Simon Kale - Coach Educator - Level 4 Coach and International competitor wearing the Australian flag and breeder of many years experience tells us his thoughts on the EI situation in Australia.

Our thanks to Simon for his insight in a time when his back is to the wall as his sole income is from allied sport horse industries as a Coach, Coach Educator and producer of performance horses which includes a large breeding program which spans many generations of some of the best horses in the country.

Equine Influenza - My thoughts and perspective of living with the Equine influenza outbreak decimating the Australian horse Industry at the moment.

I am a horse trainer, coach and breeder and have a 53 acre property on the south coast of NSW. I have 18 horses at the stables, reside in a red zone and am about 3km from an infected property and am presently EI free.

Well where does one start?

On August the 25th 2007 a stand down period was announced throughout NSW. Horses had been found to be positive to the EI virus and all movement within the state was stopped. People that were away from their places had to stay where they were and if you were at home you had to stay put.

Many of the people that were traveling are still in lockdown as I type.

That day it was thought that the virus had been introduced somehow to Centennial Parkland Stables in Sydney and horses traveling from there were carrying it around the state.

In no time infections were appearing throughout the state.

Later that day it was thought that a property called "The Ranch", that had had a competition the week before was also infected. This turned out to be true. All horses that had competed at the Ranch were quarantined.

I had 2 horses that had been there so our place was immediately quarantined.

Unfortunately horses that had competed there, had already traveled to Queensland to a World Cup eventing competition at Warwick which was immediately locked down but the virus was to attack all the horses there. Some 250 horses were in lockdown.

It then spread rapidly throughout the racing and pleasure industry. Immediately it appeared that there was to be a dividing line between "pleasure horses' and 'racing' interests. I continually denied this would happen. Unfortunately it appears I was proved to be wrong.

So we have the movement of horses banned and properties quarantined, where to from here? It was decided immediately that quarantine areas would be put around all infected properties for a radius of 10km and these would be called restricted areas.

Then out of the blue the EI virus appeared in the Hunter Valley. (The breeding ground of Australia's racing industry). With the prohibition on movement of horses in NSW and the restrictions now that the Hunter Valley was infected, how was the thoroughbred industry going to breed this seasons crop?

One has to remember that the Shuttle Stallions were still in quarantine at Eastern Creek and mares were located all over the country. The solution was easy!!!!!!!!. Have a new zone and call it purple. (Too easy)

You can take a horse to a purple zone however it must stay there. All trucks coming out of a purple zone would have to be disinfected. Wow the industry was saved!!!!!.

Meanwhile the pleasure industry horses were unable to move around. Suddenly the divide between racing horses and pleasure horses was like the Grand Canyon.

The DPI (Department of Primary Industries) then decided that even though the eradication of the virus was a high priority , the need for vaccination was approved. Horses in buffer zones would be vaccinated to stop the spread of disease. I will not address the pros and cons of vaccination. Buffer zones were set up around red zones and the approval for vaccination was obtained. It seems like a brilliant idea in principle.

What has appeared to have happened is that Thoroughbreds not in Buffer zones are also being vaccinated . Also thoroughbreds in red zones are being vaccinated, whereas the "pleasure horse" (starting to hate those 2 words) is not.

About 40 minutes from me there is a racetrack with adjoining stables where both thoroughbreds and pleasure horses are stabled. At the time of typing this, TBs have been vaccinated but not the pleasure horses that reside in the same area.

It suddenly starts to appear that decisions are being made to protect and save the racing industry separate from the welfare issue to the rest of the Australian Equines. Why???? Racing is a massive industry can be the only answer.

Horses in red zones appear just to be left to the fate that they will get the virus.

While all this is going on green zones have also been announced that are free of the virus so horses can be moved around after obtaining a permit online.

I am not commenting on the rights or wrongs of this approach just what appears to be happening.

To explain this approach in more detail I have taken notes from the Australian Horse Industry Council Newsletter. The AHIC is the peak body that looks after the welfare of the horse industry. Notes from them are in bold print.

The disease control effort is being overseen by the Consultative Committee on Exotic Animal Diseases (CCEAD) which has been meeting almost daily by teleconference. All states, the commonwealth and horse interests are represented. The overall strategy is outlined in the AUSVETPLAN manual on Equine Influenza.

Proposals not conforming to the strategy are usually rejected. Some proposals put forward by NSW and Qld are rejected by CCEAD as being too risky or are deferred until further information is provided. The disease control efforts are therefore a compromise between getting things back to normal as soon as possible and removing all risk that the disease will spread further.

We know that all horses are equally susceptible to EI and that the value that owners place on their horses does not equate to their purchase price. Therefore, we understand the extreme anger that has been generated among horse owners as vaccines are allocated by political decisions to protect racehorses before non racing horses.

We have conveyed this sense of frustration to NSW Minister Macdonald. He and his staff have received over 1,000 emails and many phone calls expressing opposition to what is seen as favouritism for the racing sector. Despite this the NSW Government still gives support in decision making and financial support to the racing sector. See the latest NSW press release and an ABC piece from Media Watch as examples.

The reality is that racing has a much greater political and media pull than other horse interests. The average punter and voter have more interest in racing than in what the recreational horse riders do with their horses.

The AHIC has to be even handed about horse industry problems. Indeed we represent thoroughbred interests too. The disruption of the racing sector has a great economic impact.

The vaccination of racehorses has little to do with the health of the horses. It is being done to protect racing. Yes, it is all about money. The horse industry is a very big employer and generates economic benefit. Therefore if we wish to limit the economic impact of EI, racing has to have a priority.

But if the thoroughbred industry is to be protected, the disease must be controlled in the general horse population. The ongoing containment and control of EI depends on disease control in non racing horses which represent at least 80% of the total population. We strongly support the NSW and Qld decisions to make vaccination of buffer zones the highest priority. The horses in the buffer zones are overwhelmingly non racing horses.

The thoroughbred racing and breeding interests have enjoyed advantages such as earlier release from movement restrictions, earlier vaccination and potentially earlier release from quarantine control. The AHIC continues to argue for these freedoms to be granted to the wider population.

Approval has been granted for the vaccination of valuable and vulnerable uninfected horses within the red zones. This is subject to CVO approval and conditions might vary between states because of differing disease situations.

I have horses that would qualify in this however have heard nothing about it from the DPI.(SK)

We would like to see the extension of purple zones so that other breeds can move their mares to stallions as has been allowed for thoroughbreds. Many breeders will go broke if their breeding operations are halted. Luckily most breeds can start to serve in October with little economic loss - this is a more rational start to the breeding season as has been recognised by Standardbred breeders.

We do realise that creation of more purple zones or the widespread use of vaccine may delay an area being removed from quarantine because it may be harder to prove freedom from infection.

We do not see why racehorses are allowed to travel up to 5km daily in amber zones to a racetrack when other horses are not allowed to move 500 metres to a different paddock. We also hear of discrepancies between controls being implemented differently in different states. Since early in the outbreak NSW horses have been allowed to move to a veterinary hospital for welfare reasons. In Queensland these movements have been restricted.

Movements and horse events are now allowed in green zones subject to conditions imposed by the DPI. These areas will be extended as red and amber zones shrink with successful containment.

The AHIC continues to press for control and eradication of equine influenza but has consideration of the costs of these restrictions and will press for these to be eased as soon as possible.

I think that this release shows how apparent the difference is between racing interests and others.
As I said earlier I have fortunately not been infected yet ,however we live our lives wondering when we will be. We have mares due to foal and young horses that will be susceptible to secondary infections. The DPI tells us not to worry that it is just an inconvenience yet daily we hear of horses from both small and high profile studs losing both mares and foals. It is very worrying.

It would be very naive of me to say that, at the moment the NSW Minister of Primary Industries has my support . I believe I am a member of a group that could do with more support from him.

Post Script
There are currently 3178 Infected Properties (IPs), 330 Dangerous Contact Properties (DCPs) and 380 Suspect Properties (SPs). Over 100 vaccinations were administered across NSW yesterday.