The exquisite Glen Carlou Wine Estate in Simondium played host to a well received Cape Breeders’ Seminar on Tuesday.

Guests were treated to talks from an array of distinguished local and international speakers, with iKind Michael Nefdt kick starting the programme with a polished talk on the importance of social media in today’s society. iKind had previously put out a host of well received stallion videos for Summerhill Stud, and they lack nothing in social media experience.

Taylor Made’s Stuart Angus discussing how one of the leading farms in America raises and sells yearlings through the year proved one of the day’s highlights.  The well experienced Stuart having previously worked with such top US stud farms as Vinery and Walmac, with the latter having been home to such legendary sires as Nureyev, Alleged and Miswaki.

There were also discussions on AHS protocol and changes to the South African Equine passport, and a look at the importance of BEE compliance  in the workplace.

Dr Alan Guthrie gave an informative speech on piroplasmosis and how best to deal with this vexing problem.

Australian born Byron Rogers gave an interesting talk on True Nicks and equine genetics.  True Nicks is a programme which focuses on the importance of nicking patterns in both the modern day and historic thoroughbred. Byron has plenty of experience working in the thoroughbred industry, with his previous employers including Coolmore Stud and Epsom Derby winning trainer Paul Cole. While working at top Australian farm Arrowfield Stud, Byron was involved with such successful stallions as Redoute’s Choice,  Flying Spur and Hussonet, and his stint at Taylor Made in Kentucky saw Byron manage their stallion division for three years.

A co-owner of famed thoroughbred mating programme True Nicks, Byron has also launched the thoroughbred genetics company Performance Genetics LLC –and he went into some detail on genetics in Tuesday’s informative talk.

The seminar was followed by a lavish dinner, were guests enjoyed a sumptuous feast topped off by some of the estate’s excellent wine.