketing expenses, and it will be the death of racing as we know it."

Equestrians’ Deaths Spread Unease in Sport

2008-04-10T14:39:00.002+09:30

A failed jump by one of the world’s finest riders and a spate of deaths have unnerved the equestrian community.

Darren Chiacchia, 43, who helped the United States Olympic team win a bronze medal at the Athens Games and was considered a favorite for this year’s team, was training a horse on an intermediate course in Tallahassee, Fla., last month when the stallion crashed over a fence, crushing — and nearly killing — its celebrated rider.

Mr. Chiacchia spent a week in a coma and is now recovering at a rehabilitation facility near his home in Buffalo. Meanwhile, the sport he devoted his life to faces an identity crisis. Considered alongside the deaths of 12 riders worldwide over the past year and a half, his crash has reignited a fierce debate over whether the risks involved with the equestrian discipline known as eventing — an arduous three-phase competition — have become too great.

Top competitors and coaches argue that the sport’s growing popularity has attracted inexperienced riders who take too many risks, and amateur riders complain that courses are being designed beyond their skill level in order to challenge elite riders. There is also frustration that the governing bodies for eventing have not mandated the safety improvements they identified after another cluster of deaths nine years ago.

A target of criticism is the former husband of England’s Princess Anne, Mark Phillips, who is coach of the United States Olympic eventing team and designs many competition courses, including the one at the Red Hills Horse Trials, where Mr. Chiacchia’s fall occurred.

The riders who died ranged in age from 17 to 51. Some, like Sherelle Duke, 28, of Ireland, were considered to be top riders. Others, like 17-year-old Mia Eriksson of Tahoe City, Calif., were just starting out. Three riders died during competitions in the United States.

In a letter to members, Kevin Baumgardner, the president of the United States Eventing Association, wrote: “The overall trends, particularly over the last three years, are unmistakable and, in my view, totally unacceptable. I know that my concern that the sport has gotten off track is shared by many of our members, amateurs and professionals alike.” Mr. Baumgardner’s letter generated 500 phone calls and e-mail responses.

An Olympic sport since 1912, eventing originated as a way to test the ability and endurance of military horses. It is often called a horse triathlon because participants compete in three events over one-, two- or three-day competitions: the delicate footwork of dressage, the beauty and control of show jumping, and the endurance and daring of cross-country racing. The winding courses of up to two and a half miles are designed to mimic the natural obstacles of rural landscapes.

“It’s considered by many to be the ultimate test of horse and rider,” Mr. Baumgardner said.

The cross-country phase is the most dangerous, as horse and rider are required to clear 20 to 40 jumps in an established time period. Penalties are assessed if the horse balks at a jump, if the horse or rider falls, or if their time is too slow. Riders look for courage and well-roundedness in eventing horses, which can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $1 million each.

All 12 of the recent deaths occurred during the cross-country phase as riders attempted to clear obstacles, including some that were startlingly simple. Most of the deaths resulted from what are called rotational falls, somersaulting flips similar to Mr. Chiacchia’s.

Beyond that, Mr. Phillips said, “There isn’t any common thread.”

As courses designed by Mr. Phillips and others create new challenges for elite competitors, amateur riders say that lower-level courses have also become more difficult in order to prepare aspiring riders for the next level.

“It’s not galloping cross-country over natural obstacles anymore,” said Ilana Gareen, an amateur rider and assistant professor of community health at Brown. “I liked the fact that you could go to eventing and just be a good rider, do well, and have fun.”

Mr. Chiacchia’s fall, said Anastasia Curwood, an amateur rider who teaches African-American history at Vanderbilt University, “was kind of a tipping point for a large number of people to get active and try to make some change.”
Commenters on equestrian online message boards have focused much of their venom on Mr. Phillips, calling for him to step down. Mr. Phillips posted a response on the eventing association’s Web site, accusing his critics of being in “a frenzied tailspin using the anonymity of cyberspace to cast a dark shadow over the future of the sport.”

Mr. Phillips holds much sway over who is selected for the Olympic team. According to event organizers, riders make a point of competing on courses he designs.

As an existing safety precaution, competitors are encouraged to review the courses in advance and communicate any concerns they have to “rider representatives,” who then inform event organizers. Mr. Phillips said he received no complaints on the Red Hills course, only compliments, and said he considered Mr. Chiacchia’s crash a fluke.

Top competitors, coaches and course designers argue that the sport’s death and injury toll is most likely related to an influx of new riders to the sport. Participation in eventing competitions in the United States has grown by 36 percent over the past decade; riders filled roughly 46,000 competition slots in 2007, according to the association.

“You have people who didn’t grow up fox hunting or going on wild rides the way we did,” said Mick Costello, an event rider who builds cross-country courses. “They haven’t been used to tumbling falls. They get a thrill out of going fast, and a lot of them aren’t ready.”

Mr. Costello and others acknowledge that the increasing skill of top riders has pushed them to create more complex courses. They have recently been designing “speed bumps” to slow the riders, to little avail. “These people are so good, they just take it in stride,” he said.

The current debate over safety comes nine years after another rash of deaths shook the eventing community. In 1999, five British riders died in a matter of months and calls flooded in to make cross-country courses safer.

In response, British organizers developed frangible pins that can be inserted into certain fences to allow the rail to drop when a horse hits it. Although the pins have been available since 2001 and have been shown to be effective in helping to prevent rotational falls, they are used in only 4 percent of obstacles in Britain, where they are mandatory on certain fences. They are even scarcer in the United States.

Some eventing organizers say the use of frangible pins is not widespread because they cannot be used on all fences and are perceived to be too expensive to install.

“I know that they’re quite expensive, and your average organizer finds the cost prohibitive,” said Katie Lindsay, the competition director for the eventing association’s 2008 national championships. “So they will avoid building the type of fence where you can use the frangibles on.” The pins cost about $70 per fence, according to Mr. Costello, who is the United States distributor for the pins.

British Eventing, the governing body of the sport in Britain, is working with an engineering company to develop new mechanisms that can be used in a wider variety of fences.

Scant data exists on how often accidents happen, and why. The Fédération Equestre International, the sport’s international governing body, has only recently begun to require member countries to collect the same data. Safety information on the U.S.E.A.’s Web site includes detailed injury data for 2005 and 2006, for example, but provides only fatality data for other years.

Mr. Chiacchia has been active in the safety debate. In December, he was named chairman of a task force created to address safety issues. The group is expected to propose changes later this month to the United States Equestrian Federation, the rule-making body for all equestrian sports. In January, the international federation held a convention in Copenhagen on safety in eventing.

Like many equestrian athletes, eventers say they accept a certain level of risk, given that their fate is linked to a 1,000-pound animal with a mind of its own. The chance of falling off a horse was less than a tenth of 1 percent for riders who competed in 2005 and 2006, according to the eventing association’s data.

Watching a prominent rider like Mr. Chiacchia fall shook many others, especially when they learned he was competing on an intermediate course because his 7-year-old horse, Baron Verdi, was not experienced. The horse was not hurt.

His friends in the eventing community are helping run his farm in Ocala, Fla. Mr. Chiacchia makes a living through teaching, training horses, corporate sponsorships and by riding breeders’ horses, which improves their value. Prize money is not as significant — the winner at Red Hills won about $6,000, plus the use of a Mercedes for a year.

Mr. Chiacchia sustained rib, lung and head injuries and has made slow progress. He can stand for short periods and hold brief conversations, said his brother, Daniel Chiacchia.

Although the family says it is encouraged by his progress — especially the return of his sense of humor, they say — it is unclear if he will make a complete recovery, let alone ride again. The family knows Mr. Chiacchia believes in improving the safety of the sport but considers his a “freak accident.”

Mr. Chiacchia does not remember the fall, and his brother said he still refuses to believe that it was true. “That’s almost insulting,” he said, “to tell my brother that he fell off a horse.”

Human Horse Trials Wallaby Hill Farm

2008-04-10T10:09:00.003+09:30

Wallaby Hill Farm Human Horse Trials Fund Raiser to help Australian Equestrian Eventers attend Beijing Olympics. Event held without horses because of Equine Influenza outbreak in Australia in December 2007.

Click here to see the Original Horse Deals coverage of this fantastic event.

31 horses found dead on Rowan farm, OWNER WAS APPARENTLY TOO ILL TO CARE FOR THEM

2008-04-10T09:48:00.002+09:30

The bodies of 31 horses were found on a Rowan County farm, and several other horses are very sick, the Rowan County sheriff said Tuesday.

Sheriff Jack Carter said some of the horses' bodies were decomposed. Eleven horses were found in the barn and 20 in the pasture at the horse farm off Ky. 32 east of Morehead, he said.
Carter said the dead horses were a "terrible sight to see. It's something you don't expect in this area, or any area."
Law authorities and agriculture officials were investigating.
No charges have been filed, but the owner of the horses told investigators that he has been critically ill and unable to care for the animals, Carter said.
The owner, Don Miller, could not be reached for comment.
Della Reynolds, a neighbor, said she did not notice anything unusual about the Miller farm before she heard of the investigation through news reports.
Reynolds said she had spoken with Miller's wife in the past and learned that Miller had a heart attack a year and a half ago.
"He had been in really bad shape," Reynolds said, recalling past conversations. "His wife told me that he didn't have the energy to do anything ... he wasn't capable of doing much, from what I understand."
Miller has raised horses and they have been taken care of in the past. She has seen truckloads of hay being taken to the farm, and her family had helped feed the horses at one time.
"I don't think it was intentional, because he worked with animals all of his life," she said.

Winter Active Max P Fescue linked to horse poisonings

2008-04-10T09:16:00.000+09:30

PASTURE agronomist Ross Watson, Scone, says horse owners throughout Australia should not graze their horses on any pasture containing the Max P® Mediterranean Fescues, (also widely known as winter active fescues) following three horse deaths at Scone and Canowindra, and many cases of horse illness on five properties in Scone, Canowindra, Albury, Cootamundra and Kangarilla in South Australia.

Mr Watson, a consultant to horse studs throughout the Hunter Region, said that at present, Flecha Max P® was the variety associated with the majority of cases, possibly because its seed accounted for the majority of seed sales, and therefore sowings, over recent years. However, he said all Mediterranean /winter active fescues with Max P might also be implicated, which included “VNS” (Variety Non Specific) fescue seed lines and downgraded Max P fescue seed lines.
Mr Watson said that horse owners were advised to no longer sow Max P Mediterranean fescue or any pasture blend containing these specific fescue lines until the problem was clearly understood.
“Property owners who might have these fescue pastures primarily sown for cattle or sheep should not place their stock horses or children’s ponies on such pastures,” he said.
Mr Watson said there had been a total of 59 horses on five properties, grazing pastures that contained the Mediterranean fescues and 47 of these horses had been affected. Based on this, there was a high risk of horses becoming seriously ill or dying on these pastures.
“This is the first case of this problem ever being reported in the world,” he said.
“This problem is something the pasture and the horse industry did not need.”
The new Fescue Poisoning Syndrome, known as “Equine Fescue Oedema” (EFO), is very different to the widely recognised Fescue Toxicosis that occured in America, when horses graze high endophyte or “wild type” fescue pastures.
As soon as this problem was first reported in October 2007, a team of pasture and veterinary experts from Australia and New Zealand were put together by PGG Wrightsons , the marketers of Max P fescues in Australia, to investigate this problem. Extensive pasture sampling from all affected sites were collected and carefully prepared in Australia late last year, for detailed analysis by AgResearch NZ in January 2008. These complex analyses have taken some time and are continuing, but because this is a new and complex problem it is not going to be an easy task to pin point the compound and when, where and why this has occurred, Mr Watson said.
"Initially no one was sure whether it was in fact the fescue, certain veterinary drugs, contaminated feed supplements, a toxin associated with other grasses in the pastures or some rare fungi or bacteria which had attacked the fescue and had produced the toxin," he said.
But over the last month and with the recent Canowindra case, Mr Watson said the overwhelming field and veterinary evidence accumulated certainly pointed to the Max P Mediterranean fescue containing some unknown toxin. On this basis, he said this warranted a public awareness campaign.
While the answer to the problem might take many months to fully investigate, in the mean time, Mr Watson said horse owners everywhere needed to be aware.
"Until we know for sure, we think it is appropriate that people are aware of the problem, and hopefully we will have a definite answer on what has caused this problem in the near future," he said.
As a result, Mr Watson said that horse owners would have to reconsider their pasture options.
"As far as fescues, only Certified, Nil or Zero Endophyte Mediterranean fescue seed lines such as Flecha (Non Max P version) and Resolute (Non Max P version), Prosper and Fradyo winter active fescues can be considered safe for horses," he said.
"Interestingly, the Summer Active or Continental Max P fescue lines such as Quantum Max P, Advance Max P and Jessup Max P have been used for many years on horse studs in Australia with absolutely no problems.
"Max P fescues are pasture lines inoculated with a specially selected endophyte fungi. These fungi naturally live inside the grass plant in a symbiotic relationship. They produce chemical compounds which give the host pasture plant much better resistance to insects, heat stress and drought. Novel endophytes have been used successfully in pastures in NZ, Australia and the USA for more than 15 years in perennial ryegrass and fescue pasture lines. They have made a major difference to the productivity and persistence of ryegrass and fescue pastures. It will be a major loss to the pasture industry throughout the world if MaxP technology is jeopardised," Mr Watson said.
Dr Bourke, Principal Veterinary Scientist with NSW DPI, Orange, has been assisting the working group on Equine Fescue Oedema.
He said that some of the consistent clinical signs were that the horses becqme lethargic, depressed, loose their appetite and are inclined to lie down.
"Most develop mild to moderate swelling of the head and neck as a result of a build up of fluid below the skin which is called an oedema, and at the same time they develop oedematous thickening of the wall of the right dorsal colon," he said.
"This is visible on scan images of the abdomen. They go on to develop oedema of the chest and belly (ventral oedema), including accumulation of fluid within the abdominal cavity. Whereas the head and neck oedema quickly resolves, the ventral oedema can persist for several weeks. Protracted weight loss and associated anoestrous are risks for affected lactating mares. Secondary inflammatory changes such as peritonitis are possible in some animals. The prolapse of the rectum has also been observed."
Dr Bourke said that vets dealing with Equine Fescue Oedema needed to be aware that the outstanding and consistent finding is a drop in total blood plasma proteins with values as low as 27 but typically 35 to 45 g/L (normal range 52-79). This is due to an albumin decline, with albumin values recorded of about 8 to 12 g/L (normal range 19 -32). The PCV is elevated, eg 56 to 70 (normal 36-48). If the albumin drop is too severe the horse will die before plasma administration can restore it. During the recovery phase plasma proteins may not return to normal for several weeks. In some affected horses these biochemical and blood changes can develop quite suddenly and return to normal quite quickly once they are moved off the pasture.

Extensive pasture sampling and chemical testing to date has not conclusively identified the problem, but the overwhelming available evidence is pointing to an issue related to the chemical compounds produced by the Max P endophyte in winter active fescues.
This is a very lethal toxin with only small amount of the toxin needed to kill or make an adult horse very sick.
"We feel all horse owners need to be aware of this problem, so any further horse deaths or animal ill health can be avoided," Dr Bourke said.
"Cattle and sheep grazing these same pastures have shown no obvious effects to date. Many thousands of cattle and sheep have grazed these sort of pastures over the last five years and there has been no reported problems associated with this type of fescue. Cattle and sheep owners should report any similar symptoms or stock losses on fescue pastures."
The Max P fescues have been widely and successfully established throughout temperate areas of Australia, especially in NSW, Victoria and South Australia since 2005.
"The first reported case was in Scone in September 2007 and the most recent case was at Canowindra in March 2008. However, the vet and stud manager at a horse stud in Southern NSW noted horses affected by EFO, when grazing pastures which did contain fescue in 2006, but did not know what it was and did not report the case. So at the moment no one can be sure if and when this fescue is “safe” to horses. We do know that in many cases horses have grazed these paddocks for periods before the poisonings occurred, with no known effects, but suddenly we have had this problem. We are not sure now when the high risk period is," Dr Bourke said.
"The many affected horses in spring 2007 were brood mares in pasture paddocks with foals at foot, but geldings, stallions and young yearling horses have all been affected. Clinical cases first appear about three to seven days after horses start grazing a toxic pasture but with mixed pastures it may take some weeks, depending on pasture composition and horse selectivity. If they are immediately removed from the toxic pasture, then most affected animals will return to normal within another three to seven days, but some may require supportive therapy in the form of plasma administration, and some may die despite this treatment. Some affected horses may take up to 28 days to recover."
Mr Watson said the contacts below would appreciate hearing from any other horse owners who have experienced Equine Fescue Oedema problem or who are grazing Max P Mediterranean fescues with horses with no reported problems.
Horse owners who have sown pastures containing Mediterranean Max P fescue, should contact their local seed reseller, agronomic adviser or PGG Wrightsons in Melbourne on their Hotline 1800 619 910 to discuss their pasture options.

Patches the Coolest Horse

2008-04-09T09:54:00.001+09:30

Man Jailed After Punching Police Horse's Rear End

2008-04-09T09:40:00.002+09:30

TAMPA - Police arrested a Lakeland man early this morning on charges that he punched a police horse in the rear end.
It should be no surprise the incident occurred about 3:15 a.m. in Ybor City.

The Tampa Police Department report said the officer and horse were clearing the street and sidewalks in the 19th Street area of Seventh Avenue.

Carl Coward, 24, of 111 Hodges Road, Lakeland, balled his fist and punched the horse in the right rear hip area, the report states.

Coward was charged with battery of a law enforcement animal and is being held at the Orient Road Jail on $500 bond, jail records show.

The report does not indicate whether the horse suffered any serious injury.

www.msnbc.msn.com

Weight limit eases the load on beach donkeys

2008-04-09T09:30:00.001+09:30

LONDON (Reuters) - Relief is in sight for Britain's hard-working beach donkeys -- from now on they won't have to carry anyone weighing over eight stone.
Nor will they have to work more than six days a week or have to show off their foals to tourists, under a new national code of practice unveiled on Friday.
Blackpool, which with 200 animals has the largest number of working donkeys, has become the first resort to adopt the new rules.
The charter from the Donkey Sanctuary charity says anyone over the eight-stone (51 kg) limit will not be able to ride the 850 resort animals -- and that includes overweight children.
The charter, backed by the British Equine Vets' Association, stipulates the animals should always have one full day of rest per week.
They should also get an hour's lunch break if working for long periods.
The rules ban heavily pregnant mares from working and from having to show off their young foals to tourists.
Donkey rides are one of the oldest and most popular attractions on many of the country's beaches and the image of portly riders weighing down the long-suffering beasts have long featured on "Wish You Were Here" cartoon postcards.
The new rules come as the problem of obesity is growing.
A recent government study predicted that half the population could be obese within 25 years while experts believe one million children will be overweight in a decade.
The Sanctuary's head of welfare, Martin Taggart, said the rules were designed to remind people about the laws against animal cruelty.
"There are some people that love to subject the donkey to some ridicule," he told Reuters. "We are trying to protect the donkey from that."
Henry Mitchell, Blackpool council's licensing head, said in a statement he was delighted with the new code of practice.
"We've had a Donkey Charter in place since 1942, which covers the same recommendations and we are delighted to be the first to adopt the code," he said.

(Editing by Stephen Addison)

www.uk.news.yahoo.com

Rider escapes drowning

2008-04-09T09:24:00.001+09:30

A West Coast woman had to fight for her life when she fell from her horse and was washed out to sea in a rip.

Jessie Scott, 29, of Greymouth, was riding with a friend on a beach near Greymouth on Saturday when a large wave broke, taking the sand from under the feet of her horse Kisses, dumping her in the water.

"One minute I was sitting on the sand and the next minute I was fighting for my life." She managed to swim past the breakers, then "relaxed and let the waves carry me to shore".

A passerby pulled her in.

www.herald.co.nz

Galloping realism but no horse voices

2008-04-09T08:59:00.003+09:30

Opera Australia's new production of Carmen takes its bullfighter star on an unexpected ride.

REALISM takes centre stage in the new production of Bizet's Carmen that opens Opera Australia's Melbourne season today. Not only does Joshua Bloom, who plays the bullfighter Escamillo, wear a matador costume specially made for him in Spain; he makes his entrance riding a horse.
"It's the first time I've ever ridden a horse on stage before," he says. "In fact, it's the first time I've ever ridden."
The opera's tale of a tragic love triangle in which a soldier and a bullfighter vie for the affections of the strong-willed gypsy who epitomises freedom is one of the most popular in the repertoire.
American director Francesco Zambello, who also directed the Disney production of The Little Mermaid on Broadway this year, uses two horses, a donkey and chickens to convey the atmosphere of 19th-century Spain.
The opera's theme of free spirit versus duty and its exploration of class and the social position of women created a furore when the work was first performed in Paris in 1875.
Bloom, who graduated from the University of Melbourne before he joined Opera Australia's young artists program in Sydney in 1999 and is now based in the US, says he found the production very confronting.
"It's incredible to have a horse on stage and my first reaction was, 'they couldn't be serious'," he says.
But he knew the production was a hit when it was first presented at London's Covent Garden in 2006. "Opera is incredibly expensive and it's now rare for a production to be conceived for only one house."
Bloom had extensive training at the stables where the horses are based before beginning rehearsals. "They have to get used to us and we have to get used to them," he says.
Steven Jefferys, who was the Lone Rider who cracked the whip to start the Sydney Olympic Games opening ceremony, is the trainer of the horses, Jamieson and Drummer, used in the show.
He is on stage dressed as a toreador riding the second horse, with Carmen (played by English mezzo-soprano Pamela Helen Stephen) sitting behind him.
He jokes that the extensive training involved for the animals did not extend to teaching them to sing. "But horses are very big animals that can move very quickly, which is why we had to desensitise them to the stage environment," Jefferys says.
"They had to learn to be relaxed in the space and the sudden sounds and lights. They had to become familiar to everything that can happen."
The animals wear special rubber shoes so they do not slip and are exercised at a property near Pakenham to rid them of excess energy before they make their appearances. He says bowel and bladder functions are also encouraged on the property.
"Horses are creatures of habit and we just hope there is nothing left by the time they get on stage. This is work for them, so the urge to go to the toilet would only come up if they became frightened or nervous."
Jefferys says he has become a specialist in training horses for shows. He has worked on a military tattoo in Sydney and Melbourne's Equitana and last year spent six months preparing for the Asian Games in Doha.
But he describes his experience on the opera stage as "pretty special" because audiences are so surprised by the animals' entrances. "Even horse people can't believe how well behaved the animals are."
Learning to ride was not the only skill Bloom had to master for the production. "It has been more physical than most," he says, referring to the choreographed knife fight he has with Rosario La Spina's Don Jose, his rival for Carmen's attentions.
Bloom, who has been based in San Francisco since he joined a young opera program there in 2001, will make his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera later this year as Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Carmen at the State Theatre from tonight until May 10. For bookings go to opera-australia.org.au or call 1300 136 166.

All the way from Australia to Holland, Rozzie Ryan riding her lovely black horse in the Musical Kur. World Cup '08.

2008-04-08T13:51:00.001+09:30

McGauran offered racing job

2008-04-08T09:23:00.003+09:30

THE looming appointment of Peter McGauran as chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia was yesterday attacked as a "backhander deal" for the former federal agriculture minister allegedly favouring the racing and breeding industry during last year's equine influenza outbreak.

Queensland Performance and Pleasure Horse Association president Peter Toft said the appointment, expected to be announced today, was "grossly inappropriate" after the Howard government awarded greater assistance to the racing industry and vaccinated its horses before other performance and pleasure horses.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia rejects it has shown Mr McGauran any favouritism.

Mr Toft, who runs a multi-million-dollar Arabian horse export business, said the 100,000 owners he represented during the outbreak were still trying to recover despite "being ignored" by Mr McGauran. "McGauran did a pathetic job as far as we are concerned," he said.

"The majority of our section of the industry would see this as a backhander deal. The racing and breeding parts of the industry had the restrictions on their movements relaxed a lot quicker than ours and they were vaccinated first."

The decision initially to direct the use of horse flu vaccinations to racehorses was criticised at the time and flew in the face of veterinarians wanting to innoculate horses on the edge of buffer zones around the infected areas in NSW and Queensland.

One senior government veterinarian yesterday told The Australian the Howard government had gone against advice to vaccinate "paddock" horses. "It would have been better to vaccinate horses near the infected zones, because the flu was being spread as horses in these paddocks came into contact across fences," the veterinarian said.

"The disease was more easily contained at the racetracks because they were locked down in their stables."

Mr McGauran yesterday confirmed he was likely to be appointed to Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and said the organisation was not a recipient of the $217 million assistance package he approved for the horse industry.

"My conscience is clear on this," Mr McGauran said. "I have an expertise in the area and the body I hope to join was not a recipient of any government funding."

Members of the association were beneficiaries of the assistance package.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia chairman John Messara, one of Australia's most successful breeders, yesterday declined to confirm Mr McGauran as the incoming chief executive.

Mr Messara scoffed at the allegation that Mr McGauran's mooted appointed was a result of his alleged favouritism of the breeding side of the industry.

"He didn't help us, he helped the racing industry by keeping them in the job," he said.

"It is not a backhander deal, we went through a process of interviewing high-quality candidates and we think we have a very suitable person for the job.

"Nothing was done (during the outbreak) that was outside the guidelines set by the DPIs (departments of primary industries) and the federal government. It is ridiculous to suggest breeders and racing were favoured. We put some proposals forward that were approved, but most were rejected."

NZ horse flu investigation launched

2008-04-08T09:15:00.001+09:30

Biosecurity New Zealand has launched an investigation into how tests on 10 horses were cross-contaminated, resulting in positive identification for equine influenza last week.

The horses were imported from the United States on March 23 after testing negative for the disease - but they tested positive five days after arrival in New Zealand, with the results becoming available at the end of March.

The south Waikato site where the horses were being quarantined was locked down as a precaution on Friday, with no horses allowed to leave or enter the site, and no visitors allowed.

All restrictions placed on the Karaka facility have been lifted and the horses will be cleared for release later on Monday, after a second round of testing confirmed the horses were free from equine influenza.

Animal imports team manager Rachelle Linwood said Biosecurity New Zealand had completed a second round of tests, and retested the original samples.

"We are now certain that the initial positive result was due to contamination in the laboratory.

"While we are very pleased that all samples have now tested negative, it's disappointing that cross-contamination occurred," Dr Linwood said.

MAF's import standards group manager, Clive Gower-Collins, said earlier that it took very little to skew the results on such a sensitive test - "we may have had contamination from somebody with a cold in the lab".

Linwood said an initial finding from the investigation to ascertain how the tests became contaminated was expected by the end of the week.

Findings would be used to identify ways to reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination occurring in the future.

The test results were crucial because an equine influenza outbreak would put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu.

Australia has just wrapped up an inquiry into its own billion-dollar outbreak last year when equine influenza first detected in August spread quickly among horses in NSW and Queensland.

Horse movements were stopped, and some Australian racing halted at a cost estimated at $A1 billion.

McGauran New CEO At Thoroughbred Breeders Aust

2008-04-08T09:11:00.001+09:30

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia announced the appointment of former federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran as its new chief executive. TBA president John Messara said McGauran (who last Friday announced his resignation from Parliament after 25 years as National Party member for Gippsland) "can make a significant contribution to the administration & further growth of our industry" & noted the appointment "caps off a transition for the association (after its alignment with Aushorse Limited) into a powerful, united administrative & marketing arm of the Australian thoroughbred industry. The strength of the Australian racing & breeding industry is evidenced by the recent success of international stars like Choisir, Starcraft, Takeover Target, Elvstroem, Silent Witness & Miss Andretti. We now have the gene pool & the talents to produce some of the world's best racehorses. Targeting markets like Asia, Europe, South Africa, North America & Dubai, Mr McGauran's role will be to promote the Australian horse & recruit new investment into the Australian thoroughbred industry."

NZ Horses Given All-Clear After EI-Scare

2008-04-08T09:10:00.002+09:30

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand announced "a 2nd round of testing has confirmed that 10 horses in the Karaka quarantine facility are free from equine influenza". MAFBNZ revealed on Friday that samples taken from horses imported directly from the US to the Karaka quarantine facility would be retested for equine influenza due to conflicting results: the horses had tested negative prior to export in the US but positive in NZ. MAFBNZ's Animals Imports Team manager Dr Rachelle Linwood confirmed: "We have completed a 2nd round of tests & retested the original samples & are now certain the initial positive result was due to contamination in the laboratory. While we are very pleased that all samples have now tested negative, it is disappointing that cross-contamination occurred." An investigation is underway "to ascertain how the tests became contaminated & initial findings are expected by the end of the week"; findings from that investigation "will be used to identify ways to reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination occurring in the future".

New CEO announced for TBA

2008-04-08T09:07:00.003+09:30

SYDNEY - Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Limited (TBA) has announced the appointment of a new CEO to head the peak industry body.

TBA President Mr John Messara said he was delighted to announce that former Agriculture Minister Mr Peter McGauran would join the TBA as its Chief Executive.

"We do feel that Mr McGauran can make a significant contribution to the administration and further growth of our industry," said Messara.

Amongst his achievements as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr McGauran;

Delivered the greatest ever commitment to drought assistance for rural families, communities and businesses with $3.5billion assistance committed;
Developed the National Agricultural and Climate Change Action Plan to help farmers better manage the impact of climate change;
Secured the iconic Woolmark trademark in Australian hands and introduced ‘Australian Grown’ labelling to allow consumers to quickly identify products grown by Australian farmers;
Developed and implemented the $234 million Equine Influenza Assistance Package for the racing industry following the outbreak of horse flu in Australia in August in 2007;
Successfully led international delegations to improve Australian agricultural exporters’ access to markets;

The appointment caps off a transition for the association (after its alignment with Aushorse Limited) into a powerful, united administrative and marketing arm of the Australian Thoroughbred Industry.

"The strength of the Australian racing and breeding industry is evidenced by the recent success of international stars like Choisir, Starcraft, Takeover Target, Elvstroem, Silent Witness and Miss Andretti," Messara said.

"We now have the gene pool and the talents to produce some of the world’s best racehorses. Targeting markets like Asia, Europe, South Africa, North America and Dubai, Mr McGauran’s role will be to promote the Australian horse and recruit new investment into the Australian Thoroughbred Industry," added Messara.

"I am excited by the challenge. The TBA and Aushorse Ltd are now in a position to move forward strongly and it will be our task to lift the profile of racing and breeding in Australia," said Mr McGauran.

Mr McGauran will be based at the TBA’s new secretariat in Sydney.

Having tried his hand as an amateur jockey and racing steward before entering politics, Mr McGauran has a long history in the racing industry. He is an avid racing enthusiast and is regularly seen at race meetings and yearling sales in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. - Thoroughbred Breeders Australia

Quarantined horses cleared of equine flu

2008-04-07T10:33:00.001+09:30

Weekend tests on 10 American horses at a New Zealand quarantine facility have found they do not have equine influenza, biosecurity officials said today.

DNA testing of samples from the horses, which had tested positive for equine influenza, indicated the results were "false positives", Biosecurity New Zealand spokesman Clive Gower-Collins said.

The Karaka site where the horses were being quarantined was locked down as a precaution on Friday, with no horses allowed to leave or enter the site, and no visitors allowed.

"The whole testing regime is based on an early warning principle... The first set of tests could probably be described as veracity tests - they're the ones that say you think you've got a reason for concern," Mr Gower-Collins told Radio New Zealand today.

"At that point, we began to get some anomalous test results that made our folks scratch their heads a bit. Further testing started to reveal that most certainly whatever we're dealing with here, it's not an equine illness."

Mr Gower-Collins, MAF's import standards group manager, said the 10 horses at the centre of the scare were in "robust good health".

He said earlier that it took very little to skew the results on such a sensitive test - "we may have had contamination from somebody with a cold in the lab".

The test results were crucial because an equine influenza outbreak would put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu.

Australia has just wrapped up an inquiry into its own billion-dollar outbreak last year when equine influenza first detected in August spread quickly among horses in New South Wales and Queensland states.

Horse movements were stopped, and some Australian racing halted at a cost estimated at $A1 billion ($NZ1.17 million).

www.nzherald.co.nz

McGauran takes reins in sport of kings

2008-04-07T10:26:00.001+09:30

FORMER federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran, who came to the rescue of the racing industry with a $217 million relief package, is set to become the chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.

Mr McGauran follows at least four other Howard ministers in accepting employment in areas where they worked closely in government.

The Australian understands Mr McGauran, who on Friday announced his resignation after 25 years as the Nationals member for Gippsland, will announce his new job this week and take up the post next month.
News of Mr McGauran's post-retirement plans came as senior Liberals dismissed suggestions that Peter Costello might remain in parliament as a leadership "insurance policy", with one former close supporter of his prime ministerial ambitions labelling the claims as "bunkum".
Former health minister Michael Wooldridge was criticised when he joined the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as a consultant after leaving politics, as was former defence minister Peter Reith for his government relations consultancy with defence and technology giant Tenix.
Former children's affairs minister Larry Anthony joined the board of childcare giant ABC Learning after losing his seat in 2004, while former communications minister Richard Alston advised Austereo on digital radio.
At the time of last year's outbreak of equine influenza, which is reported to have cost the industry $1 billion, Mr McGauran was described by racing officials as the industry's saviour for delivering the $217 million assistance package. It included payments for workers from farriers to transport operators who lost their jobs, as well as $45 million for businesses and $44 million towards professional riders.
It is expected that the inquiry by former High Court judge Ian Callinan QC will hand down damning findings about the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, which came under Mr McGauran's portfolio, when it delivers his report into the EI outbreak later this month.
Mr McGauran would not officially confirm the appointment last night, but told The Australian he did not believe the role posed a potential conflict of interest.
"I would not accept a position with an organisation or industry body that benefited directly from any decision I made as minister," he said.
"The EI assistance package was distributed by Racing NSW and Queensland Racing, together with government agencies such as Centrelink.
"I had a lifetime interest and involvement with the racing and bloodstock industries, and my ambition has always been to work in them after politics."
He denied that the package was delivered in part to court the racing industry. "Retirement was the last thing on my mind," Mr McGauran said.
Racing NSW boss Peter V'Landys said yesterday that while Mr McGauran "was a help to us in dark times", the package did not directly assist breeders.
"There was no funding whatsoever for the breeders while he was in government," Mr V'Landys said.
Mr V'Landys denied it would be in any way inappropriate for Mr McGauran to take up the position with Thoroughbred Breeders.
"To be fair, he started off in the racing industry," he said.
The Nationals hold Mr McGauran's seat of Gippsland by a margin of 6 per cent. However, Coalition sources described recent party polling in the electorate as "challenging".

NZ Retesting EI-Positive Samples From US Imports

2008-04-07T10:18:00.001+09:30

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand announced it is "retesting samples taken from horses imported directly from the US to the Karaka quarantine facility (in Auckland) due to conflicting test results". Ten horses imported from the US on March 23 "have had conflicting tests results for equine influenza: they tested negative prior to export in the US but positive when in quarantine in NZ". All the horses "appear healthy & are not showing any symptoms of disease". MAFBNZ's Import Standards Group Manager Clive Gower-Collins warned: "There is a strong indication that cross-contamination in the laboratory was the reason for the positive results. The laboratory will be conducting further tests over the weekend to confirm this is so. Further investigations will also be made to ascertain how the tests in NZ became contaminated." As a precaution MAFBNZ moved quickly to "lock down" the Karaka facility & "no horses will be allowed to leave or enter the site & no visitors will be permitted entry". The horses have been in quarantine since their arrival from the US in a secure facility "so there is no risk to the NZ horse population." NZ Racing Board chief executive Graeme Hansen added: "The horses in question were picked up during standard quarantine procedures & we are pleased MAFBNZ has moved quickly & taken every precaution in the protection of our industry."

McGauran to take top horse industry job

2008-04-07T10:03:00.001+09:30

Former federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran is this week expected to announce that he has accepted the top job at Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.

Mr McGauran, who last Friday announced his resignation from parliament after 25 years as the Nationals member for Gippsland, will announce his new job as chief executive this week and take up the post next month, The Australian reported on Monday.
As agriculture minister, Mr McGauran spearheaded the government's $217 million rescue package for the Australian horse industry devastated by the outbreak of equine influenza (EI).
Mr McGauran would not officially confirm the appointment Sunday night, but told The Australian he did not believe the role posed a potential conflict of interest.
"I would not accept a position with an organisation or industry body that benefited directly from any decision I made as minister," he told the paper.
"The EI assistance package was distributed by Racing NSW and Queensland Racing, together with government agencies such as Centrelink.
"I had a lifetime interest and involvement with the racing and bloodstock industries, and my ambition has always been to work in them after politics."

US horses test positive for EI in NZ

2008-04-07T10:00:00.001+09:30

Ten horses imported into New Zealand from the United States have tested positive for equine influenza, biosecurity officials say.

The quarantine site in Karaka, in New Zealand's North Island, has been "locked down".
No horses are allowed to leave or enter the site and no visitors are allowed.
The test results put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu, and raises the spectre of multi-million dollar costs for the nation's racing and sport horse sectors.
Biosecurity New Zealand says it is retesting samples taken from horses imported directly from the United States to the Karaka quarantine "due to conflicting test results".
The horses were imported from the United States on March 23 after testing negative for the disease - but they tested positive on arrival in New Zealand.
All the horses appear healthy and are not showing any symptoms of disease, according to Biosecurity NZ, which is an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
"There is a strong indication that cross-contamination in the laboratory was the reason for the positive results," a ministry spokesman, import standards group manager, Clive Gower-Collins, said.
"The laboratory will be conducting further tests over the weekend to confirm that this is so.
"Further investigations will also be made to ascertain how the tests in New Zealand became contaminated".
Import standards require horses to undergo 21 days quarantine before departure for New Zealand, including testing and vaccination, and a further 14 days in post-arrival quarantine in New Zealand, where they undergo further testing.
The horses have been in quarantine since their arrival from the United States in a secure facility, which Mr Gower-Collins said meant there was "no risk" to the New Zealand horse population.
"The New Zealand horse population is not at risk as any virus would be contained within the Karaka quarantine facility and allowed to run its course.
New Zealand Racing Board chief executive, Graeme Hansen, said: "We are pleased that MAF have moved quickly and taken every precaution in the protection of our industry".

Commissioner prepares horse flu inquiry report

2008-04-07T09:51:00.001+09:30

The head of the Federal Government's horse flu inquiry, Ian Callinan, will spend the next three weeks writing his report into how the EI virus entered Australia, after public hearings ended in Sydney.
The Commonwealth is already on notice that its entire quarantine system needs a shake-up, with the Commissioner saying public confidence in the performance of AQIS and Biosecurity Australia is at an all-time low.
On the final day, Counsel Assisting the Inquiry, Tony Meagher, urged the Commissioner to find that the virus escaped from the government's Eastern Creek station, after Japanese horses were imported to Australia on the 8th of August last year.
He submitted Australia's quarantine system had failed and there were no adequate lines of communication.
The six-month inquiry also heard evidence that AQIS's management structure was fragmented, that senior bureaucrats were often blase about the risk involved in the importation of live horses, and quarantine facilities were rarely audited.
The Commonwealth has already flagged its resistance to Mr Callinan's draft report, suggesting some recommendations have not been costed and may not sit comfortably with existing government policy.
Meanwhile, the racing industry is praising Peter McGauran's handling of the horse flu outbreak as Agriculture Minister, saying he responded quickly and generously.
The industry also says that Mr McGauran gave assurances the industry wouldn't have to pay for the outbreak, if it was proved the Quarantine Service was to blame.
That's pressuring the new government, in the light of suggestions a new levy could be imposed on the horse industry.
Racing New South Wales chief executive, Peter V'landys, says the industry will lobby the new Agriculture Minister to keep Mr McGauran's promise.
"Look, we're waiting for Callinan's report and we will certainly be lobbying very hard to Mr Burke that the Government honour the previous government's commitment to pay for the cost of erradication and containment, because we had no part in it," he says.
"It wasn't our negligence, we were just a victim."

Dismay over injured jockey's WorkCover settlement

2008-04-04T09:36:00.001+10:30

CRIPPLED jockey Darryl Johnston yesterday would not comment on a Queensland WorkCover offer that will see him left with only $10,000.

Johnston said on legal advice he preferred not to comment but racing officials around the country are dismayed by the settlement.
Johnston, 24, became a paraplegic after a fall at Rockhampton races on December 29 last year and his payout will be $125,000 from WorkCover.
Under the agreement, hospital bills of more than $90,000 will be deducted and Johnston has had to pay for his wheelchair and vehicle modification leaving him with about $10,000.
Johnston wants to pursue a career as a horse trainer and hopes to set up business in Mackay when the new season starts on August 1.
Regarded as a top-class rider in north Queensland, Johnston was a heavyweight jockey and his partner is apprentice Trinity Bannon.
Victorian Jockeys Association executive officer Des O'Keeffe said it was a disaster for Johnson and he would have received double the amount for the same accident in Victoria.
"I have spoken to Darryl and what do you say? It is a disaster for him," O'Keeffe 0said.
"Unfortunately it is not a unique case in Australia."
O'Keeffe said the maximum payout for serious injury in Victoria was $250,000 from WorkCover and riders were required to match that amount in personal injury insurance.
Queensland Racing executive Malcolm Tuttle said the $125,000 cap on serious injury was a policy jockeys had agreed was adequate. Tuttle said QR was having talks with WorkCover to see whether any further payment could be made for Johnston.
"We expect to know in about a week," Tuttle said.
"The cap for serious injury in Queensland is $125,000 and we are in discussions with them."
Tuttle said QR paid $1.4 million shortfall in WorkCover insurance annually and any increase would see that figure rise. Jockeys pay a $4 a ride for personal cover and an additional $6.40 for public liability.
www.news.com.au/couriermail

Horse imports need independent auditor, inquiry hears

2008-04-04T09:34:00.002+10:30

The equine influenza inquiry has heard an independent auditor should be appointed to oversee the importation of all horses into Australia.

The inquiry heard final submissions in Sydney today after final hearings into how the horse flu virus entered the country in August last year.
The virus brought horse racing to a halt and cost the equine industry more than $4 million a day at its peak.
In his final submission, the council assisting the inquiry Tony Meagher SC laid the blame for the outbreak on the Federal Government and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection service.
Mr Meagher told the hearing that an independent auditor should be put in place to oversee all aspects of horse importation.
The Commissioner, Ian Callinan, said it may be very difficult to restore public confidence in Australia's quarantine procedures.

Olympics equestrian funding 'too late'

2008-04-04T09:33:00.002+10:30

Equestrian Heath Ryan, from the Hunter region of New South Wales, says a $1.5 million Federal Government funding package to help Olympic hopefuls and their horses has come too late for him and other riders.

The funding is aimed at boosting the equestrian team's preparations for Beijing.
Mr Ryan says he needs to be in Germany for a qualifying event in early May, meaning his horse should already be in quarantine.
He says a horse he rides for a private owner is already in quarantine and may compete, but his own horse's chances are slim.
"For me to make those trials my horses have to be in quarantine," he said.
"That's going to be difficult for me to even get into quarantine early enough now, because there's been no chance of funding up until now.
"I'm in real trouble in terms of my Olympic preparation."

'Never a dull moment' in agriculture, says McGauran

2008-04-04T09:29:00.002+10:30

Peter McGauran says the time he spent as Federal Agriculture Minister from 2005 to 2007 is his fondest memory of politics.

The Nationals MP has announced he's resigning from his position as the Member for Gippsland, and says he will now try a new career in the thoroughbred racing industry.

Despite overseeing some of the toughest times in agriculture, including continuing drought, the horse flu outbreak and Cyclone Larry, Mr McGauran says he will miss representing Australian farmers.

"Looking back, even though each of those portfolios presented their own personal and professional rewards and challenges, it was always the Ministry of Agriculture that I devoted myself to, because it was part and parcel of my upbringing, my life, and my own electorate," he says.

"There's never a dull moment, let alone a dull day in the portfoilio."

Security blamed for horse flu havoc

2008-04-04T09:26:00.002+10:30

THE equine flu virus that devastated the Australian horse industry had escaped from the Eastern Creek Quarantine Centre, and poor practices at the centre had caused the escape, the Equine Flu Inquiry has been told.

In his submission to the inquiry yesterday on its last day of sitting, counsel assisting, Tony Meagher, told Commissioner Ian Callinan, QC, that not even rudimentary biosecurity procedures were present at the facility in August last year when the virus escaped.

However, Mr Meagher has been contradicted by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which said that no mechanism had been established for "the assumed escape of the virus from the [quarantine centre]" therefore it did not follow that deficiencies in the centre's biosecurity procedures was responsible for the outbreak.

Mr Meagher said that if the virus escaped because of slack procedures adopted by veterinarians attending the horses at the Eastern Creek centre, it was quite wrong for the department to say that officers of Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service were entitled to rely on the professionalism of the veterinarians.

"They take the notion of shared responsibility to mean that they have no obligation whatsoever with respect to what happened within the quarantine facility," he said.

The inquiry has heard evidence there were persistent breaches of requirements at the centre relating to showering, changing clothes and cleaning equipment in the period before August 17, 2007, when the first horse fell ill.

Mr Meagher said the department continued to assert it was sufficient to rely on others to perform functions, particularly without supervision.

Ian Harvey, for the state of NSW, said the Government's position was that the inquiry had exposed "a number of systemic failures in the development, documentation and quarantine practice" that had contributed to the outbreak.

The Government called for a co-ordinated national approach, encompassing all states, territories and the Commonwealth.

EI inquiry chief considers findings

2008-04-04T09:24:00.001+10:30

The head of the inquiry into Australia's equine influenza outbreak has retired to consider his findings.

There are calls for an overhaul of the government run quarantine system in relation to horses and the appointment of an inspector general.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan has taken evidence from more than 200 witnesses over the past five months, including senior public servants from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) which has come under fire for its unwieldy management structure and lack of clear lines of responsibility.

The EI outbreak in August shut the multi-million dollar racing industry down in NSW and Queensland for four months, curtailed the breeding season and resulted in unprecedented restrictions in horse movement.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Tony Meagher, and lawyers for the parties appearing, agree the likely source of the virus was a shipment of horses which arrived from Japan on August 8.

The shipment included mares and stallions, some of which were offloaded in Melbourne before the remaining horses travelled to Sydney and subsequently the Eastern Creek quarantine station from where it escaped into the general horse population.

Investigations by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and the inquiry have failed to pinpoint exactly how that happened but the consensus is that the system failed.

Coolmore stallion Encosta De Lago became sick in Eastern Creek with the likely source either Snitzel or Rock Of Gibraltar who both travelled on the plane from Japan.

The spread of EI has been traced to a horse show at Maitland on the weekend of August 19 but the link between that event and Eastern Creek has not been established.

Callinan has expressed his frustrations throughout the inquiry when trying to come to terms with the multi layers of AQIS management and lack of auditing systems.

The first of his draft recommendations was that an external auditor to be known as the office of the inspector general be appointed with duties to include the inspection of both pre-export and post-arrival quarantine centres.

"In some ways, it does look a little radical, but there is the aspect of restoration of public confidence; there is the aspect of problems within the department," the recommendation said.

"In a sense, one might have expected Biosecurity to have done a lot of this, but it didn't do it, if AQIS itself hadn't done it."

He also called for a separate section within AQIS relating specifically to horse importation saying the current system was over-elaborate and resulted in an absence of accountability and responsibility for, and compliance with, procedures concerning the importation of horses.

Among those to give evidence at the inquiry were grooms, farriers and veterinary surgeons who attended the overseas stallions at Eastern Creek.

Most said they were aware of protocols regarding the handling of horses at the station but because the rules were not always enforced, they were not always followed.

Retrospective tests on the horses which were offloaded in Melbourne and sent to Victoria's Spotswood station, showed they had developed EI anti-bodies but the virus was contained within the centre.

The parties to make submissions to the inquiry included the states of NSW and Queensland, Darley and Coolmore Studs, International Racehorse Transport, the Australian Horse Industry Council, the Australian Veterinary Association, Randwick Equine Centre, the Equestrian Federation of Australia and the Australian Racing Board.

The commissioner is required to provide his report by April 25.

Callinan inquiry finishes

2008-04-04T09:19:00.002+10:30

SYDNEY - Leaders of an inquiry into Australia's crippling equine influenza outbreak finished taking evidence on Thursday after five months and testimony from 200 witnesses.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan, who will issue his report by April 25, heard evidence from senior personnel at the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, which was criticised for its management structure and lack of clear lines of responsibility.

Equine influenza was first detected in Australia last August and spread quickly among horse populations in New South Wales and Queensland.

Horse movements were stopped and racing was halted. The cost of the outbreak was estimated at as much as $1billion.

Inquiry lawyer Tony Meagher said the likely source of the virus was a shipment of horses which arrived from Japan in August.

It included mares and stallions, some of which were offloaded in Melbourne before the remaining horses travelled to Sydney and subsequently the Eastern Creek quarantine station, where the virus escaped into the general horse population.

Among those to give evidence at the inquiry were grooms, farriers, and veterinary surgeons who took care of the overseas stallions at Eastern Creek. Most said they were aware of protocols regarding the handling of horses at the station but because the rules were not always enforced, they were not always followed.

132 Aust Imports Arrive In Singapore Quarantine

2008-04-04T09:15:00.001+10:30

In Singapore, 132 horses from Australia (delayed due to last year's equine influenza outbreak) are beginning their 3-weeks in quarantine (at Horsecity at Bukit Timah & the Singapore Turf's Club facility at Neo Tiew Road) before heading to their respective trainers. The horses have arrived in a series of shipments: 32 from Perth on March 27, 18 from Melbourne & Perth on Wednesday (April 2), 29 yesterday (April 3) & 53 from Melbourne tomorrow (Saturday April 5). Singapore Trainer's Association president Len Treloar (who has 17 horses in quarantine, a "mix of 2YOs & 3YOs) declared: "It's been a long wait for all concerned, but it's a huge relief to finally get them here. It's a great relief for everybody concerned, but especially for all the owners who have been persevering with their horses. While the EI outbreak has had a dramatic impact on all of us here in Singapore, it's had a huge impact on Australia. I just can't wait to get the horses into the stables & get them into work. The next 3-6 months are going to be very interesting, but I'm certainly looking towards the future." Treloar purchased horses in Australia 9 months ago which were in quarantine, ready to travel to Singapore when the EI outbreak hit Australia; these horses had been "in & out of training in Australia preparing for their importation into Singapore in the hope of quickly making it to the racetrack". But the quarantine period (3 weeks in Australia & a further 3 weeks on arrival in Singapore) meant they "would not be ready to race until August, at the earliest, after inactivity during their confinement". Among other trainers: Brian Dean has 15 Australian horses to enter his stables (including the former David Hayes-trained 4YO Sendeed, a son of Montjeu raced by Dubai's Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Shadwell Stud who has 6 wins from 20 starts); Cliff Brown (one of the hardest hit by the EI outbreak as the majority of his stable was left behind when he made the move to Singapore last December) has 11 horses from his farm at Narbethong (north-east of Melbourne) now in quarantine with more to come in further shipments in the coming weeks; newcomer Michael Freedman & Desmond Koh both have 15 horses currently in quarantine; Don Baertschiger has 14, along with John Meagher (8), Michael Clements (7), Patrick Shaw (7), Steven Burridge (6) & David Hill (5).

EI Inquiry Hearings End & Report Due By April 25

2008-04-04T09:13:00.001+10:30

Retired High Court judge Ian Callinan, head of the inquiry into Australia's equine influenza outbreak, has retired to consider his findings & is due to provide his report by April 25. Counsel assisting the inquiry Tony Meagher summed up that the likely source of the virus was a shipment of horses which arrived from Japan on August 8. (Apr 4)

New comment on comment on $6bn industry at risk amid race to prev

2008-04-03T14:32:00.003+10:30

Hey dont be too hard on the poor thing.
probably only counting the TB's that got it.

surely anyone reading the papers could be forgiven for thinking the only equines affected were those belonging to the racing industry?

Olympic equestrian team gets $1.5m boost

2008-04-03T14:14:00.002+10:30

Australia's equestrian team finally have something to smile about after months of bad news, following the equine influenza outbreak last year.

The federal government has announced the Olympic team will be given a $1.5 million funding boost after preparations for the Beijing games were hampered by the flu crisis.
The funding will allow prospective Olympic riders, horses and support staff to travel overseas for training, competition and games qualification events.
Australia's major Olympic qualifying events had to be cancelled late last year due to restrictions on horse movements.
"The equestrian federation asked the Rudd government if it could assist and we were happy to take up their request," Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
The funding will be made available through the Equestrian Federation of Australia.
Federation president Geoff Sinclair said equestrian riders had been under "massive strain and disadvantage".
"The whole equestrian community, and especially the national squads, which are finalising their preparations, thank the Australian government for providing decisive support," Mr Sinclair said in a statement.
Australia was declared provisionally free of equine influenza on March 13.

Document causes controversy at horse flu inquiry

2008-04-03T13:46:00.002+10:30

There's been a fiery exchange between Commissioner Ian Callinan and the Federal Government's barrister on the final day of the horse flu inquiry in Sydney.

It centred around a controversial document, prepared for the former Agriculture Minister, Peter McGauran, over the possible privatisation of Australia's quarantine stations.

The policy paper to Cabinet on quarantine privatisation options was prepared last year, but never reached the minister because the election was called.

Counsel for the Commonwealth, Alan Robertson, told Commissioner Callinan the Federal Government would be denied procedural fairness if the document was considered, because there was no proof AQIS's executive manager, Jenny Gordon, had adopted or signed it.

Commissioner Callinan fired back: "But it's her document. Do you want me to ignore the words approved by Jenny Gordon?"

The commissioner invited Mr Robertson to recall the Federal Government's witness immediately, but the offer was declined.

The hearing continues.

Horse flu hits yearling sales

2008-04-03T13:26:00.002+10:30

Organisers of the nation's premier yearling sales say Equine Influenza has indirectly cost the event $20-30 million dollars.

The Magic Millions sales ended yesterday on the Gold Coast, grossing $122 million.
But the average sale price was greatly reduced.
General manager David Chester says while economic downturn played a part, fears surrounding horse flu travel restrictions before the sale, kept many southern stud vendors away.
"We lost about 80 there, and there were quite a number of horses from the Hunter Valley, some of the better horses that didn't come because of the worry of EI and getting the horses out of here if the EI ban wasn't lifted," he says.
"Fortunately it was lifted before the sale, but the damage had already been done with some of the quality horses."

Horse flu inquiry coming to a close

2008-04-03T13:23:00.001+10:30

Five months after it began, the Equine Influenza inquiry is hearing closing submissions today.

The inquiry has taken evidence from 260 witnesses and generated more than 80,000 documents in its bid to establish how horse flu entered Australia last August.

The first parties to appear are the states of New South Wales and Queensland, who will be followed by the Commonwealth.

Commissioner Callinan released his draft report earlier this month, and received 30 submissions in response.

He flagged major changes, among them the appointment of an external auditor to inspect all Australian and overseas horse quarantine stations, significant increases in quarantine fees for imported shuttle stallions, and a complete overhaul of Australia's quarantine agencies, AQIS and Biosecurity Australia.

Most parties have agreed with many of the Commissioner's draft recommmendations, although a planned review on whether live horses should be imported into Australia at all has met with a cool reception.

It is not known if the inquiry will recommend an upgrade in the status of EI as a disease, which would force the Federal Government to shoulder more of the cost should there be another outbreak in the future.