The North Point Farm Internship (NPFI) program is dedicated to improving the opportunities for college students wishing to pursue an interest in the field of equine management. NPFI offers a comprehensive educational experience for students enrolled for academic credit through a sponsoring college or university, or for recent graduates of such institutions.

Through the internship, students integrate academic studies with practical experience, leadership and responsibility as a contributing participant on a Connecticut horse farm. Aside from farm commitments, students are introduced to a network of equine professionals representing multifaceted careers in the equine profession.

During the first week of the course, students participate in orientation activities. After the first week, students are employed full-time where they become familiar with the day-to-day management of horses on commercial Percheron breeding, training and show farm. Our farm is home to All-American mares and is fast attaining a national reputation for excellence.

A typical full-time workweek is 40 hours per week. In most cases, students work hands-on with horses, however some students may also be assigned responsibilities associated with record keeping, veterinary care, marketing or farm maintenance. The regular workday starts early, usually at 7:00 AM. Most students will work 8 hours/day, 5 days a week. All interns should expect to devote a large portion of their daily workday to routine barn chores and horse care.

The winter NPFI session (which begins in January) provides students with an overview of the intensive management practices used on a Percheron breeding operation. On a day-to-day basis, most students will be involved in the care of pregnant and foaling mares. Some interns may be required to participate in “foal watch” rotations and/or to help with neonatal care during evenings and nights. As students become more experienced they may be expected to assist with veterinary care or perform some record keeping. Our farm does all of it’s own reproductive work, including ultrasounds, artificial inseminations and embryo transplants and this represents a fabulous opportunity for interns to learn skills that many farms would normally use a veterinarian for. We anticipate beginning embryo transplant program at the farm in the near future, which will also offer interns a wonderful learning opportunity to acquire skills not often found on other horse farms.

During the summer session (which begins in June), most students will work with getting animals ready for the show ring. Interns gain experience in the techniques for preparing weanlings, yearlings, and broodmares for show and have the opportunity to learn about the factors that affect the value of an individual horse including pedigree, conformation and soundness. Students working the summer show season should expect to work extended hours during the shows. A few interns may be offered opportunities to work with horses driving; however, these opportunities are limited and students must meet strict criteria for driving ability. Interns are offered the opportunity to travel to shows throughout the United States, and based upon experience and desire, the opportunity to show horses. .

We do offer a salary for interns. Meals and personal expenses (including transportation to the farm) are not provided for the intern. Housing is not provided although we can assist the intern in finding suitable housing in the local area.

Interns are responsible for obtaining their own medical insurance while participating in the NPFI program. It is strongly recommended that each intern procure medical insurance coverage before beginning the internship program. The farm is not responsible for providing health insurance and interns should be aware that the farm does not have the duty to eliminate all risks of injury of participation in farm animal activities. Participants should further understand that there are inherent risks of injury that they voluntarily accept if they choose to participate in farm animal activities.

Reliable transportation is absolutely essential for the successful completion of this internship. It is necessary for interns to travel to work, and to various NPFI sponsored events.

If this program sounds interesting to you and you are willing to work hard and learn a lot, then please fill out an application. Send the complete application to:

Ann Egan
North Point Farm, L.L.C.
287 Prospect Mountain Road
Litchfield, CT 06759