Somehow another university year has rapidly flown by and I am approaching my last 3(!!) weeks of the semester. It's been the toughest one yet, and there has certainly been tears, but I am another step closer to being a real vet. This year I've progressed into my first section of clinical placements with an enjoyable three weeks ticked off so far. I have also had the opportunity to be involved in the student run cat desexing clinic held at Massey, which has been super handy for practicing my skills and I am excited to do my first cat neuter in a couple weekends time!
Back home our new foaling facilities are really starting to take shape with the install of three new roomy 4x6m stables, a foal pen and mare crush in the first shed block (pictured), which is almost complete pending some final touches. This week the bore pump and power were moved over to that shed then the builders were straight into dismantling the old tractor shed. Coming up next is another block of three stables, followed by some earthworks and fencing to complete this exciting phase of upgrades. I am looking forward to making use of these facilities this coming breeding season, and they will be ideal for accommodating rehab horses too. We have limited availability over the summer for foaling down mares, and managing empty mares for breeding work. As always we also have room for any holiday care requirements over Christmas/New Years so reach out to get your horses spot secured!
Our arena has had a busy year of bookings which has been awesome to see. With us approaching 7 years of hire without a price increase, we will be seeing a $5/horse increase to arena and round pen bookings from the 1st November to reflect our increasing costs of maintaining the arena to our high standard - especially given the high fuel costs this year.