It’s the seminar to end all breeding seminars - and it’s on this Friday night, the 8th of October, in Cavan Equestrian Centre at 8pm SHARP.

In attendance will be 4 top stallions:

Rakish Paddy - RID & Grade A Showjumper , owned by NEHB long-standing Member, Sally Begg

Aldato - European Showjumping Gold Medallist, on lease to the Equiova Project

Tabragh - Connemara Pony, standing in Clones with the Vance family

Lim - 4yo TB standing at Ard Cherrymount Stud with Richard & Heather Wright.

The first three of these stallions will be accompanied by mares which have been bred to them, and the result of that mating . Rakish Paddy, whose performance record has yet to be matched by another Irish Draught stallion, is producing useful, good looking stock, and is surely one of the best Irish Draughts about today.

Lim, Ard Cherrymount’s Thoroughbred, is new to Ireland this year. He was Champion 2 year old in Poland, and is now out eventing, so keep an eye out over the next few months for his progress.

I had the privelege of seeing Aldato in Enniskillen during the summer, and fell instantly in love - he represents all that was good in Irish horses before we sold our best abroad.

Tabragh is making a name for himself as a producer of even tempered stock with a jump. I have to admit I’ve a soft spot for well mannered Connemara’s - ever since I came across a 16.2h dun purebred Connemara in the heart of Germany, which was bred in Bavaria in response to the demand for well mannered, clever, good looking riding horses in that country. (That sort of begs the question, so why aren’t we doing it here?)

Top show judge George Chapman and Lynne Williams, top judge of performance horses and our ridden judge for the MOT Scheme, will comment on the parents and their offspring., and maybe offer a few suggestions as to future pairings.

This is a unique opportunity to learn in one evening what could take years breeding to understand, and every serious breeder of top quality horses should make it their business to attend.

The Annual General Meeting of the North Eastern Horse Breeders Ltd will take place on Tuesday 16th November in Cunningham’s Loft in Carrickmacross at 8.30pm.

The Agenda will be as follows:
1. Minutes of last AGM
2. Matters Arising
3. Chairman’s Report
4. Secretary’s Report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Sub-Committees’ Reports
7. Appointment of Directors
8. Election of Officers & Committee
9. Appointment of Auditors
Break for tea
10. Programme for 2000
11. Any Other Business

Show you care - please be there.

A couple of people recently have been ringing me looking for names of farriers in the area. Here are a few names & numbers. It’s by no means exhaustive, and if you know of anyone else please tell me, and I’ll try to put together a map showing what farriers visit what areas.

Harry Eastwood 0801 648 764749
Shane Cullen 0801 868 784406
Francie McFadden 047 54512
Michael McAteer 046 21637
Ryan Lambe 0801 868 767391
Brian Doyle 0801 861 538066

Horse Veterinarians
Gerrard O Gorman 047 51037
David Mc Cann 088 2593098
David Mc Guinness 042 9339648
Andrew Oliver 0801 861 569880
Bruce Steele 0801 846 683293

Horse Dentists
Guy Barry 087 2667646
Brian Coonan 045 871445

Horse Board : 01 6072816
Equine Centre: 045 875521
Weatherby’s: 045 879979
Cavan Equestrian Centre: 049 4332017
Equiova Project: 0801 365 621050

The Big Day Out has arrived - we’re going to the Equiova Open Day in Irvinestown on Saturday, October 16th. There will be a small charge for bus only, and we will be aiming to be in Irvinestown for 1pm, leaving for home by 5pm.

As we’ve had a lot of messing around with people not turning up for buses before, the route the bus will take is top secret: if you want to come with us, it is by booking only - you know my number. Latest date to declare your intention to run is Saturday 9th October.

Last horses will be inspected next Friday, from 2pm. You’re very welcome to come along and watch the process, from which we have developed an "Equine MOT Test", which we hope to make available to non-Scheme horses in the New Year as part of our marketing drive.

On the subject of cost, I’d just like to remind you that while we are receiving grant aid from LEADER, this is being used to enable us to do more than we could afford to do on your £10 membership fee (which barely covers the cost of sending out these newsletters), and to keep the cost of what we do to a minimum for you, our beloved Member.

The grant aid covers only 50% of the cost, however, and we have therefore to raise several thousand to cover the cost of running the Breaking & Schooling Scheme. This Scheme was the only shot the nation was allowed at convincing the government that the horse industry could indeed be helped ( everything they’ve tried in the past got criticised by us, the horse industry - rather short-sighted of us).

In the past, Schemes have been milked for all they were worth at the time, without conscience, and without thought of the future. We refused to run our Scheme like that, and while we may not be everyone’s friend as a result, we have managed to give the horse industry in Ireland a real chance of a profitable future.

No, no, don’t all rush to thank us at once - just renew your subscription next year, get your friends to join too, and invest in our Lottery Syndicate so’s we can continue the work.

After a shaky start due to the wettest September on record, William Micklem finally arrived in Carrickmacross yesterday (Tuesday 28th Sept.) to deliver the first in a ten day series of lessons to people interested in learning how to teach a horse its job.

Last night, William gave a most interesting lecture on training the horse, and the five qualities necessary in order to bring the horse to the highest level of performance. He also showed videos of the end result of proper training - there wasn’t a dry eye in the house after the spectacular display of dressage to music by three of the world’s masters of the art.

I’m not doing him justice, but the gist of the lecture was this:

1. The horse must Accept the rider, and what he is being told to do
2. He must be Calm - horses can’t learn when they’re tense. A good trainer can ask a little more from the horse, teaching him to remain calm and accept more each time.
3. The horse must go Forward - this is a mental quality - he needs to want to do his job, and a trainer needs to pay attention to making sure the horse enjoys his work.
4. Through learning the aids and how to use his body better, the horse must learn to become Straight - all horses tend to operate with the forelegs on a slightly different track to the hindlegs - this has the same effect as it would in a car - most of the energy goes out the side door, instead of into the jump or whatever the horse is being asked to perform.
5 If this ground work is laid down, it will lead to what William calls Purity, which with my poor words, I can only describe as recreating the horse in all its natural beauty, as if there wasn’t a bloody great big lump on his back throwing the horse off balance!

If all this work is done at home, when it comes to performing, all the rider needs to concentrate on is where he wants to go, and at what speed - the rest will come from the horse.

Top equine sports physiotherapist, John Warwick, is hoping to make a visit to Carrickmacross during one of William’s remaining lecture dates.

John is a large part of the team in Ballydoyle which sent so many juveniles out to win Group 1 races this year.

The horse is the ultimate athlete - uses every inch of his body to perform feats to the limit of equine ability - and yet how seldom we think of how bumps and strains might be affecting their performance.

Its all too common for a wee twist in the field as a yearling to manifest itself as lameness when the horse comes to be broken. Every one of us has stories of horses worth a fortune, ‘only for the knock he got in the box’.

Spot the warning signs early, and there’s many an animal could be put back on the road to profitability.

 Library

The following titles are now in stock, with more arriving as I write:
Dressage - an Introduction Anthony Crossley
Training the Young Horse Anthony Crossley
Basic Training of the Young Horse Reiner Klimke
Conformation & Performance Nancy Loving
Understanding the Foal Christina Cable
Considering the Horse  Mark Rashid
The Mind of the Horse RH Smythe
Disorders of the Horse Elsie Hanauer
Schooling your Young Horse George Wheatley
Schooling Young Horses Werner Storl
Equine Clinical Neonatology Koterba, Drummond, Kosch
Centred Riding Sally Swift
The Nature of Horses Stephen Budiansky
Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners Capt. Horace Hayes
Equine Welfare Marthe Kiley Worthington
As the NEHB doesn’t have a base, they will be available through Monaghan Saddlery Workshop, tel (047) 72356. Opening hours Mon to Sat 10-5.30. Ask for the Weatherbeeta catalogue - good stuff at the right price. Bernice is also now stocking Cortaflex.

As I’ve already mentioned, we’re in the process of putting together a marketing strategy, which we hope will attract further grant aid next year, and enable us to continue what we started last year.

It occurred to me recently that many current Members would not have been briefed on how we’ve come to this point, and what we would like to do next, so here it is, as briefly as I can put it:

* Three years ago, we set up a small marketing sub committee to look at howwe might assist breeders in getting higher prices for their horses at the sales. This Committee soon realised that the problem was not with any one end of the industry;

- we had some poor quality horses, with badly tended feet, worms, etc - who’d want them?

- there was no standard of production, the majority of horses were poorly broken and poorly ridden at the sales - the buyer wanted to see the end product, and was only paying decent money for properly produced horses

- the buyers weren’t coming to the sales, so it was mostly dealers who were buying, and at a price they were sure to make a profit on

- why the private buyer wasn’t coming was largely due to the terrible Irish reputation for selling dodgy horses. The perceived risk in buying an ‘unknown quantity’ at sales was too high, compared to buying the same horse a week later off a dealer who will take the horse back if it doesn’t suit.

* Because prices were low at the sales, breeders were spending the minimum money on their horses to get them riding and straight to sale, thus perpetuating the vicious circle of badly riding horses selling for low money. If someone’s going to have to put another two months into the horse before he can sell it, he’s going to pay less for that horse than for one he can sell on tomorrow.

* But how could we break this cycle? We decided to offer a grant of £400, to help the breeder put a few extra weeks work into the horse, so that it rode better at the sales and attracted its maximum price at the sales. In stepped LEADER, and last July we launched the country’s one and only Breaking & Schooling Incentive Scheme.

* The first 17 horses to pass through Cavan Sales attracted prices of on average 530gns higher than the average price at what turned out to be Cavan’s strongest ever sale last February. April’s figures were even better - 650gns above the average price in an average sale.

* Thus we proved our point that a properly presented and trained horse would lead to a higher profit margin for the breeder.

* Our next job was to set about bringing more people around the ring to bid on our horses. This meant tackling the lack of trust in Irish horse sellers among the horse buying public, and also ensuring that the few rotten apples could not once again make a killing at the expense of the future.

* We introduced the "Equine MOT Test", where a panel of independent experts tested the horse, and offered an opinion that the horse was safe to ride and to handle on the ground. To ensure the horse’s performance on the day was genuine, we blood tested every last one of them for dope and painkillers and microchipped them all.

* Not every horse on the Scheme was riding well enough to be awarded an MOT, and when the Scheme finishes, we will be looking at where those horses which failed were trained - for the first time, you the breeder will be able to see which trainers are up to the job, and who among them are all talk.

Where this is all going is to a marketing drive next year, when we intend to open up the MOT testing to everyone. If you want to offer an additional guarantee with your horse in the sales catalogue, you can have it tested beforehand. In conjunction with the performance sales, we will also be running our own promotional campaign of the MOT, explaining the concept to the private buyer, reminding them how great value the punt is right now, and of the Inward Buyer programme in operation at the moment.

* We will be going one step further: just as Guinness might create an image for a new beer, we are going to create the ‘Irish Leisure Horse’, aiming our good looking, sensible stock at the massive leisure riding market on the continent and in the US. At the moment, the Irish horse is promoted only for competition, and is not known for its versatility, its suitability to living and riding outdoors, its cheeky personality - all things that make it a pleasure to own and ride. And isn’t it a happy coincidence that the leisure riding market is the biggest sector of all - well capable of swallowing thousands of Irish horses every year.

So that is why we need your support, and that is why we need you to play the National Lottery every week through us instead of directly through the local shop. For your £1.50, we will give you a share in 100 lines - you’ve far more chance of getting your money back over the year than if you were just buying the 2 lines by yourself. So once again, you win AND you get to do a good thing for yourself and future horse breeders.