The Upsides and Downsides of Using an Overseas Stallion: A Personal Experience

We often read enquiries posted on the horse forums about using a continental stallion vs. a British stallion, and I thought that I would share our roller-coaster ride on this one, as a recent recruit to the ranks of small breeders.

The first foal that I bred (now a 2 year old with two first premiums at the BEF Futurity evaluations and a win at the British Eventing Young Horse in-hand championships as a yearling behind him) was by Caretino Glory, a Grade A stallion standing at Brendon Stud in Sussex, about 5 miles down the road from our yard. I had very much caught the breeding bug and acquired another broodmare (Royal Que or ”Abbey”, Beachtime x Sussex Diamond) in partnership with the friend who shares our small stud yard; we put Abbey in foal to El Thuder (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve – Argentinus) standing at Brendon Stud, the result being an elegant and modern type colt foal with an impeccable temperament.

Early in 2008 we started our research into stallions, including both UK and continental studs, and drew up a long list of potential stallions to put to our mares. We went to the Zangersheide Stud Open Days and Stallion Approval in Lanaken in February, and spent an amazing 2 days viewing young stallions loose jumped and under saddle. It was an incredibly valuable opportunity to “get our eye in” – to gain an education in what the evaluators were looking for (even though we had to guess a lot as our Flemish is non-existent!!) and to view individual stallions both in the ring and in the stable, as well as having a chance to view the offspring of a number of the older stallions. I would recommend the experience to anyone who is considering the next stallion choice for their mare, and particularly if, like myself, you have a lot to learn!

We were looking for a stallion to lend athleticism and blood to my ISH mare, and for the WB mare, breeding that would again build athletic jumping ability into the combination – and for both, a calm temperament was a big requirement! We were very struck by a young stallion – Clintissimo Z – with the most phenomenal jump, and also by a halfblood horse, Amiro Z, who was elegant and shorter-coupled than Beth, and when we visited him in his stable, gave us every evidence of his very cuddly temperament, basking in all the admiration! So these two stallions were our initial choices and we contacted Zangersheide’s UK semen agent to arrange the shipment of semen. This is where the story starts to get muddy!

As less experienced breeders, we almost certainly didn’t do all the checks that we should have done – and as a result, got caught up in the whole Zangersheide/UK semen agent saga that has been well documented elsewhere, and we only discovered after talking directly to Zangersheide when we were ordering through the agent that the quality of Clintissimo’s semen was giving concerns. So our eventual decision was to go ahead with the choice of Amiro Z for Beth, but not to proceed with the order for the Clintissimo Z semen. As well as ceasing to deal with their UK semen agent over this period, Zangersheide themselves were going through various changes in their administration, so that getting any response from them on covering certificates and registering mares and their foals was a complete nightmare. I eventually gave up and registered the Amiro Z foal with the AES. Even this proved to be complicated, with endless phone calls to chase up DNA samples for both mare and stallion.

Again in 2009 we researched very widely into stallion choice, beginning to build up a much clearer idea of what pedigrees and bloodlines worked with both mares. We had seen a very impressive young stallion at the Zangersheide Open Days – Sandro Beast EB (Sandro Boy x Accord II) – whom we eventually tracked down to the Enterbrook Stud in Holland, and decided to use him on Abbey, as we thought that the combination would be a very impressive one, although likely to give us a showjumper rather than eventer, which is where our interest really lies.

I dealt directly with the owners at Enterbrook who were very friendly and helpful, if rather laid back, and the lack of a shared language sometimes got in the way of clarity. As a result it took me some time to understand that the stallion was not collected at their stud, but at a nearby approved EU collection station.

As a private owner, it was quite challenging trying to establish who I should be contacting to finalise arrangements for the shipping of the semen, and to get the timing right (although we were using frozen semen which made life easier) but I was enormously helped by advice from Lisa of Elite Stallions. Although she does not represent the Enterbrook stallions she was shipping semen from the EU station in the Netherlands at the same time that I was seeking to make arrangements for the importation of the Sandro Beast semen, and offered a space in the container that she was having couriered over. Sadly, after all this, Abbey and frozen semen did not seem to be compatible, so we were no further forward after 3 attempts. SO, up against time and yes, you’ve guessed it, yet again we found ourselves going down the road to Brendon Stud, and chose their young stallion Warrior (Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve x Heartbreaker) for his jumping ability, his charisma, and his wonderful temperament, not to mention the very blingy chestnut foals of his that we saw out in the fields!

Meanwhile I had been chasing a stallion standing at Yeguada Campos in Spain – Chepetto C - who I really wanted for his breeding (Contender x MytensXX) which I thought would work particularly well with Beth. I guess that the experience typified the difficulties that there can be in nailing down studs and stallion owners on the continent, especially if you are a small breeder with just one or two mares, and therefore probably not of enough interest to the studs concerned. I tried a French stud which seemed to have some of Chepetto’s semen, but received no replies to several emails. The Spanish owner of Yeguada Campos sent me some enthusiastic and charming emails, but it was unclear if it was possible to ship chilled semen from the stallion over to the UK, and he was also travelling around Europe competing. At which point I thought that I had reached a dead end, only to discover a young stallion (Contados) with an almost identical pedigree standing at Gestuet Tannenhof in Germany! With a sinking heart I embarked on the same round of phone calls and emails – but the experience couldn’t have been more different.

The stallion owners - Holsteiner Horsebreeding - were incredibly friendly and helpful, and gave me all the details that I needed to contact Tannenhof. I spoke to someone with perfect English in Tannenhof’s office, and in spite of being on a knife-edge timing wise, they collected that day and shipped the chilled semen straight over for insemination the following day – and bingo! We had a blob! Both the stud and the stallion owners have kept in touch to follow up on news of scans, the owners very charmingly referring to Beth as their “daughter-in-law”! I could not have hoped for a more efficient and friendly service.

Contados

The moral of the story – if there is one? That the best stallion for your mare may often be standing much closer to home, tempting as it might be to pursue continental options. That where possible it’s easier to deal with continental studs through a semen agent – but do lots of research to establish those agents who give the best service and have a solid reputation! That as an inexperienced breeder, relatively new to the breeding world, I should have asked for lots more advice about studs, semen agents, and ordering semen from the continent, and have posted enquiries on the forums about people’s experiences. And I should have read the warning signals early on in my dealings with studs and semen agents – vague replies/no relies to emails should have warned me off!! All learning that could apply to the choice of UK stud, of course – except that language differences, semen collection and transport issues, and just distance, can make the experience of using an overseas stallion that much more complicated and challenging.

Right, well, I’m just off down the road now to look at next year’s choices .....

Ginny Smith
Oakwood Farm Stud

References :
Gestuet Tanenhof : http://www.gestuet-tannenhof.de/cms/front_content.php?changelang=2
Zangersheide : http://www.zangersheide.com/en
Enterbrook : http://www.enterbrook.nl
Yeguada Campos : http://www.yeguadacampos.com
Brendon Stud : http://www.brendonpyecombe.co.uk/brendonstud