ARCHIVE EQUINE NEWS STORIES

A forum to advance racehorse breeding and business practices

Ajax Convention Centre
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
Commencing 10:00 a.m.

Don’t miss this industry seminar if you are interested in producing a racehorse with solid conformation, a competitive spirit and the genes for speed. Intended to benefit all interested horse breeders, particularly those with an interest in Quarter Horses.

The seminar will focus on:
· Planned breeding, herd improvement and crosses that work for racing
· Factors affecting fertility and early conception in the broodmare
· Herd management practices to improve the chance of full-term pregnancy
· Marketing stallions
· How to get started breeding racehorses for the Ontario Quarter Horse Program

This seminar will be followed by a reception and dinner.
· Cost: $69 (includes seminar and meal).
· Cost for the seminar only - $39 per person Cost for dinner only - $30 per person
· A Horsemen’s Rate is offered at the Clarion Hotel, 1485 Garrison Road, Fort Erie Tel: 905-871-8333

Pre-registration for this seminar is required through the Quarter Horse Racing Industry Development Program (416) 213-0520. Opening day for the October Quarter Horse meet at Fort Erie is the next day -- Saturday, October 8th-- featuring the $150,000 added Ontario Jackpot Futurity and the $150,000 added Ontario Jackpot Derby.

SEMINAR AGENDA

12:30 P.M. - Welcome guests.
1:00 - Bloodlines and crosses that work in Quarter Horse Racing. Dan Lucas, AQHA Champion Breeder in 2004 and breeder of multiple stakes winners including top producing stallions Ocean Runaway and Wave Carver (World Champion), will talk about planned breeding, herd improvement and crosses that work for racing; including commercial bloodlines for market and lesser known crosses that produce fast horses.
2:00 – Influences on the early stages of conception. Dr. Keith Betteridge of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph will impart an understanding of the interactions between the early embryo and the dam, and provide the base of knowledge essential to understanding the maintenance of pregnancy in the mare. This presentation includes current research from the University of Guelph, and insight into factors that may affect fertility.
3:00 - Break
3:30 - Preparing your mare for the breeding season. Dan Lucas will talk about his experience with herd management practices that improve conception and increase the chance of full-term pregnancy.
4:30 - Marketing stallions. Anna Meyers of Emerald Ridge Farm will talk about creating effective print advertising, use of other forms of media including video, building and working a contact list to market your stallion; and the use of frozen semen for added revenue streams.
5:30 –How to get started breeding for the Ontario Quarter Horse Program. A representative of the Quarter Horse Racing Industry Development Program will answer the questions - Why breed for racing? Why now?
6:15 – Cash Bar
7:00 – Dinner

WHO IS…..

DAN LUCAS
Dan Lucas and wife Michelle are the owners and operators of Lucas Racing, Inc. in New Market, Maryland. Dan Lucas, a retired emergency physician, started his racing and breeding operation in 1975 and began running American Quarter Horses at Pompano Park (Florida) in 1978.

Dan is a current member of the AQHA Racing Committee and the AQHA Racing Council and is an AQHA representative to the American Association of Equine Practitioners subcommittee on racetrack veterinary costs.

He currently serves on both the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association board of directors and the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association board of directors. Dan has bred champions Ocean Runaway, Wave Carver, and Cash For Kas, along with 2005 Broodmare of the Year and Dam of Distinction, Runaway Wave. Dan was champion breeder in 2004. Lucas Racing Inc. produces 20-25 foals annually using shipped semen and embryo transfer.

KEITH BETTERIDGE
Born in Lyndhurst (‘capital’ of the New Forest in Hampshire, where the ponies come from), Dr. Betteridge received his early education in England. He earned two degrees in veterinary medicine – a BVSc from the University of Bristol in 1959 and a MVSc from the University of Toronto (Ontario Veterinary College) in 1961.

Dr. Betteridge met his future wife while studying in Guelph. The Betteridges traveled back to the UK where Dr. Betteridge practiced in a veterinary clinic specializing in large animals. Next, he returned to research, completing his PhD at the University of Reading while studying pig reproduction. After postdoctoral studies at the Medical School in Birmingham, Dr. Betteridge returned to his wife’s native Canada.

From 1967-1980, Dr. Betteridge was employed by Agriculture Canada (Animal Diseases Research Institute). He then moved to Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec to become the Director of the Centre of Research in Animal Reproduction at the Université de Montréal for six years. In 1986, Dr. Betteridge assumed a Research Chair at the University of Guelph and continued his studies on embryo transfer in farm animals. In 1996, Dr. Betteridge became a University Professor Emeritus and is currently enjoying his ‘retirement’ by continuing his studies of equine reproduction with 17 research mares at the Ontario Veterinary College. He continues to work with these mares to advance our knowledge in the area of reproductive biology.

ANNA MEYERS
Anna and her husband Patrick own and operate Emerald Ridge Farm on 134 acres in Rockwood, Ontario. Emerald Ridge is a full service reproductive facility offering a separate stallion barn with accommodations for resident stallions complete with a laboratory and breeding shed.

In any given year, 300 to 700 mares are serviced between resident stallions and frozen semen. The main barn consists of 32 stalls housing temporary and full time resident mares. Loafing sheds provide additional room. During the breeding season, an additional farm is used to accommodate overflow. Emerald Ridge Farm is an affiliate lab of Select Breeders Service (SBS). There are SBS affiliate labs throughout the world, each using the latest technology and advances as it relates to freezing horse semen.

Anna has her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science and worked for many years in marketing and sales of veterinary pharmaceuticals. Patrick is a DVM and Board Certified Theriogenologist specializing in equine reproduction. Emerald Ridge Farm stands three Standardbred stallions on site, and has facilities and wherestallions can be collected and semen can be frozen for storage and for shipment globally.