Hallam Valley Pony Club members were unable to ride their horses on the weekend.
By Callan Date
THE Hallam Valley Pony Club was full of long faces of a different kind last Sunday after its Annual Show was cancelled amid the equine influenza scare.
More than 150 horses and ponies were to descend on the Narre Warren North property for the club’s major event of the year.
However, the day was a hoof free zone due to the nationwide ban on any horse travelling from their stable or paddock.
Amid the confusion of the horse standstill, several club members still brought their animals to the event on Sunday morning but were not allowed to unload them out of their floats.
Club president Terry Ryan said all the scheduled activities for the day, including dressage, presentation and riding events, had to be cancelled.
He said the club hoped to reschedule the show in the coming weeks if the horse ban was lifted.
“It is our major fundraiser for the year. We didn’t call the show off until about 4.30pm on Saturday when we got the official word through,” he said.
“If we can’t get it to run in the next few weeks it is likely that it might have to be postponed for some time.”
Mr Ryan said the show was scheduled to help members prepare their horses for Royal Melbourne Show horse events in September.
The timing is now in disarray.
“When it was blatantly obvious that we were going to be unable to run the show we started calling all our members to let them know not to bring their horses.”
But while there were some disappointed people, the club still did its best to make a fun day of the event.
“We invited all our members to come down and have a barbecue lunch and made a real family fun day of it.
“We had sack races and other fun games that the children took part in,” he said.
The Victorian ban on horse transportation is expected to be lifted tomorrow (Friday).
South East Victorian Equine Network (SEVEN) secretary Gayle Dorning said it was important people with horses did not underestimate the gravity of the situation.
“People cannot take horses off their property, not in floats, not walking it across the road, not riding out on the road,” Ms Dorning said.
Anyone wanting more information on equine influenza can call a specially established hotline – 1800 678 779.
