New arrival at Enniskillen Campus
April 5, 2021
Caroline Simpson, B.Sc. (Hons) in Equine Management, second year student
The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise’s equine campus is located near the town of Enniskillen on the edge of Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. It consists of breeding, equitation and racing yards which are used to educate the next generation of equestrians in all aspects of equine management.
In the early hours of Tuesday 9th March 2021, the breeding yard welcomed the arrival of Xander, a gorgeous Thoroughbred colt foal. This is particularly exciting for the students this year as we have been seeing less of the Campus horses because Covid-19 restrictions have determined that we are attending most of our classes remotely.
Xander is by Getaway out of Whatduhavtoget (or Whatty as she is affectionately known on campus). Getaway stands at Grange Stud, County Cork and is one of the top National Hunt sires currently standing in the country having produced many very successful racehorses. Whatduhavtoget is unproven as a broodmare as Xander is her first foal, however, she has proved herself as a racehorse by winning over both hurdles and fences during her career. She is also extremely well bred as she is by Presenting out of a Saddler’s Hall mare.
It is planned that Xander will stay onsite until the Autumn when he will be weaned by students who will then devise and carry out a management programme to prepare him for the November Foal Sales. We play a major role in the breeding yard at Enniskillen Campus. We carry out morning and evening yard duties, prep foals and youngstock for sales, select stallions for the mares and, every spring, we take part in ‘foal watch’ in the hope of being lucky enough to see a foal being born.
We are all hoping that Xander will follow in the footsteps of previous Thoroughbred foals from CAFRE such as Make Me A Believer, a 2015 National Hunt gelding running over hurdles. He is by Presenting out of Kiltiernan Robin (or Frenchie to the staff and students). Make Me A Believer’s half-brother, King Roland, a 2014 National Hunt gelding by Stowaway out of Kiltiernan Robin is also doing the breeding yard proud in his career. Students and staff hope to one day see Xander meet or exceed the success of these two brilliant racehorses. For now, Xander is already becoming a very popular member of CAFRE’s four-legged community!
If you would like to be part of the Equine Management programmes at Enniskillen there is still time to apply. The initial UCAS deadline for September 2021 has passed -but late applications to study on the FdSc in Equine Management and BSc (Hons) in Equine Management are still being accepted. Applications for Further Education courses can be made by following the link.