Editorial - Jan Heine
Dateline: October 3rd, 2007

This magazine has been noteable for its absence of coverage of the EI (Equine Flu) disaster which has been gripping Australian horse owners with fear and mistrust since the first reported case on August 25th, 2007.

To those who would criticise us for our silence - we agree with you but the overwhelming number of conflicting reports coming in daily from the various agencies attempting to control the disasterous outbreak and the "escape" of the disease into the wider community has been enormous in volume and well covered by many online agencies and we felt it was not necessary to add more to the melting pot when many equestrian properties (non-racing) were dealing on a daily basis with the day to day work of dealing with sick horses who needed their full time attention.

The Department of Primary Industry web sites in each state should have been the only place they needed to look for the most up to date information on how the war against the disease was being handled - and make no mistake Australia is currently a war zone.

Sadly this has not been the case - the individual states have been releasing their own information and forming their own policies for an issue which is a NATIONWIDE issue and one which should have been treated nationally!

The horse industry is now split firmly in half in Australia with a great deal of animosity and anger bordering on rage destroying two industries which once lived in harmony side by side and why is this happening - because the governments of each state have seen fit to favour the racing industry with little to no regard for what they consistently refer to as the "pleasure horse industry" and the "hobby horse owners".

Equestrian events have been cancelled Australia wide as the initial reaction and this included racing - but with racing providing huge amounts of money to the government coffers, they were quickly put back on the calendar while equestrian sport is still sitting on their hands, with lockdowns still in force in NSW and Queensland, while other states have been permitted movement of horses but still no events which are referred to as "gatherings of horses".

The latest releases suggest that "gatherings of horses" are now permitted but with such strong onus on each individual to foot the bill if they are required to go into lockdown in the event of further EI outbreaks, few clubs or privately owned venues would have the courage (or sense) to begin allowing competitions.

So what does this mean in human terms - breeders, trainers, professional riders, farriers, saddleries, equine dentists, equine vets and breakers to name just a few of the industries which quickly spring to mind are all facing financial ruin right now because they are completely hung out to dry with no movement of horses and no competitions. So while they watch their businesses go down the drain, they watch racing get back to "business as usual" with some bio security measures put in place to sweeten the public view.

The sweeteners are not working - while racing is back in business with racing in most states happening and shuttle stallions covering mares the competition horse owner sits and home and waits for the EI to hit their horses and they are getting angry and with good right.

With the papers featuring occasional articles on equestrian personalities such as Ann-Maree Lourey from Byalee Stud in NSW there is some inkling for the general public on what is happening to the real people during this national equestrian disaster but it is not enough.

Ann-Maree houses 60 horses on her stud and they are all now infected - her days are filled with taking temepratures and treating sick horses, which include new born foals who may well not make it to weanlings. Lourey's feed bill is reported as $4,000 per week and how is she to meet these bills with no work permitted through teaching, riding or competing which is how the professionals produce horses for sale. But there appears to be no financial help available to people like this.

Now we are hearing stories of Equine Flu vaccinations being administered to some horses and not to others - IN THE SAME STABLES!

Australia has a government enquiry going on right now as to how the disease "escaped" into the horse population in the first place and suddenly stories are changing almost hourly about how this happened - fingers are being pointed and battle lines are being drawn with racing money threatening legal battles for compensation and equestrian people wanting the same but fearing that they are being blamed for the spread and at the end of the day will get less than nothing by way of compensation.

Questions need to be asked and answers need to be honest - but right now the equestrian fraternity are being left out to dry while the National Equestrian Federation continue to send condescending and demeaning emails to their members telling them that they are "doing their best" while at the same time demanding fees from Coaches for example for membership and insurance when they are unable to work. For those who have not been able to find the money to pay their fees, they have been unceremoniously struck off the Accredited Coaches list - is this support for the industry? I think not!