DabDab
Ah mud, splendid
Definitely if it looks like we might end up in some biological world war....Ester for President!
Definitely if it looks like we might end up in some biological world war....Ester for President!
I really dont get the attitude of some people.
Surely it makes more sense to be cautious. Better to have a couple of weeks of inconvience now than risk a major outbreak. So what if it's overkill.
It's better than the alternative.
The trouble is, where do you draw the line? There is ALWAYS a risk of infection when you take horses out and about. I am involved with a local hunt and they took veterinary advice on whether they should cancel this weekend's meet and the advice they were given by a top vet was that there was absolutely no reason why they should cancel. (This is in an area where there have been no confirmed cases). As it happened the meet was cancelled anyway, mainly due to ground conditions. But you can see the dilemma people face when the professional advice coming from both vets and the AHT that there is no need to cancel equestrian events.
I really dont get the attitude of some people.
Surely it makes more sense to be cautious. Better to have a couple of weeks of inconvience now than risk a major outbreak. So what if it's overkill.
It's better than the alternative.
Sorry that’s what’s I was saying?
Well that's the whole point of my posts really. Everyone seem to believe they occupy that sensible middle ground between overly cautious and overly risky. And then demands that everyone agrees with them and condemns people who don't. Well I also believe I occupy that middle ground - as I am sure do the vets whose advice I am following. They doubtless believe that the advice they are giving is proportionate and sensible.
Ester, people out and about are following vets advice. Not just any old vet but the vets who are tasked with advising the equine community specifically on this flu outbreak right now. I suspect they know a little bit about virology.
I wouldn’t expect professional eventers to have a background in virology so they are making those decisions based on others advice not in their own.
Sorry if I misunderstood you. I thought you were suggesting the eventers were only out as a result of ignorance of virology and therefore of risk? I was saying they may not understand the science but they are accepting guidance from people who definitely do.
One of the somerset centres was still going to be running quoting that they were following BEF guidelines. Frankly that was a bit daft and they did at least change their minds once this was pointed out to them .
I think one of the hunts was going out but also changed their minds in the end.
The trouble is the pros/experts can’t really win. If it simmers down quickly it will have been an over reaction, if it escalated they won’t have done enough.
It’s amazing how quickly I become a much more popular friend though! 😂
There are vets, and there are vets...
I come from a family packed full with doctors. They frequently disagree on things medical .
I absolutely stand by my ground that I would err on the side of caution until the situation becomes clearer, which it may well do in a week or so. So what to a day's hunting or a competition lost. Incidentally, I haven't been reading newspaper (or other) scare stories, I am making up my own mind, after considering many points of view, I am no one's puppet.
I’m sure there are plenty out there who have, but certainly all the professional riders I follow on social media are all still out competing/training/hunting etc.
Why are they seemingly ok with it but not leisure riders?
all the professional riders I follow on social media are all still out competing/training/hunting etc
Because it's their livelihood? The same can be said for the racing industry of course, although I think racehorses move about more frequently.
For me I'll be erring on the side of caution, a little bit of short term pain is far preferable to the potential calamity of a full blown equine 'flu outbreak.
There seems to me to be a disconnect between what is actually going on out in the real world, which is largely Business As Usual and the mood of social media. The virtual world seems overwhelmingly pro much tighter restrictions on horse movements. But out in real life, there were very few withdrawals at NSEA and there was a full turnout at pony club today. And my FB feed and insta account are as full of people out having adventures as it usually is. Given that the official advice is that it is 'not necessary' to cancel events, that does not at all surprise me. I can't see why still being out is controversial really. I can see why people may choose not to be but I can't fathom the inability to see that following the published advice is a reasonable choice even if it is not the one you would choose.
I am not trying to tell anyone they are over-reacting and should crack on. But plenty of people are telling those who are following advice that they are under-reacting.
But then wouldn’t they be even more concerned, as for one of their horses to pick up flu could be disasterous in terms of income etc?
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