Stud farm AI training

Posted 8 March 2010

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Harper Adams is pleased to be collaborating with a Shropshire Stud Farm to help deliver short Higher Education courses in Equine Reproduction.

The courses held at Twemlows Hall, Whitchurch, specialise in areas such as artificial insemination (AI) as well as stud management, foaling and advances in equine reproduction such as embryo transfer.

The University College is currently validating the AI course through the REEDNet initiative, which gives delegates a ‘Certificate of Competence in AI of Equines’, and eventually hopes to validate courses covering other aspects of equine reproduction.

REEDNet is the Rural Employer Engagement Development Network and has government funding through the Higher Education Funding Council for England to support work based training and staff development in the rural economy.

Alison Pyatt, Animal Science lecturer at Harper Adams, said: “We are very much looking forward to future developments with Twemlows and to welcoming the first cohorts of candidates this Spring.

“The qualification is formally recognised by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is a legal requirement to practice AI in mares. Delegates also receive a University College certification.”

A mixture of lecture-based activities and live practical sessions are delivered during the two day course, which is aimed at people with an interest in AI, such as stallion and mare owners, and students studying veterinary and equine science related degrees.

Dr Jonathan Pycock, Course Leader, said: “The course is about training non-veterinarians to be able to inseminate mares and collect semen from stallions.

“Twemlows is the ideal place to run the course because it is a natural environment where these techniques take place on a daily basis.

“We hope that our relationship with Harper Adams will be mutually beneficial and allow us to provide a more structured approach to the teaching that the course offers.”