Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

6 Horse& Hound1 August 2019

NEWSInsider

SHOWSinsistingonsix-month

equinefluvaccinationshavebeen

praisedbyexperts,whilethose

thatcancelcouldavoidthisby

takingearlieraction.

LatestfiguresfromtheAnimal

HealthTrust(AHT)on 25 July

showthenumberofconfirmed

outbreaksthisyearhadreached

213; 47 oftheminJuly.

RichardNewton,director

ofepidemiologyanddisease

surveillanceattheAHT,saidit

is “difficulttopredict”whatthe

diseasewilldoinfuture.

“Ifownerscontinuetoadhere

toveterinaryadviceandshows

insistona six-monthvaccination

policy,withpassportscheckedand

rulesenforced,wewouldhopeto

seea downturninthenumberof

outbreaksinAugust,”hesaid.

“Showsthathavetakenthe

decisiontocancel,ratherthan

allowa gatheringofunvaccinated

horses,aretobecommended.”

ButDrNewtonsaidthe

needtocancelcanbeavoidedif

organisersactonvets’adviceand

giveentrantstimetovaccinate.

“Showsthathavealready

adheredtoadviceandmadesix-

monthvaccinationmandatoryare

tobeapplauded,”hesaid.

“Itis reassuringtoseethere

is nowanincreasinggeneral

awarenessofequineflu,butthere

arestillmanymythsthatneed

tobedispelled.Itis important

tocontinuetoremindowners

toremainvigilanttotheclinical

signsofflu,toboosthorses’

vaccinations if they were given

Organiserstoldthereis noneedtocancelif theyinsiston

six-month boosters, while experts try tobustsomemyths

morethansixmonthsagoand

isolatenewarrivalsontheyard

andthosereturningfromshows.”

A spokesmanfortheAHTtold

H&Hmythsincludethebelief

thathorseswhichdonotleavethe

yarddonotneedtobevaccinated,

andthosewhothink“it’sonlyflu”,

fromwhichit takesa justcouple

ofdaystofullyrecover.Hesaidit

takes 50 to 100 daysforthelining

oftherespiratorysystemtractto

fullyrecoverfromflu,andthat

vaccinatedhorsesmaystillcarry

andpassonthevirustohorses

whodonottravel.

BishopBurtonEquineCentre,

Yorkshire, has brought in a six-

monthvaccinationrequirement.

EquinedirectorKimKnightley

toldH&H: “Weworkcloselywith

vetsandtheBritishEquestrian

Federation.Wefollowstrict

biosecurityprotocolsanyway,

aswearea bigvenueandruna

varietyofcompetitionssoit is

particularlyimportanttous.”

TheDalesPonySociety

announcedthecancellationofits

summershowon3 August.

Thisfolloweda statementin

whichthesocietysaidit wouldnot

insistonvaccination.

“Theshowhasbeencancelled

duetotheincreasingnumber

ofequineflucasesinnorthern

areasandstrongfeelingthat

unvaccinatedponiesshouldnot

attend,” a spokesman said.

ByBECKYMURRAY

Shows praised for taking

action on flu epidemic

Royal Windsor losesfive-star status

THERoyalWindsorHorseShow

haslostitsfive-starstatusnext

yearowingtoanadminerror.

TheBritishEquestrian

Federation(BEF)missed

thedeadlinetoapplyforthe

internationalfive-starcalendar

lastSeptember.

Theorganisationmadea late

submissiontotheFEIfora CSI5*

atthe 2020 show,butthiswas

rejectedbytheorganisersof

LaBauleandMadrid,whichare

alsorunningtop-levelshowson

thesamedate.

There will still be international

showjumpingatRoyalWindsor

nextyear(13-17May)asan

applicationforboththree-and

four-starclasseshasbeen

approved.

TheBEFhasalsosubmittedthe

eventforfive-starconsideration

from 2021 to2026.

“TheBEFis deeplysorryforits

errorandhasputnewprocessesin

placetoensureit willnothappen

again,”saida BEFspokesman.

Theerroris significantas

showjumpingstarratingsreflect

theamountofprizemoneyon

offer and, at five-star shows, the

entriesareheavilyweightedon

worldrankings.

Thismeansfive-starshows

attractthebestofthebestinterms

ofhorseandridercombinations

fromacrosstheworld.

RoyalWindsorfirstreceived

five-starstatusin2017.

“TheBEFboardwouldalso

liketopubliclyacknowledge

andthank[showdirector]

SimonBrooks-Wardforhis

professionalismandpragmatic

approachtofindingthebest

solutiongoingforward,” added

the spokesman.LE

IN BRIEF

TOPRIDERS’KIDS

JUMPINGTOIT

THEdaughtersofAustralian

eventerBillLevettandBritish

dressageridersGareth

andRebeccaHugheshave

representedGreatBritainina

differentdiscipline.

UrsulaLevettandRuby

Hugheswereontheteam

attheEuropeanVaulting

ChampionshipsinErmelo,

Netherlands,from24-27July.

UrsulaandRubywere

partoftheEnglishvaulting

squadonreservehorseRiver

OfThyme,lungedbySuzi

Cusick,totake10thplace.

Thesquadsaidtheyhada

“fantastic”weekandthanked

theirparents,supportersand

sponsorsfortheirhelp.

#10FORTIMRAISES

OVER£50,

HICKSTEADdirectors

presenteda chequefor

£51,894totheTimStockdale

Foundationafterthefirst

#10forTimcharityrun.

Therace,ontheSaturday

oftheRoyalInternational

HorseShow(27July)in

memoryoflateshowjumper

TimStockdale,featured

ridersPippaandWilliam

Funnell,MattSampson,

LauraKrautandHollySmith,

amongothers.

Theteams,includingone

fromH&H,rana relayrace,

witheachmemberrunning

roundtheinternationalarena.

Tim’swifeLauraandsons

JoeandMarksetupthe

foundationinTim’smemory

tosupportyoungpeople’s

sportingaspirations.

NEWEVENTING

VENUEFOR 2020

BRITISHEventing(BE)has

confirmedthatCirencester

ParkinGloucestershirewill

replacetheGatcombeHorse

Trialsspringevent.

Thevenuehasbeen

awardeda nationalfixture

inweekfourofthecalendar

from2020.AlecLochore

andMusketeerEvent

Managementwillbetheteam

behindthenewfixture,on

partoftheBathurstEstate.

ItwasannouncedinMay

thelastspringfixturehadrun

atGatcombethisyear.

BEchiefexecutive

JudeMatthewssaid:“We

aredelightedtowelcome

CirencesterParkasa new

venue for 2020.”

Ownersareurged

toconsidersix-

month boosters