DURING 2020, ITBA’s Educational Programme hosted in excess of 24 workshops/webinars, attracting a great cross section of breeders; large and small, both flat and National Hunt.

The feedback from the many breeders who participated and engaged with the educational programme (approx. 400 breeders) without exception has been extremely positive.

The final educational workshop for 2020 was the very successful ITBA Breeding Season Workshop, the follow-on guide of which is available on the download section of the www.itba.ie. The ITBA would like to take this opportunity to wish all Irish breeders a safe and successful 2021 breeding season.

Deirdre De Kleer

Castlebridge Stud, Kildalkey,

Navan, Co Meath:

I count myself very fortunate to have completed three workshops to date with ITBA, Introduction to Employment Law being among them. The course content has been very beneficial and it also put me in touch with professionals that I can still call on sporadically for advice.

ITBA have their finger constantly on the pulse with regards to the range of workshops offered and thrive in keeping us up to speed with the ever-changing needs of the bloodstock industry.

Denis Murphy

Johnstown House, Rathcoole, Co Dublin:

I would just like to thank the ITBA and the course lecturers who took part in the 2020 Educational programmes. The courses were only one small Zoom connect for me and a giant step for knowledge.

The courses were very interesting and informative. I have learnt to approach many tasks with confidence and adopting some of the many tips from the experts has made a notable difference

Olive O’Connor Bloodstock

Redcross, Wicklow:

ITBA courses are always very helpful to breeders’ managers and their staff, we always learn something new that can be put into practice on the farm and in the office.

This year once you got used to the Zoom class, everyone had a bit of chat and in times when we couldn’t meet for racing or sales, it was a ‘little bit sociable’ and very helpful.

The Financial & Business Planning in the Covid-19 Environment was excellent and one of my staff did the Covid-19 Officers’ course and set us up with the correct procedure in the workplace.

Timothy Holland

Kilbeg Stables & Breeding Enterprise, Bandon, Co Cork:

I found the ITBA Educational Programme (2020) to be very helpful in many aspects of the TB breeding business.

It was my first introduction to webinar and each of the online workshops were excellently produced, very informative and easy to follow. As well as the educational content of the workshops the series helped me to network with other breeders.

The staff of ITBA must be complimented for their foresight and enthusiasm in getting this off the ground. I look forward to attending more workshops in 2021.

LOOKING forward to this year, Kerry Ryan talks us through the ITBA Educational Programme 2021.

Preparation is well under way with this year’s Educational Programme: To continue with our compliance of the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, we are looking to deliver much of this programme online. While the coronavirus continues to do its best to discommode us all, breeders have transitioned very well to ITBA’s online educational workshops and webinars.

As the role technology plays in our daily lives continues to grow, the way we do our business needs to adapt to and meet these changes. This is the case for all industries and the Irish thoroughbred industry is no different.

Internet-based meetings, webinars, even online bloodstock sales are a fact of everyday life now. With this in mind, the ITBA is endeavouring to present an all-encompassing programme of educational workshops and webinars. Similar to last year, all workshops and webinars will be delivered free for breeders.

We will work with our many programme contributors, namely Carraig Safety, Fuzion Communications, HRI’s Industry Education and Training Department, Equine Edi, Equisoft, OCAE, Local Enterprise Offices as well as our panel of leading industry experts.

We will seek to secure CVE credits from the Veterinary Council of Ireland as well as QQI accreditation where possible. Finally, we will secure funding from the Department of Agriculture, under its 2021 Equine Technical Support Scheme.

The programme will include a wide selection to topics to assist breeders in running their operation and their bloodstock business; inside and out, from administration, to online activities, stud farm management, equine welfare, health and safety to name a few. Here is a brief overview of the 2021 Educational Programme, the details of which, once finalised, will be announced in the coming weeks.

2021 Overview Timetable