The equine influenza outbreak forced the cancellation of all horse events at the show including pony club, polo matches and harness racing.

Canowindra Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Association president Col Tangye said the show society planned replacement events to attract the crowds, replacing the Friday night trots with motorcycle racing.

“I thought there would be a fairly great impact on the show, but Friday night was up through the gates and we’ve had a lot of people here on Saturday,” he said.

“It’s affecting the youth a lot. The pony club is very strong and we usually have an all day pony club event on Friday. We would have had five races in the trots on Friday night.”

Mr Tangye said the equine influenza outbreak seemed to be the talk of the show, with many people wanting to know when it would be over.

He said the show society had not yet considered seeking financial compensation, as the Parkes show society has indicated it will do after its show was cancelled.

“If it’s on offer we’ll take it, but until we’ve looked at our end figures we don’t know how we’ve gone,” he said.

Events involving other four-legged animals went well this year, including the annual dog show, which attracted almost 350 entries.

Mr Tangye said sheep numbers were fantastic, the poultry shed was full and there had also been an increase in entries for cattle sections.

Even entries in the Miss Showgirl competition were up with ten girls competing for the title that was won by Kinross Wolaroi student Ingrid O’Ryan.