Penny & Stuart Lamont were our hosts for the October meeting. Penny and Stuart, along with their son Angus, run a horse stud, "Kooringal Stud", on the Harefield Road, via Wagga Wagga. This property has been in the Lamont Family for nearly 100 years. Stuart's grandfather and grandmother came to this property from Victoria. Grandfather Lamont died in 1916 and Grandmother Lamont farmed the property until her son Colin, Stuart's father, returned from the 2nd World War. Stuart is the youngest son of four children and the only one interested in horses and so he took over the management of the stud. The property covers an area of 2,500 acres of which over 2,000 acres is set aside for the thoroughbred enterprise. Paddocks range from 10 acres to 150 acres and all contain either permanent or portable shelter sheds built on the property. An extensive system of laneways ensures safe and efficient movement of stock around the property. The majority of crops grown on the land are made into hay and also oats are harvested for grain to be fed to the horses.
Kooringal Studs 2009 sires are "Alert" from Argentina, "Bureaucracy" from New Zealand, and "Fubu" from Australia. The stud operation comprises four employees and Stuart and Penny. Stuart runs a very tight ship and their busiest time is from August until November. There are approximately 350 mares, some of which are on agistment for the full twelve months. The stud attracts mares from all over Australia many coming from Western Australia. The mares start foaling around August and a roster system is set up with employees watching the mares 24 hours a day. As soon as a mare lies down to foal, an alarm goes off so that if assistance is needed, someone is on hand. After the mares have foaled and come into season they are then serviced by the stallions using teaser stallions (these are ponies so that they can't mount the mares and they protect the stallions from being hurt).
The Stud has a nursery, for any foals that may be sick and need very close attention. All the foals are handled from day one with the help of a type of saddle (the "Foal Controller") which was invented by Tim, one of Stuart & Penny's employees. The local veterinarian plays a very important role in keeping all the stock healthy.
On arrival, we were greeted by Stuart, Penny and Angus and ushered onto an 18 seat bus (Angus' latest purchase) and given a very comprehensive tour of the Stud. After our tour Penny was a gracious host and served us morning tea under the 100 year old wisteria vine at the front of the house. Her beautiful garden is planted with crab apples, roses, agapanthus, a wisteria walk, and olive trees just to name a few plant varieties. Penny also has many sculptures that adorn her garden. For those members who hadn't experienced a horse stud before it was a huge learning curve. For us who had, it was a very good example of how to manage one.
No comments:
Post a Comment