Horse fanciers, from hobbyists to breeders, will gather Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12 for the 18th annual Horse Day Symposium at the University of California, Davis.

The event will include educational lectures and a training demonstration Saturday and a farrier workshop and laboratory Sunday.

Topics for the Saturday lectures, presented from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., will include an update on vaccinations, nutrition facts and folklore, coat-color genetics, and wilderness medicine and rescue.

Speakers will include veterinarians, professors and a farrier from UC Davis and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, as well as a private veterinarian and horse trainer.

Following the lectures, participants may attend a demonstration of weanling training by a professional trainer or join a tour of the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. The tour will be limited to the first 50 registrants.

The registration fee for the Saturday events, if postmarked by Oct. 1, is $25 per person or $20 each for groups of 10 or more people. Registration will be $40 on the day of the event. No refunds will be given after Oct. 8.

Registration for the Sunday farrier workshop is $50 for the morning lectures or $150 for both the lectures and afternoon workshops.

The farrier workshop, designed for both horse enthusiasts and professional farriers, will focus on the anatomy and physiology of the foot, biomechanics and common lameness, recognizing shoeing and conformation problems that may cause injuries, and trimming and shoeing for proper balance.

A hands-on afternoon laboratory will include limb dissections, conformation evaluation for shoeing and a live shoeing demonstration. There also will be a discussion and demonstration of different shoe construction, materials and properties.

The Saturday lectures will be held in UC Davis' Main Theatre.

The farrier lectures will be held on campus in 1330 Meyer Hall off of La Rue Road, and the afternoon demonstration will be at the Cole Facility Horse Barn across the street from Meyer Hall.

To reach UC Davis' Main Theatre, take the UC Davis exit from Interstate 80. Turn north onto Old Davis Road, pass the information booth and continue to the stoplight in front of the Mondavi Center. Turn left onto Mrak Hall Drive, then right onto Old Davis Road. Continue to A Street and park in Visitor Parking Lot 5 on your right.

Walk north on A Street until you come to Hutchison Drive on the left. Turn left and follow Hutchison Drive until you come to the Main Theatre, the blue building on your left.

To reach the farrier workshop, take the UC Davis exit. Turn north onto Old Davis Road, pass the information booth and immediately turn left. At the stop sign continue over the bridge and bear left onto La Rue Road. Meyer Hall is on the right. Parking is available in Lot 47 to the west of Meyer Hall.

More information is available from the UC Davis Department of Animal Science at (530) 752-1250. Schedules and registration forms are available online at http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/events/horseday/.