The William H. Miner

Agricultural Research Institute

Miner Institute
Stable Sheet

MINER INSTITUTE’S FIRST COMBINED DRIVING
HORSE MAKES HER DEBUT!

Gayla Driving Center in Georgetown, KY hosted its annual Combined Driving Event (CDE) May 17-19, 2013 and HD Philadelphia (UVM Equity x UVM Valkyrie) and her whip (the driver) Carrie Ostrowski took home the blue ribbon in her division, Training Level Single Pony, with the lowest penalty score in dressage followed by clean goes in cones and on the marathon. read more

COMPETITIVE TRAIL RIDES: A REFLECTION

Training then competing in the 15 mile GMHA Mud Run was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and the fact that we kicked some major booty doesn’t hurt either. read more

INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

An office renovation has forced me to clean-out an office that has been accumulating (and I mean accumulating!) items for over 25 years. Yesterday, I tackled my desk drawers which became an archaeological adventure…the deeper I dug, the younger (and thinner) I looked in all the pictures I unearthed. At the very bottom of the drawer, in an old address book I used as a child, I found a picture of Marian Wright, sitting in a box seat at the NY Morgan Horse Show sometime in the 1970s. read more

SURVIVAL OF SPERM AFTER CASTRATION

The castration of GCM Vernon Hall, “Vern,” a mature stallion, provided an opportunity that was hard to pass up. Karen and I have wanted to attempt to freeze epididymal sperm for some time. Several equine reproduction labs in the country have successfully frozen epididymal sperm from stallions at the time of castration or who have to be euthanized. Studies have shown that stallion spermatozoa can be harvested from epididymides that have been stored for up to 24 hours, resulting in 5-25 breeding doses. read more

VERN: THE WINTER OF DESPAIR AND THE SPRING OF HOPE

“Vern healed beautifully and without any complications from his castration surgery in November,” was the short and sweet follow up that I’d hoped to report in this issue of The Stable Sheet. Alas, this was not the case. Despite having been on a couple of different types of antibiotics combined with some bute to help with swelling and discomfort, and hot packing the sheath area to facilitate drainage, Vern wasn’t healing on his left side (the right closed just fine). read more

SUMMER EXPERIENCE AT MINER: ONE FOR THE MEMORY BOOK

The Summer Experience in Equine Management will mark its 27th year in 2013. The program emphasizes horse handling and training skills; students learn ground training techniques such as halter breaking, lungeing, longlining, and ground driving. Students also get experience handling stallions, and with semen collection and processing, as well as managing broodmares. read more

2013 Kentucky Derby Open Barn Party

Thank you to everyone who came out to our May 4 Kentucky Derby Open Barn Party! Visitors enjoyed our beautiful renovated horse barn, which was built in 1906 as the dairy barn for William Miner’s Heart’s Delight Farm. The stalls were occupied by 14 very well-behaved Morgans. Refreshments were delicious, plentiful, and southern-themed! HD Valhalla, “Hallie” gave a great impromptu demonstration with Katie Ballard. A good time was had by all!

Special thanks to event sponsors: Duprey’s Feed, North Country Floral & Gifts, Blair & Webber Photography, Adirondack Tack, and Alltech.

The Stable Sheet is an equine newsletter available at no cost to subscribers either on our website or through the mail. Designed for both equine owners and industry professionals, The Stable Sheet provides practical information on all aspects of horse care, from breeding to training to health and safety. What's more, we'll share what didn't go well for us and offer insight on how to prevent the same from happening to you and your horses. The Stable Sheet is also your source to find out about upcoming equine events sponsored by Miner Institute and the University of Vermont.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact Rachel Dutil at (518) 846-7121, ext. 115. Please be sure to specify how you would like to receive The Stable Sheet.

JUST ARRIVED & NOW AVAILABLE FOR STALLION SERVICES AT MINER:

Stable Sheet Archive

Heart's Delight Morgan Horses
 


Canon
(UVM Springfield x Pastorale)


Democracy
(Summitry x UVM Fidelity)

Contact Karen Lassell at lassell@whminer.com or 518-846-7121, ext. 120 for more info.

FEATURED MINER MORGAN: GCM Vernon Hall

GCM Vernon Hall (GCM Shiloh x Promise Maid) is a long and lean black chestnut gelding. “Vern” has lived at Miner for several years, first as a leased stallion and more recently donated and gelded. He came to us pleasant and willing, but not knowing very much for his age (he’s 21 now). He sired 2 foals, one for us (HD Gouverneur, a 3-year-old gelding out of UVM Valkyrie) and one for a farm in Ontario. THIS is Vern’s year! We’ll be training him to ride this summer and I’m hopeful that he’ll turn out to be as nice a Western Pleasure mount as I think he’s got the potential to be. He is sound, has a strong topline and an easy way of moving and he has great hair! As he’s settled into gelding-life, his comedian personality is really coming though; this guy will keep someone entertained. Watch for Vern to move to the sales list, but feel free to contact me about him before then if you’d like to meet him or hear about his progress in training.



The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute

1034 Miner Farm Road, P.O. Box 90
Chazy, NY 12921
phone: 518-846-7121
fax: 518-846-8445