Hard Slog To Get Back On Track

Newcastle Herald

Friday February 15, 2008

GR

NSW has been given the all clear on equine influenza but Hunter horse people believe their lives will never be the same again.

"It has been a long, slow process and hard work," Newcastle trainer Alan Scorse said yesterday, as he prepared for races at Broadmeadow tomorrow.

"You were fighting something that was not visible and it was unknown until it was too late," he said.

The Hunter's thoroughbred industry was hit hard because the outbreak happened just as the breeding season opened.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia president John Messara urged that horses continue to be vaccinated against the disease.

Most of NSW has been declared a white zone, which means no restrictions imposed on the movement of horses or livestock.

The purple zone, which covers the Hunter, allows movement within the zone, however, if owners want to move animals outside the zone they have to apply for a permit.

A red zone, where all movement is restricted, remains in a small area south of Camden, on Sydney's south-western outskirts.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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