As fire and support agencies move towards recovery efforts in the North East, emergency relief operations have wound down in parts of the region.
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At Wangratta GOTAFE the final 14 of 39 horses that were evacuated and housed at the campus' paddocks are going home in coming days.
Equine trainer Rhonda McCallum has co-ordinated activities since the paddocks were made available on January 5 at the request of Wangaratta Council.
"Within about an hour we had the first horses arriving, and from there more continued to come in over the next 10 days," she said.
"Horses have mainly come from the North East, but we've also had a load come in from NSW.
"Owners were able to get their horses out quite early before the fire front came through .... and quite often they have gone back to fight fires.
"Now we're starting to wind down, as people have been able to return to their properties.
"Some owners still have fires swirling around them, so we're waiting to see what the conditions bring.
"They've been really anxious to get their horses home with them."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Relief centres at the Wangaratta performing arts centre and showgrounds closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and The Cube in Wodonga opened briefly on Friday night but otherwise closed officially as a relief centre on Friday at 5pm.
There are still relief centres at the Towong Shire offices at Tallangatta and at the P-12 College in Corryong.
Affected landowners will need assistance for many months to come and Agriculture Victoria has established an ongoing recovery drop-in centre for farmers in the Upper Murray.
Red meat industry development officer Nick Linden said it would aim to provide practical assistance.
"We've been through the relief, and I know some places are still under pressure, but now we are really moving into that recovery role," he said.
"This centre provides that opportunity to sit down with the producers.
"There will be people there with technical skills in the area of animal health, land health skills, and nutrition.
"There's some land health questions, in terms of water quality after rain, how burnt paddocks are going to hold together, and pasture recovery.
"The reality is some people will have to be feeding right through to the Autumn break now - we need to look at contingencies.
"It's about coming up with a personal plan for that individual farm."
The centre is open this week and throughout the weekend at the Corryong Neighbourhood Centre at 42 Hanson Street, from 10.30am to 3.30pm.
