[EDITOR’s NOTE: The Saturday, March 31, session of Horses 2007 is closed to new registrations, but openings are still available for the Sunday, April 1 session. Prizes and gifts described below will generally be available both days.]

Delegates to the Horses 2007 educational conference being organized by the Equine Science Center on March 31 and April 1 will come away with more than just great learning, according to the partners and sponsors who will be on hand at the event.

More than 20 top-notch companies and organizations are supporting the two-day meeting on the Cook Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Several of them are planning exciting raffles and will provide samples and giveaways, and all will have informational flyers and practical advice for delegates.

The Equine Science Center’s Platinum partners are Merial and Rick’s Saddle Shop. Merial will be supplying gift bags and will have a drawing for a month’s supply of UlcerGard™. Rick’s Saddle Shop locations have donated several attractive gifts that will be prizes at the end of each day as well as part of the New Jersey Horse Council silent auction, which takes place at Horses 2007.

For example, at the silent auction Rick’s Saddle Shop will feature two high-end saddles – one English and one Western – for participants to bid on, as well as a Breyer traditional wooden barn, a Loretta Redspur western show pad and a Fleeceworks genuine sheepskin half pad. The New York Thoroughbred Breeders will offer a box of five seats each for two days during the upcoming Saratoga racing season. Another featured item in the auction is the donation of two one-week camperships at the Forrestel Riding and Sport Camp in Medina, NY. Other auction items will include baskets of cheer, books, tack and horse supplies.

Among the other special prizes are 20 bags of feed to be raffled by Nutrena and 50 hours’ use of a New Holland “Super Suite” cab compact tractor with loader, as well as two New Holland windbreakers. Nutrena, a Diamond partner, also will give away “buy-one-get-one-free” feed coupons at the conference.

In addition, Land O’ Lakes Purina will offer delegates a chance to enter a national drawing where prizes include a trip, a horse trailer and tractor equipment. Pennfield will have a drawing for a year’s supply of feed and coupons for all Pennfield products. Tractor Supply Company of Washington, NJ, will be giving out 10 percent discount coupons and having drawings for $25 and $50 gift cards. Southern States/Triple Crown will raffle a bag of feed, and First Pioneer Farm Credit will offer a drawing for a tack store gift certificate.

New Jersey Farm Bureau will participate in Horses 2007 as the first statewide organization to become a member of the “Community of 50 for Equine Excellence,” a special designation given to major supporters of the Equine Science Center. Farm Bureau will have representatives on hand to talk about the benefits of Farm Bureau membership and to sign up interested individuals on the spot.

Other partners and sponsors are Kistler Buildings and Fort Dodge Animal Health, Diamond partners; 3M Equine Solutions, Blue Seal Feed, Pennfield Feed, M.H. Eby trailers, and Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center, Gold sponsors.

Silver sponsors include Blue Bridle Insurance Agency; Pole Tavern Equipment; Peter Cofrancesco Farms; Weidel Realtors; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper attorneys at law; Equine Marketer magazine; Harter Equipment; Luitpold Pharmaceuticals; From the Ground Up; and Universal Medical Systems.

Partners and sponsors will have reference materials inserted in the conference binders that will be given to all paid delegates.