Student Blog from Peter Leavy (Ireland) and Áine O’Rourke (USA)

Peter

This week I began working in the stallion yard and with the yearlings out on the farm. The daily routine of preparing mares for covering and assisting in the shed has been an informative and enjoyable experience.

On Tuesday we were very fortunate to be given the opportunity to travel down to Bansha House Stables and meet Con & Amy Marnane. The facilities and the roll of honour of graduates that Con and his team have built over the years is admirable. It was great to see some of the future stars that he has assembled for the upcoming breeze up season, how he goes about preparing them for their future careers on the track and the level of attention and detail that is involved, there were definitely a few high-class performers on show as they went through their daily exercise routine. We as a group were very appreciative to Con and Amy for their hospitality and for what was an informative and entertaining trip.

As the week progressed the stallions were busy and it was great to meet the breeders that were bringing their mares to visit the stallions. Lucky Vega’s first runners winning and performing at Group level already and Nando Parrado having his first winner so early has created much excitement around the farm this week. It was also good to see how well Shouldvebeenaring has taken to his new career and to see the support he is getting.

 

Áine

My week began at Sun Chariot, the foaling unit of the Irish National Stud. We had a busy St. Patrick’s Day bank holiday weekend there with 10 foals in total. A day in Sun Chariot involves turning out all the pregnant mares into the paddocks, followed by shaking up the stalls, then giving hay and feed. We strip every stall after a foaling and power wash, disinfect, and bed it back down with straw so it is ready for the next mare to foal. The vet comes then and performs a physical exam on all newborn foals from the night prior. One of the most important parts of the veterinarian’s check is the IgG test, or the immunoglobulin test. This will tell us if the foal received enough immune support from the mare’s colostrum. In cases where the foal does not pass the IgG test, an intravenous plasma transfusion can be given to quickly increase immunoglobulin levels in the foal’s blood, therefore increasing the foal’s immunity to disease and infection. I was able to watch and assist in giving a plasma to one of the foals in Sun Chariot.

After the bank holiday weekend, my week continued in Murphy’s yard. This yard contains all the mares that are not quite close to foaling yet. Most of the mares left at Murphy’s are not due to foal until April, May, and even as late as June. When these mares display signs that they are close to foaling, or approach their due date, they will be moved to Sun Chariot, the foaling unit. It is quite cool to work with the mares in Murphy’s and then in the weeks following, see them foal out in Sun Chariot.

Over the weekend I got to work at Blandford yard with the mares and foals. These foals are a bit older, so they are turned out into paddocks during the daytime and brought in at night. One of my favourite aspects of the course is rotating through the different yards because you learn and see a lot by being in different parts of the stud. All in all, I got to work in a great variation of yards this week which makes every day look a bit different.

As far as lectures in the evenings, we heard from Dr. Kevin Corley and Martin Leahy. Dr. Corley discussed causes of pregnancy loss. By learning about the likely causes of mares losing their pregnancies, us students can understand farm management strategies that would prevent this from happening. Additionally, this week, half of the students got to tour Bansha House Stables, and the other half will go next Tuesday, so I have that to look forward to this week. As we approach the halfway mark of the course, time is absolutely flying by, and I can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store

Share