ACCORDING to the great philosopher, Confucius, there are three ways by which to learn wisdom - by reflection, by imitation and by experience.

This is never truer than when sitting down to assess a bloodstock sales season or make your broodmare plans for the year ahead.

We reflect on the market performance and the sales figures, we imitate those breeders who had success and follow the nicks that worked both in the sales ring and on the racetrack, and we look at our experiences of the past year and try to learn what worked and what did not.

With this in mind, the ITBA has scheduled a Mare Owners open evening at 7.30pm next Tuesday (January 19th) in Palmerstown House, Johnstown, Co Kildare, to review the 2015 bloodstock sales season.

The event will allow mare owners to come together to discuss current trends in the market and highlight the need to make the right decisions going forward. In practice it is a way of sharing our collective wisdom to improve the industry and help breeders maintain commerciality.

This meeting will be chaired by ITBA chairman and prominent breeder Derek Iceton of Tara Stud. He will be joined by the four panellists featured on this page to discuss issues facing the industry and to offer their opinions and answer any questions that breeders may have for them.

In addition Fiona Goor, Irish representative for the Plus 10 scheme, will be in attendance to inform breeders about the success of the scheme to date and to answer any questions they might have about the scheme. Representatives from Goffs, Tattersalls Ireland and Weatherby’s will also be present.

It promises to be an informative and thought-provoking evening. Admission is free of charge to ITBA members. Anyone who would like further information or wishes to register to attend should contact the ITBA office on (045) 877543.