Victorian studs remain on high alert as more rain predicted
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National and state breeding bodies join forces to help impacted farms in Goulburn Valley region
Victoria’s thoroughbred breeders caught in potentially the worst floods in the state’s history are bracing for a second wave of heavy rain later this week and have been urged to use the coming days to move stock and prepare for the likely weather event.
The state’s floods have already turned deadly, with a man in his 70s drowning at Rochester and livestock killed, and Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria’s Kellie Cook warned farms to heed the message from authorities about preparing for up to 100 millimetres of rain, which is predicted to fall from Thursday.
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia chief executive Tom Reilly joined the organisation’s Maddy Tims on the ground yesterday, to help coordinate the ongoing movement of horses and rescue efforts at stud farms throughout the Goulburn Valley, large parts of which are severely flood affected.
Tims made the dash from Sydney to Victoria on Friday morning, immediately travelling to Yulong Stud at Mangalore where a major rescue effort was under way.
Noorilim Park at Arcadia was forced to undertake a similar rescue effort on Saturday, taking upwards of 100 horses to higher ground. Stud manager Chris Kent and co-owner Glen Carrick are hoping to move the remaining horses on the farm away from danger in the coming days, ahead of the expected worsening flood conditions. Sadly, two foals died in the flooding at Yulong on Friday.
Reilly revealed TBA and TBV had compiled a master document detailing all affected farms and their respective needs, horse numbers, and their plans for the coming days.
He and Tims spent much of yesterday visiting breeders across large parts of the Goulburn Valley and North East to see the impact of the floods first hand while also delivering care packages containing food and water.
“There is significant rain forecast later this week, so we’re getting prepared and making sure we have an idea of what people are thinking ahead of time and also one of those things we’ve asked farms today is, ‘are you in a position to take other horses on if need be?’ So we have an idea where horses could be moved to as well,” Reilly said last night.
TBV’s Cook fielded upwards of 300 calls on Saturday alone from impacted stud masters and people wanting to assist in rescue efforts or provide dry land for horses.
“We’re doing everything we can to help, but there’s only so much we can do if roads become blocked and people can’t get in or out safely, then there’s nothing we can do,” Cook said yesterday.
“They need to make that right decision.”
Residents of Shepparton, Mooroopna, Murchison, Orrvale and Kialla West, in the heart of the flood-ravaged region, were told early yesterday that it was too late to leave as the burst Goulburn River continued to rise and water spread, inundating more than 8,000 homes.
Victoria’s State Emergency Service forecasts the Goulburn River at Shepparton to peak at 12.2 metres at 4am this morning, a higher mark than the record floods of 1974 which hit 12.09 metres.
With power supplies cut to some farms, ensuring livestock, including horses, have fodder and fresh water is also a growing concern.
The Rowsthorn family’s 1,000-acre Morningside farm and the neighbouring Kulani Park at Nagambie, 46 kilometres south of Shepparton, were both severely flooded on Friday with the breeders working together to ensure the safety of their animals and each other.
Water began to recede early yesterday, a relief for Will Rowsthorn and his brother Tom who have both remained at Morningside to care for the livestock.
“The river’s probably 600 metres wide where we are now and it’s about 20 metres from the main homestead on the farm here now and about ten centimetres from going into my place. It’s literally at the top step of the deck and the house is slightly raised, but it’s about to go in. It’s frightening,” Will Rowsthorn told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“We had a pretty busy Friday. Tom and I both had wet suits on and we were swimming dry mares from one side of the paddock to the other to get them up to higher ground. It happened so much quicker than we ever thought it could.
“We got all the horses to safety and when we realised it was going to continue to come up, we got my wife and child off the farm, they’ve gone to Melbourne to get away from it all. It’s us and the staff looking after it and, at the moment, we’re fine.”
“We got all the horses to safety and when we realised it was going to continue to come up, we got my wife and child off the farm, they’ve gone to Melbourne to get away from it all. It’s us and the staff looking after it and, at the moment, we’re fine.”
Rowsthorn plans to ride out the floods by remaining on the farm and has the option of moving horses again to even higher ground to escape the water if the rain arrives.
“Today, we’ve lost power for our pump down on the river, so we’ve got some water trailers and we’re picking (fresh) water up from the neighbouring farm, so we’re keeping the stock hydrated that way,” he said.
“Fortunately, the number of horses we have this year is a lot less than what we had last year, just with the downsizing of our business. We’ve managed to get everything to safety, which is the main thing.”
What farms such as Morningside, Kulani Park and Yulong experienced on Friday was what Noorilim Park and other farms closer to Shepparton experienced 24 hours later, as the mountain of water continues to move.
“Kulani is right next to us and we’re sharing feeds and helping each other out with the water and everything. You couldn’t really prepare any more,” Rowsthorn said.
“The only thing now is – and it’s probably gone down ten centimetres since midnight [to about 3pm yesterday] – it looks like it’s going to rain pretty heavily later in the week and this water is going to be sitting here, so it could rise up pretty quickly again.”
Rowsthorn has offered to help any other farmers in the district if they require help.
“We managed to drag our truck through with the tractor and get it up to higher ground,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be driving the truck through the water that’s there now, but with the tractor we got it to the roadside of the water, so we can help others if need be.”
Major Victorian racing stables Lindsay Park and Ciaron Maher Racing were among those industry businesses offering support, as was trainer Tabilk-based Saab Hasan, all using their trucks to transport huge numbers of horses away from danger.
Auction house Inglis’ Oaklands Junction complex, on the outskirts of Melbourne, with the capacity to house 800 horses, has also been offered as a temporary solution.
Inglis’ Victorian bloodstock manager James Price and the company’s Melbourne-based bloodstock consultants Will Stott and Brittany Hussey were among those who assisted at Yulong on Friday.
“By the time we got there, a lot of the evacuation efforts of those horses had been achieved, so it was holding horses for vets that had been injured by fences, and feeding and watering horses and helping a hand wherever possible,” Price said yesterday.
“We are not housing any horses at the moment (at Inglis), but we have opened our doors to anyone who needs it. They just need to make contact with me and we can bed down a box.”
Swettenham Stud, which is close to Yulong Stud and Seymour Park, was flood affected, but reported yesterday that the stallions, including Toronado (High Chaparral) and Rubick (Encosta De Lago), were still covering.
The Nagambie operation, owned by Adam Sangster, has also promised to care for mares visiting its stallions if they are unable to return to their normal farm of residence.
Stud Staff Support Line available
TBA’s Tom Reilly has reiterated the mental impact of the floods on people and urged stud managers and owners to ensure the wellbeing of themselves and their staff by utilising the free Stud Staff Support Line counselling service.
Under the guidance of TBA, a specific trauma counselling service has been made available with trained staff able to conduct sessions online or over the phone or on-farm visits can also be organised through the breeders’ body.
“People have been working so hard, everyone’s been going flatstrap for days on end. People have been doing it without much sleep and there’ll be a point where everyone will collapse physically and emotionally that’s going to be a challenge as well,” Reilly said.
To access the Stud Staff Support Line, call 1300 822 935.