Just Chilling.

It has never been the intention of this Blog to make comment on what's happening in the weird and wonderful industry that is the Thoroughbred Industry, rather it's a vehicle to communicate with our clients and friends on the day to day happenings with our equine residents.

However, the news coming out of the Enquiry into the Eastern Creek "Disaster" does warrent mention and the news on www.breedingandracing.com.au today is just CHILLING.

EI Inquiry 1: Grooms Signed Docs Without Reading

Retired High Court judge Ian Callinan's Inquiry into how Equine Influenza entered Australia heard yesterday how jet-lagged grooms signed documents without reading them on arrival at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station. James Carey, a senior groom who accompanied a group of stallions from Coolmore in Ireland on August 8, said flight delays meant the trip took 40 hours & all he wanted to do was settle the horses & go to bed, noting: "I recall meeting (station manager) Greg Hankins & signing papers before being given a swipe card & gate key. After a 40 or 50-hour trip from Ireland, we had problems with the flight & I was very badly jet-lagged; at that point, the best thing you want to do at that time of night is get settled as quickly as possible." Gabriel Walsh, another Coolmore groom on the same flight, said he was too tired to read what he was signing & merely flicked through the papers. One of the stallions in that shipment was Encosta De Lago, subsequently the 1st horse diagnosed with EI on August 17.

EI Inquiry 2: Eastern Creek Log Book Often Not Signed

Coolmore groom James Carey also said a log book grooms were supposed to sign every time they left & re-entered the Eastern Creek station (administered by the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service) was not always used because it could not be located. Carey explained: "The book that was supposed to be used for the grooms to sign in & out was kept in the common area of the grooms' quarter. There were 15 guys sharing the common room & the book might sometimes be near a cooking pot, then might be under 6 magazines & you might not see it for days."


EI Inquiry 3: Virus Spread From Encosta To Others

Coolmore groom James Carey also told the Callinan Inquiry that although he did not read the quarantine instructions at Eastern Creek carefully, he had spent 4 years in pre-export & post-arrival quarantine situations & knew what he should do, particularly hygiene requirements, specifically: "I always took showers before I left Eastern Creek. Our work is not the cleanest work & as a matter of general hygiene I don't wear dirty clothes when I go out." Carey told how at 7am on the morning the Coolmoore stallions had arrived at Eastern Creek, Encosta De Lago had "an elevated temperature of 38.6 degrees, a slight cough & a nasal discharge". However Carey explained he had no experience of EI in Ireland (where horses are vaccinated against the virus) & did not contemplate that was the cause of Encosta De Lago's illness. He told how, over the next few days, the horses in the immediate vicinity of Encosta De Lago also showed similar symptoms. Carey said temperatures of all horses at Eastern Creek were routinely taken twice a day & recorded in a diary, as well as in chalk on the outside of each stallion's stable door, but until the EI outbreak occurred, he saw no evidence of AQIS staff "taking interest in the temperatures recorded on the stable doors".

Just Chilling.

Once Upon A Time...

there were a plane load of horses that went unchecked:-

(An Article by Caryl Williamson)

A plane carrying five stallions from Japan to Australia did not get checked by quarantine officers in Sydney because it had come via Melbourne even though customs officers were still required to clear the passengers.

The August 8 flight also arrived in Sydney without one of the horses expected at the livestock transfer area after it was offloaded in Melbourne, the inquiry into Australia's equine influenza outbreak was told on Tuesday.

Customs officer Gianna Bucciarelli said when she went to process the passengers she asked an officer from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) if they were heading to the same plane.

"I explained to them that there were five grooms on board that had not been cleared for customs and immigration, and the AQIS officer responded that they weren't required to board that flight because it was a domestic flight from Melbourne," Bucciarelli said.

The veterinary officer in charge of the AQIS livestock transfer facility, Dr Yan Hee Song, said there were health certificates for five horses at the airport but only four arrived.
"I was told the plane had landed in Melbourne and told head office there were only four horses," Dr Yan said.

The four horses which did arrive in Sydney were Coolmore stallion Rock Of Gibraltar, Snitzel (Arrowfield Stud), Grandera (Darley Australia) and Stravinsky who is owned by Coolmore but normally stands the southern hemisphere season at New Zealand's Cambridge Stud.

Black Hawk, who stands at Eliza Park in Victoria, was the horse which remained in Melbourne.
Earlier Dr Yan said there was little control over how many people could access the international stallions when they arrived at Sydney airport.

He said his primary concern was with the offloading of the horses from the air stalls and subsequent loading onto trucks for transportation to the Eastern Creek quarantine centre and he carried out those duties in a corral area.

He said he had no knowledge what happened outside the corral and whether or not people such as the horses' owners had boarded the aircraft before coming to his area.

He said the shipping agents were aware of regulations regarding biosecurity such as wearing overalls or showering before they came in contact with other horses and he relied on them to carry out the protocols.

However, he said he did not know whether the other people in the area had touched the horses when they boarded the planes.

Tony Meagher, counsel assisting the inquiry which is being conducted by retired High Court judge Ian Callinan, showed Dr Yan documents relating to the shipment of the horses from Japan which noted discrepancies in the place of pre-export quarantine for one and the date of vaccination for another.

Dr Yan said the discrepancy regarding vaccination had been noted at the NSW office when the documentation was sent there for checking and referred to AQIS head office in Canberra.
He said that corral was hosed down after the horses left for Eastern Creek and he himself had several sets of overalls which were laundered and gumboots which were disinfected.

The first case of EI in Australia was confirmed in a stallion at Eastern Creek on August 17, the same day racing was halted in Japan due to an outbreak of the virus.

Racehorses in Japan are vaccinated against EI, minimising the damage to the racing industry which was shut down for a week while it has been three months since any metropolitan meetings have been conducted in Sydney or Brisbane.


... and the rest is HISTORY.


Helen.

Waiting..

waiting, waiting... Miss Pip (Epiphany) continues to lug her huge tummy around waiting for the arrival of her Conatus baby. Her udder has certainly started to bag up and its just a matter of days now until her life is not her own anymore for the next 6 months or so (then we have a bit of a reprieve until Bessie Merle has her pups in December).

I have to say that I will be glad when foal watch is over for the season and that sleep patterns can get back to normal.

Its been a very strange type of day here at Massie Lodge today with a few rain showers and a gloomy overcast type of day - not a summer day by any stretch of the imagination, the type of day that you just want to sit on the lounge and vege out with your favourite DVDs and comfort food.

All the mums and babes are doing well and its just a joy to be able to spend some time with them, watching the foals learning and starting to eat (without teeth!).

Tonight sees leftover Zucchini and Pea Risotto for dinner (yes, I made it, are you shocked?), a glass of wine and some time watching a movie or two on the lounge with Evan and the canines. (We are going to have to buy another lounge for Bessie if she has 9 pups .... lol Hahahaha, there is no way that we will be keeping 9 pups! She has been told 2 only - 1 liver and 1 black thanks).


Enjoy! (I know we will be!)

Helen.

Happiness Is ....

Being Wif My Mum - Of Course!

Naturally,

everything is about the babies at the moment ... and even though I have been pretty sick with this cold, it hasnt stopped me spending some time with them and watching them develop.

Miss Pip is now a few days overdue and not quite ready even at this point in time - I guess when she is ready, she will deliver her Conatus baby (um, Miss Pip, can we have another one like Jacko please?).

Joie is doing very nicely, with babyTrixie very energetic and most confident within herself. She isnt shy at all about coming up to you and is most interested in what mum is eating (although mum is NOT interested in her eating her dinner!). She really is a sweet filly and Joie's owner is very happy with their latest addition to the family.

Maddy and Daisy have been put into the hospital paddock as we are not quite happy with Daisy's front legs - still, its a better arrangement for them than being stuck in the stable.

We have moved Gossips and Jacko out of the paddock with Mads and back in with mother-to-be Pip and they are spending their days picking around the house and front paddock.

Hopefully all being well I will be back at work on Monday.

Helen

The very sweet Miss Trixie with Joie and Evan. She is just a sweetie.

The very handsome Master Jack (by Conatus) who is a cracker of a colt and one we are very proud of.

AAAAAAAAAAAh...

Is there anything worse than having a head cold? The fact that your nose is red raw from blowing, your top lip is swollen from wiping. Your eyes are runny and red - and 2 senses have up and left you and gone on holiday.

To continue, your head feels all fuzzy and you just struggle to move one leg in front of the other. Its a real glamour time for the incumbent and Evan has signed a Document of Decree that no photos of the said cold infected face will get posted onto the internet!

I am not a happy bunny about getting a cold ... and no, it's not Equine Influenza!

All the babies are doing well, with Joie becoming the most competent mother in such a short space of time. We have been letting Joie and Trixie out into the little yard for a couple of hours each day - she is going to be a grey beauty!

Meanwhile Miss Pip continues to wait for the arrival of her babe with not long to go now.

Did I mention that we will be welcoming the pitter patter of tiny canine paws late December?

Helen.

Choooooooooooooo !

Am I or Arn't I? (Part II)

IAM!

Last night at around midnight, maiden mare, Joie (Joie de Victoire) had her Portland Player filly, Trixie. As you can see, she is a lovely little filly with lots of leg to grow into.

Joie handled the birth like a pro and after a bit of a shakey start to motherhood ( "omg, what is this thing that wants to hang on to my belly?"), has settled in to be a beautiful mum.

One more left and hopefully its not tonight - Miss Pip, we would like to get a full nights sleep!
Seeing a foal born never ceases to amaze me.

The very cute Miss Trixie - only 6 hours old.

Lots of Green in the Red Zone

You dont have to be Einstein to work out where the Massie Lodge canines are headed to! And let me tell you that they all had a ball (and of course came back saturated and with lots of mud attached). Still, Iam not one to complain that we have had an additional 11mls of rain during the past day or so.

Time for the Humans to go into town this morning and recirculate into the population! First off was morning tea at the nice coffee shop in Palmerin Street with the tables on the sidewalk and the coffee that was mostly coffee and not milk! Then it was off to our most often visited haunt, AgFreighters to get Horse food. Followed by a few stops on the way home to get various bits and pieces. Not to forget that we went home via Lyndhurst Lane to check out their babies.

Warwick has just turned green. Its just amazing to think that this once brown, dusty town is now a lush green area. It just never ceases to amaze me.

As I look out the window over my computer monitor I can see Pippy and Joie grazing beautifully through the longish grass outside the study window and if I turn around I can see Maddie and Daisy out amongst their own green heaven.

The two boys, Jimmy and Kenny are picking down near the contour that is full of water still...

I think I can forgive the mud for the moment..... just!

Yesterday

I took the day off from blogging, from working on the websites (that seems to take up such a great amount of time), from taking photos and spending time with our new babies and donned my favourite Martha Stewart Apron and gave the house a go-through. You can see how rich and full my life is.... LOL ... no, sometimes you just have to stop doing the things that give you joy and just take a leap into the revolting things that have no appeal to you whatsoever - like folding and/or ironing the washing, washing the floors, doing the vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and the toilet.

I will tell you a secret - I have to fold the washing in front of the TV, otherwise I will lose interest and just let it sit there. Hands up one person who looks forward to folding the washing? (I bet there are not many hands up in the air!!). I have to be desperate to wear something before it gets ironed!

lol

Tomorrow sees the running of the Melbourne Cup and Iam avidly waiting for my PASS email to arrive to give me the low down on the runners. (I have to say that I did ask Evan about his thoughts and he said to me to wait and read the email). I guess I have followed Master O Reilly this far ... lol.

Good luck to everyone having a punt on the Melbourne Cup - I might give my Sports Bet Account a bit of a work out tomorrow!

Helen.

Daddy's boy

One of the great things about living with the horses, is actually just watching them and seeing them interact - be it a herd of dry mares, wet mares and their foals or just a group of spellers who come here to remember that they are indeed horses and not just racing machines.

I spent sometime this morning out with the mum's and their darling foals and even though they are just about a week old, they are now really testing out their mum's mothering abilities to keep the lively youngsters in line.

Take young Jack. As you will see above, he is really testing Gossy to her mothering limits already and if he is anything like his darling dad, she will be in for a fulltime job to keep this young man in line.


*sigh* would you be anywhere but the redzone? (lol)

Helen

p.s. The ballet last night was fantastic! It was really funny and those guys certainly can show up the girls - and no, I didnt fall asleep!

Men in What?

Men in Tutu's of course!

Les Ballets Grandiva's - Men In Tutus

Grandiva has been hailed by critics as “The greatest exponents of all male comedy ballet in the world today”. With $3 million in costumes, smash hit “Men In Tutus” is a show designed for male, female, young and old.

It’s the largest company of its kind in the world, with twenty (20) of the best international male ballet dancers from thirteen (13) countries. These handsome and beautiful soloists have performed with renowned ballet companys including Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets, New York Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Royal Swedish Ballet, English National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, to name a few.

Grandiva’s “Men In Tutus” is the ultimate send up of both classical and contemporary ballet. The combination of brilliant dancing technique, tongue in cheek and blatant humour with intentional foibles, dancing mishaps and of course hissy fits by men playing both male and female roles.


I am off to see this tonight at The Empire Theatre in Toowoomba (someone just piked out and flatly said "no") ... Im not normally one to sit through the Ballet, although I have to admit that I haven't been to the Ballet for fear that I might fall asleep during it (just ask Evan about what happens when we sit down to watch a movie at 8.30pm!).

I am hoping that I will enjoy this and since we're going to the early session, Im hoping that I wont embarrass myself! LOL

Helen.

Daisy and Jack

Madely Miss (Maddy) and her Portland Player filly, Daisy

Local News (Gossips) and her Conatus colt, Jack

Hmm... Can i have some while you're not looking?

Happiness Is...

having a 30 acre paddock full of the green stuff to pick and a dam full of water to drink and swim in. The dry ladies have settled well into their new paddock together, although Sweetie is feeling the crunch and missing her mate Joie as she has no muscle to back her up in the power play that took place the time the 4 ladies were put together.

Although Sweetie likes Lucy, its not the same as having Joie as her backup and she has been relegated to no. 3 in the pecking order so far with Notty (Why for Not) the leader of the group.

This is just what the doc ordered for little Lucy - a huge paddock to do some growing up in and some sensible role models in Notty and Southern (not her mother Sweetie though!).



Why for Not and Another Southern

If you lead a dog to water...

then dont expect anything else but wet and muddy canines. After another 20 mls of rain last night, it seemed only the fair thing to take the Massie Lodge canines down to inspect the dams again. Naturally, when they got sight of where I was headed - they were off!

Last one in is a rotten egg! lol

Another beautiful day here in the "red zone" ... with our paddocks revitalised enough to put the 3 dry mares and Lucy (the yearling) down into the big back paddock where there is plenty of pick and water to keep them occupied. So occupied were our girls that they didnt notice Evan feeding them this afternoon!

Being out in the big paddock with the other ladies is just what the doctor ordered for Miss Lucy who hasnt experienced such heaven - and she is most happy to be with Sweetie and Sweetie with her.

I did myself a bit of a mischief today and twisted my ankle whilst racing across one of the paddocks - ouch! Im sure it's not serious even though it is sore - nothing that a few panadols wont help.

We have some good news with PASS (Professional Analytical Selection Service). It now has its own home on the net! Watch this space for more information.

Well, time to go and put my ankle up. As you can see, young Master Jack is doing great guns.

Helen :)

"No this is big horses food - yours is at the other end"

... Mum has to be useful for something other than milk ....

a "fly tail"

Gossips Has Her Boy!

Just when we both thought that there was 64 channels of crap on the tv with nothing worth watching, Gossips (Local News) decided that she would be the main point of focus at 8.30pm last night and have her baby Conatus foal - a colt who has been named Jackie Lee (or Jacko!).

Talk about watching an old pro at work - it was certainly a much easier birth than little Daisy last week. Jacko hit the ground running and as soon as he could get up on his legs, he was off!

We always like to put the ladies with their new foals into the stables for a few days, not only to help the youngsters with their legs, but also to encourage bonding time for mum and baby.

He certainly has his mum's markings, but he is his daddy's boy - which will prove for interesting times ahead.

It certainly is a miracle and Iam always amazed every time that I see a mare give birth.

Helen.

The Night Was Dark and Stormy...

Last night started out as a normal Sunday night.... get an early dinner, feed the canines and get ready for the 8.30pm movie on cable that now runs at 7.30pm thanks to Daylight Saving, that is until Local (aka Gossy) decided that it was time to start waxing.

After we noticed that Gossy had started waxing, we decided that we would go into Foal Watching mode - I would watch until midnight or thereabouts and Evan would get up and do the rest of the night (and watch the Liverpool game while he was doing it).

Gossy was a restless camper last night ...walking into the small yard off the paddock and then going off picking with Miss Pippy. She pretty much continued this behaviour for most of the night. I didnt think that she would have her bubs last night - and thank goodness she didnt.

At around 2am Pikey man started barking as he must of heard the storm. Then the thunder and the lightning started; continuous rumbling with the sky lighting up in the most magnificent light show that Mother Nature does best.

Then the rain started.

We had around 50 mls last night of torrential downpour which was just what the doc ordered to start to fill the contours and the dams. My thoughts turned to Gossy and we hoped and prayed that she didnt decide to drop her bundle in the middle of this storm, so I kept my eye on the two mares as best I could during the storm.

Obviously, she is a lady of discerning taste and experience and decided against having her baby in the storm (thank goodness)!

After the storm at around 3.30am, Evan braved the elements to go and check on all the mares and of course Madey and Miss Daisy.

Naturally, the power went off and didnt come back on until 6.30am this morning.

After feeding up, we took the canines down to investigate the dams and to see that there was water in our dams was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

What a miracle after so long!

Helen

A Flower..

It's very unusual to see green at Massie Lodge, however, we have had some nice rain which has provided us with some pick for the horses, and some water for the house tanks. We still havent had a downpour which would fill our dams, however, we are hopeful that things will return to normal very soon with the weather patterns different from last year.

I havent written on the blog for a while, it's been very difficult for me the past 40 days - up and down like the preverbial roller coaster that was thrown to us due to the EI virus. Mixed emotions about the industry, the people who you thought were good people, only to see that they are selfish and manipulative.

It's very difficult knowing that you cant go to work and that you are now branded an outcast and an "IP" (Infected Property), it certainly did not do much for a flailing self esteem.

However, with the support of my wonderful husband Evan, the Massie Lodge canines and equines, I feel that I have come to the other side. Not to forget all our wonderful friends from all over the country who stood by us during this very difficult time. It's amazing how people "just know" that you need a cheering telephone call, or a joke email to make you smile.

Seeing Madey's little filly born without Equine Influenza has given us hope that whatever passed through our property is long gone. Let's hope people can get on with life and forget who "has" and who "hasnt".

I think in the long term, Im glad that it happened, for many reasons, but mostly for the fact that it gave me the opportunity to really see people in their true colours. Not very attractive some of them.

Maz is still with Phil at Ballina and unfortunately did not react well the vaccination and developed a cough. Poor wee boy - I'm sure that he has a sign on his forehead that says "Hit me here"!

Short Pants, who has now been named "Irish Chick" is with Maz as is Oscar (Tannerang Baluk). Shorts is doing well and seemed not to have any worries with the vaccination.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, but Iam sure whatever it is we will face it with renewed viguor and enthusiasm. Bring it on!

Helen.

Matilda, the queen of the Ute!

Unto Us

a very special filly was born at Massie Lodge on Friday morning at around 8am to our mare, Madely Miss who kept this a secret for nearly 10 months after scanning negative to Portland Player.

Madey had Friday all organised as Evan feed her her breakie at 6am, nearly jumped through the stable to get to her hay at 6.45am and then decided to leave the stable and find a nice big muddy patch after a storm on Thursday night that yielded 20mls, to have Miss Daisy.

After the human breakfast, it was my job to let girls out, put on fly veils etc etc and low and behold there was Madey sitting up after delivering Miss Daisy.

After getting Evan out of the house and down the back, we called Monika and then we decided that we needed to clean up baby and then move them back into Madey's stable by way of carrying her between us.

Daisy was premmy and was very weak and it took her sometime to get up on her feet. Evan milked Madey and then I fed bubs to make sure that she got "the elixer of life" for baby foals - colostrum.

After Monika visited and tended to Madey and then Daisy, as Daisy was still weak, it was back to milking mum and feeding bubs.

Daisy finally got up and teetered on her very long legs very unsurely, then we took her to task to get her onto mum's teats - Madey being the very experienced mum she is, never faultered and gave Daisy every opportunity to get the hang of it and finally the penny dropped.

Daisy has a long way to go but has turned the corner today.

Talk about a miracle!