PrintOur columnist worries that hot trends in breeding are undermining the proven products.
It’s February, the time of year when people are thinking about breeding their mares. Due to the recession of 2009, breeding numbers are down around the world. So it’s a time to be even more responsible about each breeding decision you make.
Modern breeding, trendy breeding as I call it, is a free-for-all due to worldwide marketing and frozen semen offering global access to genetic pools. There used to be balance in the breeding world where the percentage of mares to stallions was more equivocal across breeds because mares went to breeding stations, similar to how Thoroughbred breeding is still handled today.
With the expansion of breeding through cooled semen, and now more than ever frozen semen, our world has changed dramatically in the past 15 to 20 years. When you combine the fact that the breed societies have lifted their restrictions, the high-speed trends of modern breeding become even more extreme.
Young stallions used to be limited to 50 mares in many cases. But today we see the hype and marketing of young champions, who in turn cover huge numbers of mares at a young age. In the end, the impact is a narrowing of the genetic pool as fewer stallions cover more and more mares.
While there are certainly many benefits to the expansion of breeding through cooled and frozen semen—more choices for the breeder who would have previously been limited to local choices, more social and marketing satisfaction with well-known sires in your program—there are also risks involved.
Going out on a limb, I find it really hard to understand how a 3-year-old stallion who has been ridden in walk, trot, canter and a bit of jumping in a performance test, without a single foal on the ground or proof of fertility, breeds 300 to 400 mares because of his sex appeal and good gaits! This is the direction today’s breeding has turned.
A big risk lies at the heart of modern breeding. Everyone wants to jump on the ship and sail with the new fashion. Over time, three to five years minimum, the verdict is out as to whether it was a good one or not! We might see negative rideability issues, OCD/soundness issues and even poor- quality offspring. To join a hot new trend is to embark on a five-year experiment.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, I see a 9- or 10-year-old stallion, who has been going about his performance career with success, competing in important young horse championships and moving up to the FEI-level. He remains sound throughout the process, handling the show atmosphere as a well-behaved horse should, and he produces good riding horses—even gaining attention from the breed societies and a reputation as a solid producer. Yet, often stallions such as these (I can think of many examples across the country) get few mares because they’re not the new trend, the hot young influence.
So, I ask myself, “Are we heading the right direction in breeding?”
Of course, breeding is gambling. There’s no formula for success or any true guarantees. But certainly you can lessen your risks to a degree. If you’re looking to produce a sport horse, selecting the older, proven stallions whose offspring are out in sport improves your chances.
