Lectures & Exams

Hi All,
Well not long to go now! Our major exams are in little over 3 weeks, and all of a sudden we are frantically trying to gather our notes together to study. All the lectures that we have had every night after work will come into the exam in some way, shape or form, so it is qutie daunting the amount of stuff we have to remember. The majority of the exam is based on the veterinary lectures we have been given by the stud vet Bridget from Grey Abbey in Kildare. We have also had lectures on foaling, neonatal care, the mare and stallion reproductive system, the oestrus cycle, nutrition, exercise pysiology, the musculoskeletal system, skeletal system, digestive system, respiratory system, pedigree's, and many other things I cant think of at the moment. All these things will be in the exam so it is alot to remember!
We are starting to do some different things now outside the classroom, for example we had a pony colt on the farm that the vet gelded for one of the lectures. We also had a few highly respected bloodstock agents come in to speak to us, we went out to the paddock and pulled out mares and foals to discuss. We are also going to the local vet clinic to watch semen collection for AI. Today we had 3 lectures! The first was with Fiona Craig who is a bloodstock advisor for Moyglare Stud, the second was with Warren Schofield, the head vet from Troytown Equine Hospital who spoke to us about developmental orthapeadic disease and the third lecture was with Pat Smullen (jockey), Kevin O'Ryan (jockey agent) and Paul Deegan (trainer). Pat Smullen is a huge fan of the Dermot Weld trained Profound Beauty who he rode in the Melbourne Cup last year, and has high hopes for her in this years running as a 6yo mare, as it will be her last ever career run so they will going all out, a bit of give in the ground will see her with a very good chance. So there's your early tip!! Tomorrow we are going to visit Kildangan Stud (Darley) which is said to be amazing, so very much looking forward to that. We also are also visiting Horse Racing Ireland headquarters on Friday and then heading to the Curragh for their night meet afterwards.
A busy few weeks coming up, lots of study! The weather the past week has been amazing, warm and sunny, until today when the rains came back again. Ireland is now out of the drought!!
Hope all is well,
Courtney