breeding seminars-help me choose?

[horsechick]

I have to decide between attending the seminar Kathy St. Martin is doing in Va and another I had previously planned on going to.

I am mostly looking for information pertaining to stallion
handling/management/collecting, etc and not as much about the mare side of things. I am a new stallion owner and need all the information I can get.

The one seminar is at Equine Reproduction Concepts in Va and is a 3 day course on Stallions with labs. Of course, it is more expensive.

Kathy's course is a 2 day with only the second day focusing on stallions, but is less expensive.

I am torn because I really want to meet Kathy and value her insight, but want to make sure I am getting the most useful information for me.

I can't do both as I will have to take students to a show on the other weekend...


Any comments, suggestions??

[Equine Reproduction]

I have to decide between attending the seminar Kathy St. Martin is doing in Va and another I had previously planned on going to.

I am mostly looking for information pertaining to stallion
handling/management/collecting, etc and not as much about the mare side of things. I am a new stallion owner and need all the information I can get.

The one seminar is at Equine Reproduction Concepts in Va and is a 3 day course on Stallions with labs. Of course, it is more expensive.

Kathy's course is a 2 day with only the second day focusing on stallions, but is less expensive.

I am torn because I really want to meet Kathy and value her insight, but want to make sure I am getting the most useful information for me.

I can't do both as I will have to take students to a show on the other weekend...


Any comments, suggestions??

As much as I would love to have you attend one of our courses, if your entire focus is on learning to collect your stallion, process semen, sperm counts, etc., you are probably better off going to Kevin's course. His course has plenty of hands on wet lab, training, etc. He graduated from CSU and is definitely competent, as well as very kind and easy to work with. Just an all around nice guy to deal with.

We tend to try and educate stallion owners not just about the stallion end of things, but also about how to help mare owners if they have questions or problems. We often find that you can ship out the best semen, but if your mare owner is struggling and is having issues, if you, the stallion owner has an idea of what's going on, you can often step in and offer some suggestions. It's all about customer service, so knowing the mare aspect of things can be extremely helpful too.

We're big advocates on getting as much information from as many different sources as possible, but also recognize that time and money can be significant constraints. While we offer a ton of information in a short period of time, we just aren't able to do extensive wet labs at our two day courses and Kevin is set up to offer you lots of hands on experience.

If it falls through or if you get the opportunity, please feel free to attend <smile>. Good luck!

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com
Check out our Holiday Enrollment Special!

[horsechick]

And that is why I love you Kathy! That is just what I needed to hear. I WILL a course on the mare side at some time as OSU offers those on a regular basis and is much closer to me. I really want to take this Spring and educate myself enough to start the preliminary process of starting Amazing with his collection training.

Kathy, my other question was in regard to ground collecting...how would I go about training him to do that? Are there people out my way that do it or do you come near Pittsburgh at all?

Thanks so much for your honest (as always!) advice!

[Equine Reproduction]

Kathy, my other question was in regard to ground collecting...how would I go about training him to do that? Are there people out my way that do it or do you come near Pittsburgh at all?

Thanks so much for your honest (as always!) advice!

We periodically come up into Pennsylvania, but you can always take your boy to New Bolton. Dr. Sue McDonnell is great and does teach ground collecting.

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com
Check out our Holiday Enrollment Special!

[Olympussporthorses]

Kathy,
What is the difference in the two and three day course? Is the same material covered or is there more covered in the 3 day class? Do you ever come to TX?

[Equine Reproduction]

Kathy,
What is the difference in the two and three day course? Is the same material covered or is there more covered in the 3 day class? Do you ever come to TX?

The classroom information is the same, but in the three day course, there is extensive wet lab. The first day is entirely lecture. The second day is a 1/2 day of lecture and then a 1/2 day of wet lab on the mare. You learn to inseminate the mare and you learn to do a cytology. We demonstrate ultrasounding and explain what you are seeing on the ultrasound screen. The third day is again a 1/2 day of lecture and then a 1/2 day of wet lab on the stallion. You learn to do a live/dead stain, how to do a sperm count using a hemacytometer, how to do morphology and motility. We demonstrate how to start a stallion on ground collecting and demonstrate collecting on a breeding mount. The three day courses are held at universities - there is one at the University of Arkansas, one in Gloucestershire, England and one in Pomona, California in the spring of 2009. We only hold 3 day courses at universities.

We have done courses in Texas but we currently don't have any scheduled in Texas for 2009.

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com
Check out our Holiday Enrollment Special!

[Fairview Horse Center]

I took New Bolton's course on Stallion collection and processing, but still did not feel at all competent to do it myself. What worked best is to work with someone collecting & processing your stallion a few times, using the exact equipment you intend to use. Seminars are super for giving you an overall look, but I needed more one on one to have someone to work thru the process, and answer things as they came up. The big breeding seminars tend to train you on their very expensive equipment. You need to learn how to process using equipment you can afford.

I think it is extremely impoirtant as a stallion owner to understand the process on BOTH sides, so if you can do both seminars, or do Kathy's and then get someone to work with you one on one for a few collections, you would be ahead of the game. Maybe New Bolton would offer that while beginning training your stallion to ground collect.

[Daydream Believer]

I have attended both Kathy's course and the one at Equine Repro Concepts (Stallion Handling and Semen Collection) and I recommend both! Both are great courses. The one in Warrenton does give you more hands on with actually handling and collecting different stallions both as a handler and working the AV. You get to work with the semen also and I walked away from that course feeling like I could collect my own stallion and ship/process semen. It was a great learning experience.

Now Kathy and Jos also have some wonderful information they put out also and I like many of their techniques and recommendations for equipment better..ie the French AV, and I found Jos fantastic to work with this summer when he came to our farm to freeze semen on our stallions. He shared a lot of knowledge with me and helped me improve my lab techniques greatly over what I learned (or retained) from Equine Repro's course. If you can do both, I'd do that. You will get two different perspectives on it and a great sense of the mare owner's perspective from Kathy's course also...which you won't get from Equine Repro in Warrenton without taking another course.

So...do both if you can. ;-)

[rideagoldenpony]

I have taken Jos and Kathy's course twice. I am both a stallion owner and mare owner, though I have thus far been fortunate in that none of my mares have ever been complicated as far as repro issues go. I found the course to be extremely educational, and allows me to have the knowledge to give suggestions and help to my mare owners, which I feel is very important as a stallion owner. I felt that the part of the course that covers the stallion side of things was quite adequate for me to feel very confident in going forward with my collecting and shipping.

In addition, the huge book of course notes included with the course is an invaluable future reference -- and though Kathy may not know it, it HAS meant that on many occasions I've been able to find the answers to a question in the book, instead of calling her! ;)

[misita]

I've taken Kathy St. Martin and Jos' classes several times and feel they're very important for breeders. I learn something new every time I go. It's always really informative and fun. I can't say enough good things about the course.

I'm very fortunate to have stumbled upon them early in my breeding. I have definitely avoided some huge problems with their guidance and classes.

I use them all the time for my stallion Bravo. For phantom training and freezing semen. They keep me up to date on issues like EVA. When I asked that Bravo be tested for and vaccinated for EVA (because Kathy and Jos had told me he needed to be), my vet had to research it. Now Bravo is vaccinated annually. Kathy and Jos keep up to date on all new reproductive issues. They're experts in this field.

One last thing I will mention is their services are priced very well. It's shocking to me the fees they charge to come and freeze Bravo. The fees are much higher in the other clinics in my area. Their classes are really well priced too for what they cover. They provide an extrememly good value and knowledge to horse breeders. You just can't go wrong with Kathy and Jos.

And no, this isn't a paid advertisement. I never miss their classes when they're in my neck of the woods.

[siegi b.]

I think I took the very first course that Equine Reproductive Concepts in Amissville, VA offered and found it to be very informative and useful. We actually inseminated several mares and also collected three or four very different stallion and then processed the semen. I thought it was a great class and learned a lot from it. Of course one of the instructors, Dr. Vito del Vento has been my repro vet for the last however many years and so I know I'm in very good hands. :-)

[Windswept Stable]

I am so excited for Kathy's course in Virginia. I have brochures about the course -if anyone wants to take a look, I would love to send it to you.
Send your address to my email brownie61@aol.com