ACCORDING to the calendar, last Thursday was officially the first day of spring, but as far as the horseracing industry was concerned it simply marked the end of a winter of discontent.

The trouble is, the agony seems far from over. To put matters totally into perspective, over 100 fixtures had already been lost due to the horrendously wet weather, even before the dreaded foot-and-mouth epidemic struck a couple of weeks ago.

Although racing resumes, albeit in a much restricted format at Lingfield today, opinion within the training ranks remains sharply divided as to whether it is the appropriate course of action.

One man with a foot in both camps, so to speak, is the veteran farmer-trainer Mick Easterby, based at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire. With 300 head of prime cattle he stands to lose plenty should the disease rampage its way in his direction.

But he is still vehement in his opposition to the shutdown of racing.

Speaking at last Wednesday's Catterick jump meeting immediately prior to the seven-day suspension, he told me: "We've had people out walking on our land, leaving gates open and the likes. Why should we stop when others are allowed to carry on?"

Since then public access to the countryside has been virtually outlawed. However, Easterby has not changed his view, saying in yesterday's Racing Post: "I'm certain racing would pose next-to-no threat to farming provided the proper precautions are in place, so let's take notice of what the experts say and get on with the job."

The expert advice he is referring to hails from the lips of the Jockey Club chief veterinary adviser Peter Webbon, responsible for the issuing of strict guidelines concerning the process of disinfecting footwear, horses, plus the wheels and chassis of horse boxes transporting livestock across the country.

On his advice and that of MAFF, racing's controlling body, the BHB, have given the green light for meetings outside the declared exclusion zones to take place.

That said, many trainers are still unhappy about the possible transmission of the disease and are also fully aware of the potentially hostile reaction of local farmers, many of whom have yet to recover from the devastating effects of BSE.

Standing firmly in the "no" lobby is West Witton handler Ferdy Murphy, currently flying high in the trainers' table and with more reason than most to carry on with his horses in such tremendous form.

"We're slap bang in the middle of a rural farming community. I'd never forgive myself if I brought foot-and-mouth back on one of the horses or wagons," he said.

In stark contrast to the reaction of the British authorities, both the Irish, where racing has been indefinitely suspended, and the French, have banned the transport of horses.

Apart from the fact it has ripped the heart out of the Cheltenham Festival, it also begs the question: Who's right and who's wrong?

Like most of us, I'm relying on the scientists to come up with the correct answer, but what can you say when they can't agree among themselves?

Whatever the outcome there'll be no winners and plenty of losers from the current crisis. The strong will always survive, however the knock-on effects might ultimately prove all too much for some of our region's already beleaguered smaller National Hunt trainers