2009 Trainee Views

March, Kentucky 2010

March has finally brought blue skies and sunshine to Kentucky, along with the blue grass that’s starting to fill the pastures. Everyone has settled into their practical work rotations, as our days have noticeably lengthened with the early mornings and late evenings filled with interesting lectures and visits. The group has had the pleasure of taking part in a pasture walk and talk with Roger Allman, discussing pasture management and the grasses of Central Kentucky. During our walk through the pasture he pointed out the various types of grasses, legumes, and plants to us as well as explaining a little bit about each one. This gave us the chance to put a visual picture to the information we learned from him in our previous lecture.

We have benefited from lectures by Dr. Randy Purvis, Dr. Rhonda Rathgeber, and Dr. Kristina Lu on topics ranging from acupuncture on horses to maximizing reproductive efficiency in thoroughbred mares. But if the speakers weren’t coming to us, we were going to them. For example, Dr. Larry Bramlage graciously took time from his busy schedule to discuss and perform lameness examinations at Rood & Riddle Equine Clinic, while visits to Claiborne, Adena Springs, Shadwell Farm, Vinery Stud, WinStar, Three Chimneys, and the Kentucky Horse Park has left everyone amazed at what Central Kentucky has to offer.

We’ve also been attending the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club monthly meetings, which have been great for allowing the group to socialize with a large part of the Central Kentucky thoroughbred industry. The topics at the meetings continuously raise our interest in the happenings within the industry, while the good food provided has yet to keep us from going back for seconds.

In the last couple of weeks the course has begun to slow down, just slightly. This has been nice because it has allowed the group to really experience life in Central Kentucky more. We are all still enjoying our morning practical training rotations at the various Darley operations. They have been very beneficial because we are getting the opportunity to work in so many different areas of the industry in such a short period of time. The group members keep talking about working with stallions at Jonabell and how much they are enjoying working in the “shed” with horses of such high quality.

On top of our morning rotations, our afternoon lectures have continued to be interesting. Our legal module, in particular, has been an eye opening experience. It’s amazing how much work is involved in areas such as horse transactions, property transactions, and Lien issues regarding horse transactions. I think we would have all been lost in the real world without the exposure to these aspects of the industry.
We were fortunate enough to have Mimi Porter come and speak to us on the application of equine physical therapy. This presentation gave us a different perspective on injury treatment and better understanding on how the equine body responds to these treatments.

With the weather warming up, Derby fever has begun to settle in and the group has been anxiously counting the days while watching the various Derby preps on TV. Keeneland is starting to breathe life again with the meet just around the corner as well as the Keeneland two-year-old sale. The backside is filling up with constant movement of horse vans in and out of the gates over the past several days. The group is eager to finally experience some top tier American racing and learn more about the breeze-up sales. The next month and a half are sure going to be very exciting for us all!

Mike Wilson and John B. Jessie

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