Geelong horse owners on high alert following sudden deaths

Geelong horse owners are taking precautions following a series of unexplained equine deaths across Victoria, including in the Colac area.

Inge Burke with 'Strategy' an off the track thoroughbred who was retained for Polo. Inge runs the Red Gum Run Arena in Freshwater Creek. They are taking precautions because of the spate of horse deaths. Picture: Alan Barber

Geelong horse owners are taking action following a spate of sudden equine deaths across Victoria, including in the Colac area.

Agriculture Victoria confirmed as of Tuesday afternoon, there had been 13 sudden horse deaths on five separate properties since the start of the month.

The cases to date are located in southwest Victoria (two properties in the vicinity of Ballarat and Colac), southeast Melbourne (two properties in Cranbourne) and on the Mornington Peninsula.

Inge Burke is the owner of Red Gum Run Arena, which has more than 40 horses, some of which are boarders, that live across two properties in Freshwater Creek.

Ms Burke said the arena, which has offerings including agistment, polo lessons and training, had closed its gates due to the unexplained nature of the deaths.

“We are not allowing any external horses on to the property,” Ms Burke said.

“I just don’t want to take the risk.

“We run polo (several times a week) and people bring their horses to us and at the moment I’ve closed that off.”

Ms Burke’s precautions have included temporarily cancelling polo lessons for students from a local private secondary school.

“I’d rather be over cautious than sorry … it’s just so scary and devastating,” she said.

Dr Graeme Cooke, Victoria's chief veterinary officer. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Some of the reports were for sudden deaths that occurred at the start of July, but the authority had only recently been notified.

There is no clear commonality between the incidents except rapid deterioration.

Samples to date have returned negative results for infectious diseases and there is no obvious link between cases.

The state’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, said Agriculture Victoria’s investigation into a number of sudden horse deaths was continuing.

“We thank the horse owners and veterinarians who have assisted to date,” he said.

“The investigation is in its early stages, and surveillance and testing is underway to try to understand likely causes of death in these horses – however more samples being available would greatly assist the investigation.”

A CSIRO spokeswoman said its Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong was among the group of expert laboratories providing testing services.

“ACDP has been testing diagnostic samples in support of the investigation and the results are provided to Agriculture Victoria,” she said.

It’s understood the sooner any samples can be obtained from horses that might be showing a similar pattern of rapid deterioration, the better the possibility of understanding if there is any connection between incidents.

Horse owners should monitor their animals and conduct good pasture management, ensure good quality feed and water.

They must report any sudden deaths or onset of illness in their horses immediately to their local vet, Agriculture Victoria or via the emergency animal disease hotline on 1800 675 888.

Originally published as Geelong horse owners on high alert following sudden deaths