My thoughts on breeding, a preface to choosing a stallion
There is a very worrying trend emerging, driven by the juggernaut of social media. Certain stallions are hyped up and promoted relentlessly, creating a bandwagon effect that influences breeding decisions worldwide.
Social media has significantly altered the landscape of horse breeding – it prioritises sensationalism and popularity over substance and proven genetics.
It pushes the focus towards what is highly publicised – usually young stallions at presentation days with breath taking movement and impressive marketing campaigns behind them. These stallions are often ridden by the worlds top riders and highly skilled trainer who are able to bring the absolute best out of the horses.
Videos and photos may be carefully edited to show the horse’s best features while attempting to hide any weaknesses.
Public opinion and advice given in different Facebook groups is being used to make breeding decisions – often by people who have little to no experience or knowledge of bloodlines and genetic inheritance.
Social media creates an environment where popular stallions from showy marketing campaigns are favoured over stallions with proven genetic track records.
It also contributes to unrealistic expectations in both breeders and certainly buyers that the foal will be a replica of the stallion.
This approach leaves out most other stallion options. Many older or smaller stallion stations, with excellent proven stallions, are overlooked in favor of the latest trendy young horse.
There are many stallions at Celle stud and other stations that are simply ignored by breeders – they may not have the flashiest marketing campaigns but they have decades of proven genetics behind them and many from top mare families.
When choosing stallions for mares, all available stallions with semen for sale should be brought into consideration – not just the popular ones.
The right stallion for the mare – who can actually upgrade her foals – is not usually going to be the popular or commercial choice, or the one that wins the most likes on social media.
It is inevitable that mistakes are made in breeding – many crosses will not work and will produce average horses. All horses tend to regress toward the breed average in producing foals. Top mares will also produce their share of average foals – but a considered, research-based approach will improve the odds significantly over time.
It can take courage to go against the popular trends and do your own thing. If you have your own ideas based on research and experimentation then go for it.
Commercial breeders push the hype of the new and/or popular stallions – and they do it very well – in all breeds and disciplines of horses. But the best breeding decisions are made with a clear head and a deep understanding of bloodlines and genetics, as well as watching young stock and the horses in sport
Commercial breeders can still use commercial stallions – and also breed for the long game of top competition horses by combining commercial appeal with genetic strategy.
The right choice for the mare is what raises the probability of producing the high calibre athletic, sound horse with a good temperament that we all aspire to breed. This is why we have studied the principles of balanced breeding and have seen the patterns very clearly in top breeding and performance horses in all disciplines. We encourage breeders to become educated in the areas of genetics and pedigree study as well as balanced breeding in order to make better, and more informed breeding decisions that will help produce better horses.