Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester (Irish Enough - Kirby Park Yellow Empress)

Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester (Irish Enough - Kirby Park Yellow Empress) Dressage

Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester (Irish Enough - Kirby Park Yellow Empress) were absolutely unstoppable at the final selection event for the Australian Olympic Eventing Team - Melbourne CCI***, held from the 6th - 9th of June. Megan and Jester produced a cracking dressage test to score just 35 penalties, leaving them nearly 4 penalties ahead of their closest competitor heading into the cross country. No question was too hard for Jester with a blistering clear round on the challenging cross-country course. With no room for error on the final day, the pressure was certainly on for this formidable pair, but as with all elite competitors Megan kept her cool and presented a seemingly effortless clear showjumping round for a nail biting win at this final selection competition. It would seem that Megan and Jester would be a sure bet for the Australian Team to be finalized at the end of June.

Megan also produced a second brilliant ride in the CIC-W*** class on her second horse Kirby Park Allofasudden (Rustic Amber - Passionate). This stunning young thoroughbred at just eight years of age showed that he will surely be a force to be reckoned with on the international scene in the near future. Sitting in second place after the dressage with a score of 50 penalties Megan and Floyd jumped clear cross-country with just 8.4 time penalties. An unfortunate two rails down in the showjumping phase saw them drop down one place to take out 3rd. Competing against much more experienced 3* horses Megan was ecstatic with Floyd's performance over the competition and sees and extremely bright future ahead for this talented gelding.

Kentucky Equine Research has again been asked to present at the Australian Equine Science Symposium which is being held from the 4th to the 6th of June 2008 on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The focus of this year's conference is:

Research for the 21st Century Horse Industry
- From Genomics to the Winning Post -

KER will present four papers:
• The relationship between size at yearling sale, sale price and future racing performance in Kentucky thoroughbreds
• Skeletal adaptations with onset of training in thoroughbreds
• The relationship between shin soreness, blood parameters and cannon bone measurements in thoroughbreds being prepared for two year olds in training sales
• Feeding protected sodium bicarbonate attenuates hindgut acidosis in horses fed a high grain ration

Dr. Peter Huntington will also be chair for: Infectious Disease - Equine Influenza and Rattles.

Horses and riders sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research and/or its Team Member companies make up almost half of the Eventing Short List for the 2008 Olympic Games. Phillip Dutton has qualified three horses--Connaught, The Foreman, and Woodburn. Karen O'Connor has one horse, Mandiba, on the list. After retiring her experienced mount Winsome Adante, Kim Severson rode Tipperary Liadhnan to a qualifying score this spring. Dutton and O'Connor are sponsored by KER; Dutton, O'Connor, and Severson are sponsored by Pennfield Corporation. The equestrian competition for the Olympic Games will be held in Hong Kong from August 8 to 14.

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has maintained a prominent international presence in the nutrition research community for the past 20 years. Research trials have been conducted at the company's research farm since the late 1980s, and results of this research have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of scientific conferences. More importantly, findings from these studies have been put to use in the formulation of feeds for KER's global network of feed manufacturers. The KER Nutrition Conference, held on the 16th and 17th of April in Lexington, Kentucky was attended by 130 guests, including feed manufacturers, sales representatives, veterinarians, nutritionists, and academics from 16 countries. This year's conference focused on the management of gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases.

Bluegrass Horse Feeds, a Kentucky Equine Research Team Member feed manufacturer based in Ireland, celebrated an impressive string of victories at the Punchestown Festival of Racing.

Bluegrass feeds fueled Oh Jackie to victory in the Avon RI Corporate and Leisure Steeplechase, collecting the prized La Touche Cup in the process. The steeplechase, usually referred to as the La Touche Cup, is the premier event at the Punchestown Festival of Racing, and is run over a course that is four and a quarter miles long and punctuated with imposing jumping obstacles. A test of both ability and sheer stamina, the La Touche Cup is the longest race run in Ireland.