THE Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association is hosting a ‘Computer Essentials for Breeders’ week at its offices in Greenhills, Kill, Co Kildare, from July 4th to 7th. The educational programme is designed to support and advocate quality thoroughbred horse production, whilst educating both established and emerging breeders. As spaces are limited early booking is recommended.

Spaces can be reserved by contacting ITBA headquarters on (045) 877543 to register your interest and reserve your place. The ITBA Educational Programme 2016 is co-funded by Department of Agriculture Equine Technical Support and Equine Breeding Schemes.

Monday, July 4th: Microsoft Office Training to be delivered by New Horizons Ireland. This training course will cover the key elements of Microsoft Office including email, calendar, contacts, tasks, team communication, sharing information, and Office 2013 (new features).

The course is delivered through explanations, demonstrations, and practical exercises. It will cover the following versions of Microsoft; 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016

Tuesday, July 5th (morning): Equisoft Live Training to be delivered by Equisoft. This session will consist of an interactive web tutorial on how to use the EquisoftLive Horse Management System. Attendees will record and track an in-foal mare from the start to the end of the breeding season and therein cover all aspects of horse management.

Tuesday, July 5th (afternoon): Navigating Industry Bodies Websites to be hosted by Equisoft. This will be a questions and answers session on navigating websites of key industry bodies, setting up accounts with specific sites, submitting online applications, et cetera.

Wednesday & Thursday, July 6th-7th: Social Media Training to be delivered by Fuzion. This two-day social media training course is designed to help breeders to start using social media at a higher level for their business. It will assist participants to seize opportunities that are available by using social media as a key part of their business strategy. The course will be very practical and will facilitate participants to start using key social media platforms at a high level, namely Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

As part of the training session each of the participants will be asked to complete practical exercises to ensure they understand the course content. This course is geared towards people who are already using the aforementioned social media platforms for their business.

Day 1: Social Media Overview and using Facebook and Twitter - Practical exercises for participants.

Day 2: Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram - Practical exercises for participants.

Timings and Costs

  • Daily registration: 9.30am
  • Morning session: 10am-1pm
  • Afternoon session: 2pm-4.30pm
  • Cost €25 per day/€80 for four days. Includes lunch

    • NB: Max 20 per course. Fully charged laptop or tablet is required for all training courses.