Don't miss the Teagasc equine conference

All sport horse and pony breeders and producers are urged to attend Teagasc’s upcoming annual equine conference, which will be held in the Lyrath Estate Hotel, County Kilkenny, on Thursday, 24 November.

A strong panel of speakers will headline the event, hosted from 9am to 5pm, which aims to help breeders and producers tap into a commercially viable trade for the future.

Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture, Andrew Doyle TD, will officially open the conference.

The first session, “Looking to the Future”, will be chaired by Fintan Phelan, head of farm manager and rural development. Speakers include Teagasc’s Declan McArdle and Thomas Curran.

This will be followed by an open forum and discussion before session two, “Successful Outcomes”, will be chaired by Teagasc chair Dr Noel Cawley.

Speakers in this session include Horse Sport Ireland director of breeding, Alison Corbally; Teagasc’s Wendy Conlon and veterinary surgeon Larry Dunne.

After lunch, session three will focus on the market for ponies, chaired by Teagasc’s Declan McArdle. Speakers here include Barra Sweetnam and Philip Scott. Speakers for the event horse section, which will be chaired by Lt Col Tom Freyne of the Army Equitation School, include rider Sarah Ennis, British horse dealer Vere Phillipps and well-known author William Micklem.

The final two sessions of the day focus on breeding and producing show jumpers for the global market. Rio Olympian Greg Broderick will be joined by Zangersheide’s Frederick de Backer and international sport horse agent Barry O’Connor. Economist Jim Power will speak on the potential of the €700m Irish sport horse industry and a final discussion will take place before the event closes at 5.15pm.

Admission is €40 per person including lunch, and places can be booked online and more details from declan.mcardle@teagasc.ie (m) 087-683 1876 or wendy.conlon@teagasc.ie (m) 087 987 9083.