Tuesday a representative of Kentucky Equine Research came out to speak to the students regarding nutrition, particularly that of the pregnant mare, weanlings and yearlings.  She presented a well put together power point presentation and capably answered queries, despite having only just gotten back into the country after helping out with the Australian horses at the Beijing Olympics.

KER is well known to the Thoroughbred Industry and I’ve been introduced to their services through my studies at TAFE, the Irish National Stud and while working on Thoroughbred Studs.

It’s not uncommon for the larger studs to employ a nutritionist or two to assess their current feeding methods and suggest appropriate changes to get the best out of these born athletes.

At the end of the session, the staff member recommended that for those interested in pursuing nutrition (and why not – having knowledge in this area can put you streets ahead of others), work experience would be the way to go.

This was the point where my attention was wholly grabbed, and it seemed to be the case for a few of the students too.  Here is an internationally recognised company that is happy to take on people – not just students – and teach them about the nutrition industry, giving them a foot in the door.

Some facts:
– KER is internationally recognised, being set up in North America, Australia and other places internationally.
– The last 5 people employed at KER in Australia had previously done work experience with KER.
– The end of the breeding season (around December each year) is an opportune time to do a few weeks work experience in which you will learn about the products and marketing them, dealing with clients nutritional queries over the phone and going out on the road with KER staff to assess particular stud’s feeding regimes and potential adjustments.

Be sure to check out the KER website if this appeals at all.

“Bread may feed my body, but my horse feeds my soul.”

tag: equine management, equine nutrition, horse studies, equine growth, horse diet

The bookie or bookmaker is a large part of what helps to make the racing industry. As much as there is the thrill of watching a 5oo or so kilogram animal in it’s prime race against countless others to see who can first cross the finish line, the thrill of being able to pick the winning horse or jockey and potentially win money on account of it also adds to the thrill.

Having different bookmakers can allow the punter to seek out the best chances of a return for their money invested. Obtaining a bookmakers’ licence is described on the Victorian Bookmakers site as “one of the hardest tasks in the racing industry.”

That’s not stopped them however from providing a page regarding a career in the bookmaking industry. There is also an employment page and information regarding applying for a licence.

“Prospective Bookmakers must be approved by the Victorian Government (The Bookmakers and Bookmakers’ Clerks Registration Committee), licensed by the Racing Industry and guaranteed by the Victorian Bookmakers’ Association Limited under Government legislation. Each of these authorities carefully examine each applicant’s character, experience and financial status.”

Currently three female Bookmakers are registered in Victoria, Australia. Bookmakers can cover gallops, harness and greyhound racing and other sports.

Some bookmaking related sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmaking
Registering as a bookmaker or bookmaker’s clerk
A list of Australian Bookmakers
Skills required to be a bookmaker and occupational information
http://www.ckbookmaker.com/
http://www.stanjames.com/?dt=1219454139

“Horse sense – something that horses have that stops them betting on humans.”

tag: bookmaker, horse betting, racing industry, trotters, pacers, gallops

I was having a chat with some students at TAFE today about the recent studs they’d been to visit as part of their course. It was pointed out (and amazed students) that one of the studs made all that they needed to cover the costs of employment of staff, maintenance of the property and care of horses in their stallion fees alone. The rest was profit.

On the Thoroughbred studs I’ve worked on, the main funds do indeed come from stallions and / or the cost of agistment / livery.

As the owner of a gelding that I ride on a weekly basis, I am thankful but surprised to find that it can cost me as little as $50 / month to pay to keep him on someone else’s property and this can include having access to jumps, large paddocks to ride in and an arena.

What you want in a paddock – plenty of grazing, strong, visible fencing and established trees.

He is currently in an area where it costs around $50 / week for the same facilities – thankfully I am able to work a few hours a week at this place rather than have to pay to keep him there. However, both of these fees are at a lower rate that one would expect to pay to enable their racehorse to have a spell between racing preps or a broodmare or yearling that is being housed on a stud.

My aim is to have around 150 acres where I can agist and rotate 50 horses over this amount of land. Of course, the 50 horses will be owned by other people paying to keep their equine/s on the property.

I am considering based on good grazing and fencing and some appealing facilities for horse riders (arena, jumps, round yard) to be able to feasibly charge $60 / month. For a year with 50 horses, this would total to an agistment income of $36,000.

Another paddock offering the shade of an established tree and a strong water source.

It isn’t unusual for a trainer to be paying around $20 / day for the agistment of a racehorse spelling between racing preps. Now arguably because this is for a couple of months, allowing the horse to recuperate before continuing to race, you would need a bigger client base to keep your paddocks with paying customers all year round.

However, it would be possible to have a smaller property, say 40 acres with 15 yards and to keep these yards full at $20 / day. Keeping 15 spellers on the property all year round (perhaps based on having a client base of between 60-100 horses) at a rate of $20 / day would bring in an annual income of $109,500.

Obviously it depends on where your interest lies, but for either form of agistment, there would need to be maintenance of fencing, pastures, a decent feed regime set up as well as the provision of roughage and perhaps the putting on and off of rugs.

Arguably with 15 spellers to look after, it would be possible for one staff member to deal with the daily feeding, checking and rugging – currently I work on a property and am in charge of 30 horses during the day and have previously been on a stud with one or two other staff and been in charge of 200 horses between us. 15 to look after in a day isn’t asking too much of one worker but with an income of over $100,000 it would be possible as the owner/manager to consider the part time or full time employment of two staff.

Whatever discipline you prefer, it’s worth considering what other places are charging for agistment and what services they offer as part of the package. As a riding property, as soon as you provide facilities like an arena and an area for trails or jumping, you can look at increasing your fee and allowing access to these facilities.

As a spelling property, perhaps a round yard and a walker are needed to be able to lightly exercise the young racehorses. Private paddocks will also cost more in fencing whereas with a riding agistment property, communal paddocks may be the way to go to spend less on fencing but still earn a decent amount due to more horses being paddocked together on a larger size of land.

If your passion is with caring for horses – whether they be yours or someone else’s – and you have the land to establish such a set up, perhaps spelling or agisting is the way to go.

“Closeness, friendship, affection: keeping your own horse means all these things – Bertrand Leclair”

tag: spelling, agistment, maintenance, fencing, horseriding, property management, trail riding, life with horses, pasture management