NATIONAL Hunt trainer Rilly Goschen, who is based in Pulham, near Dorchester, has described the precautions her yards has had to take during the equine flu crisis.

Goschen said: “It has been worrying times for all racehorse trainers and horse owners with confirmed outbreaks of equine influenza amongst some vaccinated horses we all have to be extra vigilant and careful around our horses, as it is a highly contagious airborne virus.

“Yards considered to be high risk, were being closed (isolated) with no transportation of the horses in or out.

“This was sensible and important to ensure that the virus is contained to the minimal.

“It was a massive undertaking which was taken very seriously by all involved, authorities, vets, trainers and staff.”

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) suspended all horseracing in the UK from February 7-13 when they confirmed that racing could resume, but only with strict biosecurity controls in place.

Florian Racing as a small, independent yard has not been affected directly by this decision, they are not reliant on any shared all-weather gallops so can carry on training as usual with careful monitoring of the horses’ health.

This consists of regularly disinfecting the yard, taking the horses’ temperature and checking for signs of nasal discharge or coughing.

Rilly, who won the Foxhunter at Cheltenham on Earthmover for Paul Nicholls in 2004, has three horses in training for The Florian Racing Club.

The Florian Racing Club is holding a yard coffee morning on Saturday, March 2 and hopes it will not be impacted by the flu virus so members and supporters can still come and see the horses.

For more details on Florian Racing Club, or to visit the yard on March 2, contact 07719611301 or rilly.florianracing@gmail.com