OCTOBER 2007 NEWS REPORT

The most amazing thing happened this month – Morya, Conor and I got the chance to have 4 days holiday on the Gold Coast.  And yes it happened again.  On our first day there, Morya had to jump in the pool fully clothed to rescue Conor who got worried that the water was too deep. This happened on our last interstate holiday in WA two years ago.

Day two and we headed off to Sea World. This was fantastic, particularly the dolphin show which was brilliant. Next day we went to Australia Zoo which was Conor’s big wish. It took forever to get there suck in traffic jams both ways but was certainly worth it.  On our last day we caught up with Morya’s brother Carl who now lives in Brisbane.  Conor however, was not too keen on the mess in the house whilst Carl is working on renovations. We arrived at the airport well within time to find out our flight has been delayed. Eventually we get on board and there is an announcement that the aircraft cannot take off until the storm passes and ground crew can return to the tarmac.  We eventually got home to Adelaide – just before the 11.00pm curfew.  All in all it was a great break and gave us time together as a family. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Meanwhile,  all the horses at home are going well.  Traktion (Rocky) now has good flying changes,  Heart of England (Hearty) looks very impressive as a jumper, CP Galaxy (Will) is going great and Charlie is starting to look like an educated horse. We have been using Octavious for a few jumping lessons with Annabel Fairweather on board which has gone very well. He is now a very reliable horse on the flat and jumping. CP Gambrinus has gone home to Mt Gambier for a rest, and Serena is also at John Phillips’ awaiting some common sense from the Victorian DPI to allow chilled semen into the State. John’s mare Smerela will foal soon and our Trak mare Jazz is awaiting semen too.

Nadege got the chance to have a week’s holiday and Stephen’s parents came to visit him.  Stephen’s riding has improved greatly and he has been working hard with his horses’ education – and they look fantastic too! Stephen is just chomping at the bit to get to a show.

We attended a meeting held in Gawler regarding EI with PIRSA representative Neil Buchannan and Horse SA’s Julie Fiedler. It was an interesting meeting to say the least with a lot of talk after relating to Julie’s lack of knowledge and facts relating to various horse registration and membership systems. She also made incorrect statements such as event “organisers” are responsible for costs associated with people caught in a “lock-down” – which is totally incorrect. It concerned us all that she has been working closely with PIRSA representing all horse/equestrian groups, and in my opinion, the only thing she has been good at is creating panic with incorrect statements that strike fear into volunteer associations. 

 Horse SA,  EFA-SA Branch and Pony Club SA have all recommended no activities in South Australia – yet the EFA National say all EI Free States are operating normal activities. Even “green” zones in NSW and Qld are about to resume normal activities. Meanwhile in SA, all horse businesses are really struggling. We are also faced with International clients looking for horses in the US and Europe (even though the rest of the world lives with EI).

No horse in SA has E.I.  Therefore, the only way EI could get here is if a PERSON had contact with an infected property in New South Wales or Queensland and did not follow the bio-security measures before visiting SA.

The trip to Hong Kong went well with a very busy schedule – including one day with 16 lessons! It was great to catch up with old friends Bee, Mel, Rebecca, Annie, Kevin, John Lo and many more.  We had an afternoon at Lo Wu which is moving into brand new premises and Pipa has done a great job here with a number of talented youngsters coming through.  It was great to spend time with Nick Rodgers again and have a couple of sessions with Jennifer Lee.  It was really nice to Gina too, even though briefly.

Then I was off to Singapore where Pedja and Gena (expecting a baby soon) are hosting me this time.  Julie Burridge and Robert Emmit have gone very well, as has Phillipa Cooney and Desire. Pedja and Sarah are also going great – in fact it is all going very well there. Great to Sandra Lim back at work.  Sue Freeman and Phillip are new students for me and Kirsten overcame a big hurdle!.  Thanks to PK Meddapa who gave a great presentation to the coaches which I hope to follow up on. Tirtha’s new horse Kittywaike arrived at the NEC whilst I was in Singapore. 
Hopefully she will be able to have a trip to Adelaide to ride her real soon. Emily’s Princess (Guinevere) gave everyone a scare with colic, but thankfully started to recover just before I left. 
Shortly after arriving home Sara Bowman’s dressage horse arrived for some work.  Dean Johnson also arrived with Allanah’s horse also for some work. Nick and Holly are back in Adelaide and their horse Cobra will be heading home to have a short break ready for Nick to jump on ready for the shows in the New Year. Nick Roger’s two new horses (Trax and Deep Creek) also arrived from Victoria.

At the request of Singapore Zoo, I met with Rob Rahaley from PIRSA who was most helpful and agreed to write a letter to the Singapore authorities supporting the import of the ponies purchased from SA.  He was also quite supportive of us continuing to allow shows and clinics to run out our place using the PIRSA guidelines already in place. It appears EI has been kept under control in Queensland and NSW and he indicated that restrictions in SA may be relaxed further next month allowing more activity.  That can’t come soon enough!

For previous monthly reports please click on “News” from the main menu above.