BREEDER’S POINT OF VIEW A
lmost every industry goes through a process of re-birth. Economic cycles turn, competitors appear and the needs of consumers evolve. Often it is in the darkest hours of
recessionary trends, high costs, powerful offshore competition and warnings by industry pundits declaring imminent doom, that the best new ideas and opportunities for prosperity and growth are re-born. Our sport horse breeding industry in North America is no exception. Certainly we have experienced these negatives recently. Are we ready for a renaissance? I’d like to make the case that YES we are. Here’s why. Many economic and competitive factors are aligning to bring
the focus back to buying North American bred sport horses. Some have to do with the dollar—euro exchange rate, increased costs of importation and inherent risks in “fly-buying” a horse from Europe. With the economic pressure on our middle class, many can’t afford to show every weekend, and fewer can “ride a checkbook” and buy an experienced show ring star on which to collect ribbons in a full service professional show barn living on the road. Whether by necessity or by inborn passion and love for all things equine, many seem to be rediscovering the deep satisfaction that riders, especially aspiring professionals, can experience when they develop and train their own young prospect. A refocus on “born and trained in North America” is both the opportunity and the solution to many of our economic and social challenges within the horse industry.
A SHORT HISTORY Thirty to forty years ago, horses from this side of the Atlantic dominated not only the world’s race tracks but our local and national show rings, and quite often the international stage as well. Our top competitive riders of that generation bought young stock, often American Thoroughbred or Quarter Horse crosses, trained them themselves with minimal help and coaching, and brought their partner to the highest level possible—sometimes all the way to the Olympics or world championships. Take my sport of show-jumping as an example. In the 1980s North American riders were formidable. The U.S. Olympic show jumping squad won Gold in 1984 and Silver in 1988. Many of these medalists rode American Thoroughbreds partnered with since the horse was very young. Some of the great names of the day and legendary examples are Joe Fargis and Touch of Class, Rodney Jenkins and Idle Dice, Lisa Jacquin on For the Moment and Greg Best with Gem Twist. And though Warmbloods were also on the winning teams, some of these were born in North
By Kc Branscomb Kelley
A Renaissance for North American Sport Horse Breeding
America (Abdullah, for example, was foaled in 1970 by a breeder in Canada who imported the mare from Germany) or imported as a youngster and developed here. To be a great competitor in that era you generally also had
to be a great trainer of young horses. You grew competitively as a partnership. Even the juniors and amateurs competing in the hunter or equitation divisions often started with a young locally- bred horse and worked with their trainer to move up through the green horse classes. The philosophy of the day often was focused less on chasing points and more on building a relationship with your horse. Except at the very highest levels of the national equitation finals, it was unlikely to find someone leasing a horse either as an owner or as a rider. In a June 1988 Sun Sentinel interview, Show Jumping Hall of Fame inductee Rodney Jenkins, who had just been named AHSA Horseman of the Year in 1987, was asked why he stayed in the sport with all the hardships and challenges for over 30 years. He replied, “That’s the reason I stayed in it so long, [because] I enjoy the animal. It’s nice to see a horse come from knowing nothing and making him a Grand Prix jumper. It’s a great feeling of development. It’s like watching a kid grow up.”
AMERICA’S AFFLUENCE AND EUROPE’S INFLUENCE Now flash forward to the 1990s: North America is affluent and expansive. With the ability to ship horses by air and a concentrated competitive effort by certain regional breeding collectives in Northern Europe (such as the Verbands in Germany) to produce elite jumping prospects specifically for export,
Mare and foal at Branscomb farm. Warmbloods Today 57
Photo courtesy Kc Kelley
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