breeder’s POINT OF VIEW
Reactions to the 2010 70-Day Stallion Test By Ann Daum Kustar
What do they have in common? All either failed or ranked near the bottom of their stallion performance test. And while many top sires ranked high in their 70 or 100-day stallion test, the question remains—does stallion testing really work? And especially, does it work for North America? The answer depends on what people expect the tests to
V
reveal. Is a 70-day test result the most accurate prediction of which stallion will become a top sire? No. In fact, scores are not given for highly heritable traits such as quality of conformation, or breed and sex type. That’s for registries to decide in their licensings. Is a 70-day test the most accurate and timely way to evaluate the performance traits of a sport horse stallion as compared to his peers? Probably. Does it work here the same way it does in Germany?
Well, yes and no—the rules, scoring, judges and staff are the same, but the stallions’ ages vary more than in Europe (between 3 and 11 this year), their preparation for the test is more varied here, and the number of participants is, for the most part, smaller. Thirteen stallions completed the 2010 North American
70-day stallion test at Silver Creek Farms in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. During the finals held November 11th–13th, stallion owners held their breath and spectators around
oltaire. Sandro Hit. Grannus. Capitol I. Athlet Z. Modern day Warmbloods wouldn’t be the same without these super-star sires in their pedigrees.
the country watched live online as the stallions showed off their skills of free jumping, dressage, and cross country. But what the online coverage didn’t broadcast were weeks of work and evaluation that came beforehand. In order to provide a level
playing field, all stallions live on site and receive the same care and training throughout the 70 days. This means the test hosts a German training director, four test riders, a groom, and a barn manager on staff for the entire 70 days, as well as two judges and four guest riders for the final days of the test. One thing everyone agreed upon was the excellent
standard of care and training given the stallions by Silver Creek Farm and the test staff, including training director Harald Hoffmann. However there was a lot of confusion and frustration about the final rankings and the fairness of the index system and bell-curve used to average the results.
GERMAN SCORING The system of indexing stallion scores originated in Germany. Half of each stallion’s final score comes from the training director, who evaluates the stallions throughout the 70 days, and the other half from outside test riders and judges, who
Top: Local entertainment at Silver Creek. Above (L to R) Contiano BF jumps cross country. Galante HU’s amazing big jump. Colorado Skrodstrup galloping cross country Photos by Ann Daum Kuster
66 March/April 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84