From Down Under

Hello and welcome to the revamped Equine Oz.
With the entrance of a new year, Equine Oz has been relaunched to include more up to date editorial and photographs, plus a special archive section containing excerpts from back issues of Equine Oz and other Laurel Enterprises publications. You will notice a number of new links with equine related web sites, and we encourage visitors with a web site to contact us about establishing a reciprocal link. Our congratulations to Alf Cantrell of Five Daughter Leads who is the winner of a recent Laurel Enterprises promotion. Alf won his own page within Equine Oz, so for the next twelve months you can take a close look at his colourful range of leads and ropes. Alf is also looking for overseas distributors for his Australian made products. As the Volvo World Cup qualifying rounds come to a close, Julie Wilson and Anna Sharpley review the best and worst of the action. One of the World Cup contenders, Sharon Scott is undressed in our regular feature which reveals which products and tack the successful competitors are using. NSW Campdrafting veteran John Stanton is also undressed, but of course he chooses to leave his Akubra hat on! We also introduce Pro Ride Surfaces to the worldwideweb. Pro Ride have over 10 years experience in the design and construction of all weather outdoor training and riding facilities plus indoor riding complexes.

The value of equine massage comes under the spotlight, and a farrier/vet partnership culminates in the first Australian equine podiatry centre, located in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

Strangles is a disease all horse owners have nightmares about, and currently consideration is being made to classify strangles as an notifiable disease. Andrew Peacock recently resigned from the Australian Horse Council, paving the way for an election and a new chairman.

Finally we profile a leading equestrian centre in Victoria, run by president of the Australian Horse Riding Centres John Anker.

We hope you enjoy the new look Equine Oz and find many other interesting sites via our links.

We always appreciate feedback, suggestions or a friendly correspondence, so don't hesitate to email me at laurel@equineoz.com.au
Glenyss Rae
Editor