Lets not overlook the fact that I saved a fortune not having to float these over evolved beasts of pecuniary burdon from piont "a" to piont "b" and I dont gamble, further more it an over reaction, Its a horse cold, very few horses die from it, maybe the very young and the elderly, What is it that we protect ourselves, and now horses from a disease the suvriving will only make you stonger. "Thats a grim prospect for humans too"..
I now have 7 of them on my place. Was only 2 and a foal. They belong to a local drover who had the 2 here but now with the lockdownhe had to take his working horses of the stock route and put them in with the others. He had to go and by a motorbike to heard the cattle as the horses are now stuck here. Good thing that there is plenty of grass for them.
The cute thing is he is now driving around with his horse float with the bike inside it.
I've only got the one horse, and it's only a little one (I use it as a lawn mower).
But only a few K's from here is one of the richest Horse Studs in the Sthn Hemisphere (Carngham Stud). They have hundreds of thoroughbreads and they are nervous. The Horse Flu has been detected at Hamilton (not far from here).
I've only got one horse.
But totally agree with you Shawn, "Poverty is owning a horse".
I've managed to keep a bit of condition on the old boy during this drought by leading him out for green picks on the side of the road.
Not allowed anymore.
Equine Flu
It's the performance and race horses that cop it worst. The excessive coughing caused by the flu, can scar the lungs, ruining the wind and therefore finishing the careers of these very expensive beasties.
If you have a mare at least you can breed from her afterwards, but if you have spent years training an elite Eventer or Polocrosse horse that is a gelding, well........
The economic impact will be felt thru the economy I fear... presumably many deals that would have been done over the Spring Carnival will not seem so interesting in the reality of restricted cash flows.
I heard of the loss of income from one stallion..millions of lost revenue that will not be spent within the industry.
But the flow on of economic restrictions will be felt far and wide.
Add that to the prime rate loans crisis and maybe we will all need to be looking at horses as our only means of economic transport.
My simplistic view of it is, why, with all the selective breeding that happens in the thoroughbred industry, does a simple flu, knock the guts out of it, surely they could have bred stronger flu resistant horses, or is that too simple?
And why is there no contingency?, no one saw it coming and there is no rescue plan as yet, for a so called 8 billion dollar industry to be bought to its knees so easily defies logic.
just got over the flu myself. aparently it was a mix of horse flu and bird flu... they are calling it pegasus flu
badoom-tish!
Why when the bird flu is on the move do they kill every bird in the area yet the horses get only 30 days of resting up????...the chooks need better representation or to join the horse union and seek better conditions.
My simplistic view of it is, why, with all the selective breeding that happens in the thoroughbred industry, does a simple flu, knock the guts out of it, surely they could have bred stronger flu resistant horses, or is that too simple?
And why is there no contingency?, no one saw it coming and there is no rescue plan as yet, for a so called 8 billion dollar industry to be bought to its knees so easily defies logic.
It would seem that what we need is a place where any animal coming into the country gets examined and held for a suitable period so as to see if any disease is coming thru...
What we have such a thing???
mmm then maybe the question as to why we face this problem should be asked of the folk who get their pay check on the basis of doing such a job...
The simple answer is someone has stuffed up and if it were not for the legal ramifications they would no doubt say so and appologise..however they will not own up so additional finger pointing will take place...not necessary there are things in place yet they obviously have not been followed..if they were followed and this flyu beat the system then whomever set up the system needs a slap on the wrist with a sledge hammer.
alex
A bit of a side track: I mentioned above about Carngham Station, which is a Thoroughbread Horse Stud (also Merino Stud and Cattle Stud). It is only a few K's from my house.
It was recently for sale but has been withdrawn from sale, but I thought you might like to see one of the finest examples of a Period Mansion in Australia. It is still a family home and has been continuosly since 1917.
...
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
