Great British Breeding

I was recently approached by a journalist for British Dressage Magazine regarding the future of British Breeding, where whereby they would highlight the achievements of British Breeders within the world of Dressage. This article was published in the January Edition of the Magazine. Below you can see the pages taken from the article.

Obviously the article involved a variety of breeders within the UK, for which I was only one. So needless to say the article just gave just a brief insight into the views of the breeders involved.

Therefore, I thought I would post here the questions that were asked by British Dressage and my subsequent replies. I hope that people find my replies thought provoking, but remember that these are my own personal views.

My replies were lengthy to say the least but this is only because I feel very passionately about my own breeding, and the future of that in the UK....

Where has your mare stock come from? Have you bred your own, or bought in? What has been your rationale for this?

Our main mare stock has come from Holland and Germany. We have tried to purchase the best available bloodlines we can afford, both for dressage and showjumping. We are also now starting to breed our own fillies to retain for future breeding mares by stallions such as Heartbreaker, Florencio I and Stedinger. We have been breeding now for 15 years and over the years have continually improved our breeding mares. The rationale behind this is to make sure our breeding stock is some of the best in the UK. We pay particular attention to the mare line and what her dam, grand dam and great grand dam have achieved and so on.

Some bloodlines from our mares include- Goodtimes, Burggraaf, Sam R, Emillion, Damiro B, Concorde, Silvio II, Holland, Cezaro, Future, Florestan, Prince Thatch, De Niro, Hohenstein, Rubinstein, Sir Sinclair, Sandro Hit and Ferro. Predicates of some of the mares ancestors include State Premium mares, Ster, Keur, Preferent and Prestatie mares.

How do you make your stallion selections? Has this changed over the years?

We are very careful with our stallion selections and we make sure that the stallion compliments the mares and hopefully makes improvements on any slight weaknesses she has, without losing her strengths.

It has changed over the years, as before we were looking to produce young horses that could do both showjumping and dressage, where now we are following the specialization route that we now find happening in Europe, whereby we are selecting showjumping stallions for our showjumping mares, and dressage stallions for our dressage mares.

We use AI, and compliment our own stallions standing at stud by using specially selected semen from abroad. Both our stallions have been graded to high standards. One is Licensed (MFS Vision x Flemmingh) and the other is Approved (Don Aqui x Don Bosco). MFS Vision was selected for his pedigree and purchased by us as a foal from Holland. He is by the Preferent KWPN stallion “Flemmingh” out of a “Ferro” mare. As a 2 year old he was highly awarded by KWPN judges, and as a 3 year old he was awarded “Licensed” by KWPN judges at the Scottish Sports Horse Stallion Grading.

His offspring have done very well, in 2007 from his first foal crop, his foal MFS Cassandra (out of a Sandro Hit mare) was the highest awarded horse for movement at the Scottish Sports Horse gradings, judged by NRPS officials from Holland, with an amazing 9 out of 10 for movement. In total 4 out of 5 were awarded a 1st Premium. In 2009 our homebred two year old filly “MFS Caliana” (out of a mare by Jurius) was the highest awarded horse overall with a score of 8.2 out of 10 at the Scottish Sports Horse Gradings.

This year we selected the Black Hanoverian stallion, Don Aqui, from Germany and imported him into the UK. As a 5 year old he qualified for the Bundeschampionate Finals in eventing and finished a very credible 10th place in the finals. He has competed in showjumping, eventing and also dressage. He has 14 offspring competing FEI level in Germany and a daughter, Dorgia T, won the Young Horse Championships in 2008 in Rheinland. He had another son who qualified for the Bundeschampionate for eventing in 2008, so his stock are proving themselves up to M Level in a variety of disciplines, with his oldest offspring only being 7 year olds.

Do you go abroad to look at what is being bred there? What do you go to? Stallion grading? Breeding Champs? Foal auctions? etc?

Yes we go abroad to see what is bred on the continent and how different breeding lines compliment each other, plus we are friends with several breeders in both Holland and Germany now. We go to the KWPN Stallion Show each year, as this gives us the opportunity to see the young stallions under saddle, but also see what their progeny are like as rising three year olds, and by seeing them as a group we can see what these stallions are producing along with any strengths and weaknesses.

We also take great interest in the foal shows in both Germany and Holland, along with the offspring reports on what the stallions are producing, and to what type of mares. Again this gives us valuable information for future breeding.

I have also had the privilege of working alongside some of the best KWPN judges through gradings in the UK, so have gained experience through their expertise.

When you look at bloodlines what do you want to see and how far back do you go?

We are looking for proven performance, both in breeding and in competition. We like to go back as far as the pedigree provides, this gives us a chance to see what all the ancestors produced over the years and what the strengths and weaknesses may be in those breeding lines. Within the bloodlines we are also looking for proven conformation, temperament and trainability, because not everyone is an International rider, so you need to be producing youngstock that can go to the top of their sport, but has the brain to be ridden by most riders.

We would never purchase a mare now that did not have a proven pedigree through the mare line, and equally the stallion side has to be strong.

All our own mares have either competed in sport, or have done well at gradings, whether that is gradings abroad or in the UK. The reason we grade our mares is to have an independent view on our breeding stock, to give buyers of our stock the reassurance that they are buying good quality, and not just on our say so.

Do you think your approach has changed?

Yes, over the years I would say we are getting much more critical of the horses we have, including the foals we are producing. We have learned over time that to breed the best you have to use the best. The stallions only contribute so much to a foal, but the mare is extra special and is what makes the difference between an average foal and an excellent foal.

For breeders in the UK to compete with their European counterparts we have to be looking to breed the best we can in whatever discipline. If you set your goals high then you have a greater chance of the youngstock you produce turning out to be good in sport.

Equally if I have a strong belief in what I am breeding, then this comes across to the people who purchase foals and youngstock from us. They know that we will only breed from the best bloodlines and that we do not aim to be second best. They then know that they are purchasing good quality horses for the future.

Is there any other training that you have had?

The only training I have been given is through the experiences I have had over the years.

Many years ago I used to breed Bavarian Warmbloods, and was a Director of the British Bavarian Warmblood Association for a couple of years before it was decided to disband the Association in Scotland. Through this avenue I learned a great deal from German Judges that came across annually for shows and gradings.

I was also the Studbook Manager for the Scottish Sports Horse for a period of time, and again had a good education from the KWPN and NRPS judges over the years. I have been present at many seminars, had the chance to speak to some of the best riders and trainers in Holland. For instance in 2009 we got to meet Anky van Grunsven at her stables in Erp, and also with Frenk Jespers the trainer at Broere Studfarm, which stands the world famous “Jazz”.

When we go to Holland each year, we always take the opportunity to speak with the KWPN judges, stallion owners and mare owners, as they are seeing more first hand what stallions and mares are producing and in greater numbers. We are also planning to do the same with trips to Germany.

Besides this my husband and I have done a great deal of research in the breeding of Warmblood horses. Our library at home is extensive and we have many stallion and mare indexes over the years which allow us to assess the best possible matches for our mares.