Janice O'Connor had spent quite a bit of time searching the Internet for a software program that would make her record keeping, and especially her reporting process, easier for the 40 purebred and derivative Arabian horses she breeds, trains and shows at Comanche Lodge in Southeast Queensland, Australia.

She says she just was not satisfied until she stumbled across EquineMax in a Google search.

"We have been keeping our records in several Excel spreadsheets and on paper," she says, "Which meant every time I wanted to put together a history report on a horse, I had to pull a lot of records from different places together — quite time consuming."

She says she was originally attracted to the pleasant layout, extreme ease of use, extensive reports available, and the ability to make custom reports in EquineMax.

"I purchased the Performance version and now I can keep all my records about my horses in the one database and print off reports whenever I need," O'Connor says, "It is great to be able to print off a horse's breeding, training, performance and feeding records when he goes to a new owner."

O'Connor says that as much as she needed the ability to easily print these reports when she first found EquineMax, a feature she really likes is the Sale Catalog Creator.

"It is just so brilliant to quickly print off a list of horses by category with photos and pedigree when we have visitors or inquiries," she says, "The ability to make custom reports is also a huge plus."

She says she also uses the reminder calendar every day to keep up with daily tasks such as farrier visits, wormings, vet visits and feed deliveries.

O'Connor also uses the training records extensively. As soon as horses arrive at Comanche Lodge, she enters details for each one into EquineMax, including photos, notes on their unique needs and traits, and any existing problems.

"The training records are invaluable to be able to look back and track a horse's progress," she says, "And having a treatment history on hand is really valuable to identify recurring problems."

O'Connor says she has found an all-around program with EquineMax.

"There are so many little things that EquineMax does for me, like being able to print out a daily worksheet for the horses to make notes and putting those notes onto each horses' record," she says, "It makes it so easy to look back and see what I did with a particular horse and when."

Forty acres in the Lockyer Valley house Comanche Lodge and the straight Crabbet stallion Silver Wind Van Nina they currently boast. For more information on Comanche Lodge, visit www.comanchelodge.com.au.