Not a Pure-bred !Sport Horses are a Work in Progress.The fact that your favorite Warmblood or Sport Horse breed is not a pure-bred can be a difficult concept to grasp. With the exception of the Trakehner, Cleveland Bay and Irish Draught, the "breeds" are not what we are accustomed to in our understanding of what "breed" means. For example, the Swedish Warmblood, a well established breed and type, has recently been bringing in Holstein stallions to improve the jumping capabilities of their stock, with excellent results. The Hanoverian Society will bring in Trakehner and Thoroughbred on a regular basis to lighten up their type, because without periodic adjustment they will quickly revert to a heavy coach horse frame. Leading the world in the production of dressage horses for years, recently the Hanoverian organization has been adding Selle Francais and Holstein to improve their jump. On the other hand, the Westphalian, Oldenburg and Rhineland owe their improvement in the dressage ring to the Hanoverian lines they have imported. The Irish Sport Horse, who has led the world rankings in eventing for over a decade, wanted also to regain the prominent position they once held in show jumping. So the Irish breeders have imported Holstein, Dutch and Selle Francais horses to make their jump competitive again. The Dutch Warmblood, a relatively recent sport breed has borrowed heavily from outside societies to create a horse that has reached the top rankings in jumping and dressage.
Follow this link to learn more about the roots of the sport breeds. Success in equine sport rests on a very fluid breeding base. To stay competitive breeders need to constantly seek to improve their bloodlines, often with outside blood. No sport horse society can rest on its laurels- it must continue to refresh and improve to stay at the top. As breeders of Sport Horses, for our success we need to absorb this "fluid" direction. And free up our concepts by taking the focus off the hip brand on the horse, and turn our attention to the important bloodlines for our goals. It is not the particular breed that is carrying the winning genes, it is the individual bloodline they have created or imported. Each Sport Horse breeder should start visualizing themselves as their own little breed society. As breeders we must assess our stock's lineage (pedigree) for the sport genetics it carries. Then the successful breeder will bring in the bloodline that will expand and energize those traits. Always when making our selections, to keep in mind that the sport success of a particular stallion is not a guarantee of his ability to pass it on. Sport success is the indication that the good traits are in the horse's gene pool, but a successful breeding record demonstrates pre-potency.
Gotthard was not valued until he was older Sometimes the less successful sport horse becomes the better breeder. How many times was a reject warmblood stallion, brought back to his original Warmblood Society because they underestimated his breeding potential? Ferdinand is a fine example: he flunked his examination and was rejected and ejected; only to be brought back to Hanover after his breeding value was realized, whereupon he established a dynasty. Gotthard is another who created a dynasty in Hanover late in his career because he was overlooked in the beginning. How many stallions were sold to other countries because they were under rated as sires only to prove they were stars by their breeding success? Cor de la Bryere, Ramzes and Farn are just a few of those that established winning lines in other countries.
Sport Horse breeders can obtain help in forming their breeding decisions by having an understanding of how the Warmblood and Sport Horse breeds originated. We have covered some of it briefly on this page but you will find you will free up your thinking and maybe open new possibilities for your breeding program if you study up on just how the successful breeds were constructed. If you have some interest in this you may want to check out this link:
Melissa Johnson's research on the origin of the European and German Warmbloods.
To build an excellent genetic base into our stock we should choose individuals who carry proven hereditary transmitters in their bloodlines. Sometimes a stallion is a failure at his home base, but a success elsewhere. Remember the other half of the equation: the mare. A great horse is bred from a good combination of genes. A stallion does not succeed in an environment where the mare's genetics do not suit him. A stallion that you choose for your mare doesn't need to be a world beater, but he does need to have the improvement and completion genes your mare needs, in order for you to produce that special foal. If you can find the best combination for your stock in a very good horse, so much the better, but do not let the sport success of a particular mate blind you to its genetic potential for your herd. It is the gene package you create in the foal that will make your success, not the fame of its sire. Famous sires and grandsires do help sell foals, but if you are in it for the long term, then the bloodlines you are building should be your primiary focus. This article published also in the Salt Block Gazette 2/08.
|
