Gelding given clean bill of health

Isolation property owner Ray Hayes, North Coast Live Stock Health and Pest Authority district vet Keith Newby and AQIS vet Wiel Piecek with the Clydesdale being transported to Norfolk Island.

AFTER a month in isolation and a string of pre-export tests, a Clydesdale gelding will leave his Grafton home and set out for Norfolk Island today.

The horse, which has been in strict isolation at Ray Hayes’s property in Butterfactory Lane, outside Grafton, is finally ready for transportation to his new home in the Pacific Ocean.

The sizeable gelding, which stands tall at 17 hands, is being transported to work as a carriage horse for tourists visiting the island.

North Coast Livestock Health and Pest Authority district vet Keith Newby was responsible for the extensive pre-exportation preparation by taking blood samples and checking the horse for both internal and external parasites.

“He is in excellent condition,” Dr Newby said.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) vet Wiel Piecek was responsible for examining the horse after his preparation and gave him a clean bill of health.

“He really is a beautiful horse,” Dr Piecek said.

Mr Hayes explained the horse had remained at this isolation point for one month, unable to come into contact with any other livestock.

“AQIS enforces very strict stipulations on where animals set for transportation are housed,” he said. “If there are any other animals in neighbouring yards, there must be a three-metre buffer zone between the fences.

“It must be an approved facility and all precautions must be taken to ensure the health of the horse.”

The gelding was bred in Wagga Wagga and on his arrival will work as a coach horse carting tourists around the island on scenic rides.

“The carriage tours are an icon of Norfolk Island and he will be continuing the tradition,” Mr Hayes said.

“We’re only too happy to look after him here on the Clarence before he’s on his way.”

The draught horse, which is yet to be named, will begin his journey to Norfolk Island by travelling to Yamba, where he will then be moved onto a boat and launched at 6pm.

Both the truck and the boat have to be treated with disinfectant before the gelding can be transported, due to quarantine issues.

Strict procedures are also in place for anyone who comes in contact with the gelding, having to disinfect before and after being in his presence.

Mr Hayes will be travelling with the horse from Grafton to Norfolk Island, ensuring he arrives safely.

“An accredited person must travel with the animal to make sure he is healthy along the way,” he said.

Weighing in at around 850 kilograms, he is an animal of mammoth proportions.

“You wouldn’t want him standing on your foot, that’s for sure,” Mr Hayes said.