Australia: Floods claim stud horses

Weeklytimesnow.com.au

Fran Cleland | January 19, 2011

FIFTY horses at Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer's stud were drowned when floods swept through the Lockyer Valley last week.

Mr Palmer said staff had herded the horses into the barns but the barns then began filling with water, forcing staff members to climb on to the roof.

"The horses were drowning beneath them," Mr Palmer was reported as saying.

Meanwhile, fears are held for 80 Arabian endurance horses belonging to Australian endurance champion Penny Toft, at Marburg.

The horses are missing, but Penny said she was hopeful they would be found alive.

The farm produces some of the world's best endurance competition horses.

"Horses are smart, and we are hoping they have moved uphill," Penny said.

"We are still better off than others in the area. More than 40 Thoroughbreds and 29 Standardbreds have been drowned."

Penny said the biggest problem for horse owners would be the lack of feed and hay, with roads to the area impassable