Riding Tours Blog

You should see the colors! Amazing shades of gold, yellow and amber. Unfortunately this fantastic sight won’t last long. The Bitterroot Ranch had its last week of guests leave on Sunday and now it’s clean up and pack away time for another season. The horses are wormed and shoes pulled, the calves are all weaned and the cows are off to the winter pasture for another year. Wow how time flies.

As we in the office work steadily on our new 2008 Equitours brochure we are forced to reflect on yet another year that is passing by. Maybe I am in denial but it feels way too early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then bam -  its 2008 and it starts all over again!

For others in denial wishing to savor the rest of 2007, Equitours have some amazing rides for the rest of the US fall and start of winter. Our South American neighbors are just gearing up for their busy time and a trip to warm Argentina, Chile or Ecuador may just put the sparkle back in your year end. Also on offer are Belize, Costa Rica, Kenya, New Zealand and Mexico. A perfect time to plan your escape from the US.

Sarah

Debra from NSW, Australia corrected me on the fact that Australian horses have NOT in fact been vaccinated against influenza in the past as the country was free of the disease.

Debra says:

I quote from a paper ‘Nation Management Group: Equine Influenza Communique 13.9.07′
 
“Equine Influenza is an endemic in virtually all countries with significant equine industries, and vaccination is used to control the disease in those countries.  Australia (until recently) and New Zealand are the only countries with large equine populations free of the disease and therefore do not vaccinate.”
 
EI (Equine Influenza) was brought into Australia by a Japanese Thoroughbred Stallion.  It has spread to some areas of New South Wales and Queensland.
 
A zoning system for affected areas on the east coast has very recently been announced and horse movement is allowed within the Green Zones but still no movement across State borders.
 
We are very fortunate that we live in a green zone, however, every horse enthusiast is affected and virtually no horse events are being held at the moment on the east coast of Australia.
 
Some reliable sites for information are:
 NSW Department of Primary Industries
 
Australian Horse Industry Council

Thanks for your contribution Debra. Perhaps this is the price Australia pays for globalisation and opening its doors to the international racing/horse industry.  Or I wonder if something was missed in the quarantine of the horse? Have the authorities gotten slack?

Sarah

As fall starts to take hold here in the USA, it is a wonderful time to escape to parts of Europe. The crazy tourist season is winding down and there are less people visiting these areas. Equitours has some great riding vacations in October in Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain. And in the future we hope to offer more.

Roz, our Office Manager is on her way to Bulgaria tomorrow and will then proceed to Romania to scout out some new rides for Equitours. We hope she has a safe and fruitful work vacation and comes back with tales of amazing culture, great riding, wonderful food and fascinating scenery.