The opportunity to jump right in and learn how to handle stallions, broodmares, and foals. Also learning how to handle all ages and sexes of horses, give a variety of medications, and learn how to do things differently. I enjoyed learning from seasoned and generally patient horse people. This farm also whipped me into shape.
What I wish was different
I wish I could have done more as a reproduction intern. It was more like reproduction ~30% of the time (this was from May-July), general farm chores 45%, and training/exercising 25%.
The training/exercising is done by everyone and has to happen every day, whether you signed up for it or not (which is fine! I just did not expect to be exercising so much). Sometimes I was told that there wasn't much for reproduction interns to do.
There was also a "general breakdown" of what my 8 weeks could look like and what activities I would probably be doing, but I felt that my experience strayed from that breakdown a lot.
This was still a very valuable experience for me though.
*fair warning; this was during quarantine. There was a very low number of interns/apprentices (little understaffed), but also a low number of foals born that year (3, all in late May/to June).
Advice
If you can, try to do this from March to at least June. March is the earliest that foals might be born and when the stallion collections really start to pick up for the year to then re-impregnate the mares that have just given birth, or for clients.
If you start in May/after finals, you miss a lot of experiences.
But, if you are able to go earlier, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN INTERNET HOTSPOT, or some way to get to a reliable internet connection (even if you have to sit at the Middlebury McDonalds for free wifi). The farm has internet, but it regularly goes out and often cannot handle the office plus 3-8 interns/apprentices. You will not be able to finish assignments on time or turn in projects.
