I've been thinking a lot about breeding lately. As most know, I'm a young breeder and began my program 3 years ago. I recently made a very short-form, summed-up version of my vision as a breeder on my farms Facebook page, but it poses an interesting focal point for a blog post as well.
Many often talk about the important things to tick-off on the proverbial 'check list' when selecting a horse suited to breeding, and typically Pedigree, Conformation, Flash and Show Records end up near the top of the list among things like Movement, Temperament, Sentimental Value, Colour, etc. When people ask me what my #1 priority is in evaluating a broodmare, it's always been temperament.
Many might scratch their head when I don't automatically select Conformation as the most important value. Don't get me wrong, conformation is absolutely essential because any ethical breeder would recognize that the purpose of breeding is (or should be) to improve the genepool. Naturally, breeding a horse that looks like it was built out of spare parts isn't a great starting point, and I would hope that no one actively breeding horses would consider doing so so. Of course conformation is important - it's a no brainer, and should be a 'given' that it's tremendously important.
So we've established that generally correct conformation is an obvious essential in selecting a broodmare. But once we consider they're overall built correctly - meaning they aren't longer than a limousine thru the loin, they aren't knock-kneed or drastically toed in or out, they aren't cow or sickle hocked or they aren't camped out or under, conformation gets a little subjective. I think you could take a Reiner and a Dressage horse, and agree they are vastly different 'types' of horses but when you begin to break down their conformation, they both have the potential to be correct - they just look very different. Beyond that, we might consider that for English disciplines we want a horse who's naturally built uphill, and moves uphill as a result while that little Reiner we just looked at is built downhill but a naturally engaged and uphill-moving horse isn't something sought after in their discipline. In Dressage for example, we often seek out that beautiful upright swan-like neck, while in a Reiner we want a low neck and headset.. but neither are necessarily built incorrectly - just different. The waters get a little muddy when you consider breeds that are bred to specifically have what most would consider a fault such as the breeds that "Park" for halter purposes, because few of these horses are actually 'correct' by the general standard when standing square, but that's a different conversation.
Beyond all that, we could argue that a minor Conformational flaw could be outweighed by something such as proven progeny or a lengthy show record - and even if it isn't, we might argue it could be corrected by carefully selecting the stallion we cross onto that mare. Now keep in mind, this minor flaw might be a slight turn-out on a leg that never effected their lengthy show record, or a slightly steeper shoulder than one might like - something very different than a horse so poorly conformed it isn't even sound as a result but is a PrEtTy ColOuR AnD My DaUgHteR ThInKs SheS PreEtTy. As a breeder, it's our responsibility to be brutally honest with ourselves about our mares, but one way or another they need to have something that makes them suited to reproducing above other mares.
One thing that isn't subjective is Temperament. To me, a Temperament isn't just their level of chill or how friendly they are. Temperament is linked to every single aspect that makes a horse a good partner, competitor and friend. Temperament is relative to their personality, how they react under pressure, how they handle turnout with other horses, their trainability, rideability and more. Naturally some of this is going to be heavily effected by their environment which might include their mom, their pasture buddies, their handlers and more but we can't disagree that a lot of it is hereditary. My goal from the very beginning has been to produce ammy-friendly horses, so naturally, Temperament is my #1 priority.
I own 3 mares - so far only 1 has proven to me she deserves to reproduce, and here's why:
1. Temperament - Vida has a superior temperament. She's hardly been ridden in about 10 years, and yet we can hop on her bareback in the field in a halter and ride walk/trot/canter with a foal at her side once or twice a year without any funny business. She's easy going, quiet, and quite unflappable. She rarely cares about what's going on around her, and is very kind and careful around people. She was used and handled by students with zero horse experience at the local college for their Large Animal AI Lab. She didn't make it far in race training because she was far too sweet, to be perfectly honest. She lacked the competitive edge (Read: Attitude) that most race trainers want in their track prospects, and was said to be extremely easy under saddle. Sierra has excellent ground manners and I love her to pieces, but her natural inkling to get hot and anxious in certain circumstances so far, has me not willing to breed her regardless of her lovely conformation, athleticism and so on. Perhaps that will change in the near future, but I'm not hopeful. Lass is just a sweet ol' lady who I'll never breed regardless.
2. Conformation & Type - Vida is very well built. She's solid with big bone, and exudes strength. Her legs are very correct, and for being such a big-bodied mare, she has a relatively short back with a strong loin and hind end; something extremely important to me. If I were to be brutally honest, her front end needs the most work, but nothing is 'incorrect' by the general standard - she's just a Thoroughbred, to put it plainly. In comparison to something like a Warmblood, Thoroughbreds tend to have a straighter shoulder and lower set neck. As a result, when Stallion Shopping, the shoulder angle and neck connection are important to me. She moves correctly, but is much more of a daisy-cutter type, so even when paired with big moving stallions I won't ever expect a huge moving foal out of her, which makes her well suited to breeding for the Hunters. That being said, I will never breed her to a 'plain' or subpar moving stallion either, because I want to minimize the risk of moving backwards in terms of the quality in the movement. Sierra has good conformation and type as well, but she hasn't ticked off the Temperament box for me yet, so she's not even a consideration.
Chonky mama 2020
Obviously there are other reasons as well - but they aren't things that are stand-alone worthwhile reasons to me.
I also have to consider that I'm limited in my breeding. I'm currently doing my own Repro Work and intend to do my first AI in 2021 (yay), but I'm not set up to work with Frozen Semen and neither are any vets within a few hours driving distance. So as a result, I'm currently limited to only working with Fresh Cooled Semen which vastly narrows the pool of which I can swim in.
To date, Vida has had two foals who are full siblings by the Dutch Warmblood stallion Parcival. Parcival caught my eye several (12+) years ago when he was still in the states, however a few years ago he was sold to a Hunter breeder in Ontario. Over the years, his owner and I have become relatively close and she has acted as a bit of a mentor to me. I asked her why she bought him, as he was campaigned as a Dressage horse, not a Hunter. She chose him because of his bloodlines, and how similar they are to many of the top Hunter stallions as well as his established Stallion career and progeny's success in the show ring. She's not wrong; he's primarily bred to Jump, despite showing up to GP in Dressage. I chose Parcival in 2019 because of how well he showed with an Amateur (Read: Temperament), and his conformation. In addition, KWPN is an attractive registry because it doesn't require inspections. I personally love the idea of inspections, however I live 6+ hours from the nearest inspection site which makes it really difficult year after year. The highlight of Parcivals conformation when paired with Vida is how his neck almost seems to stem directly out of his wither, and it hass shown to improve Vidas front end quite well over the past two years - though Phascinating BRR is superior to her older sister in that regard.
Young Parcival ^
Old Parcival ^
I also loved that for a big dude, he's short coupled; something I value in Vida and didn't want to lose. The only thing I can really fault him for is his darn throatlatch has come through on both fillies!
Our 2019 Filly Ostara BRR ("Amara") had the absolute most perfect Temperament, and I was so thrilled with her I chose to re-breed Vida to Parcival for a full sibling. Her conformation and type fell a little short for what I had hoped, but she's no slouch by any means, and is growing up beautifully.
October 2019 (5 Months)
November 2019 (6 Months)
^ v Summer 2020 (Yearling) v ^
September (4.5 Months)
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