POV
genetically interesting mare herd based on Thoroughbred mother lines in the second and third generation, with Donnerhall, Pik Koenig, Graphit, Lacapo, Capitol I and Donauwind on top. My goal is to keep as many top daughters as I can from our older stallions Pilox and Justice, out of these mares. So fingers crossed for fillies in ’13 and ’14! Weaknesses? I’d like to bring rounder movement to my dressage products, consolidate the size in my ponies and always watch for good solid feet and strong bone. Annalou: We have four mares. My jumper mare (Indoctro x Wellington) is almost a pony, so she needs a big stallion, but her character is so great—she says, ‘I can do anything!’ And she has a good trot, which is also important for a jumper mare, as she is loose, not stiff, and I see that in her babies. Our dressage mares are by UB40, Houston and Florencio, and out of either the same dam as Ravel (Hautain by Democraat x Wisconsin), or they are half or full sisters to Ravel, who is by Contango out of Hautain. They have great trots, great character and the ability to sit to do piaffe and passage even in play, as babies. They need a stallion with a big frame and a very good walk and canter.
What do you think about the current trend of favoring brilliant, exciting, young and unproven stallions over the older, more established stallions? Can one stallion fulfill both of these goals for you? Which ones, and why? Judy: I think of lemmings. You
know, those little creatures that all flock together. If one zigs, they all zig… if another zags, they all zag.. if one goes over a cliff, well.. you know! But seriously, that is not the way to breed horses, just by picking the young stallion that is on everybody’s lips. It takes years to find out what kind of mare base does best for a stallion. My advice is this: I will use my best producing mare with
a young unproven stallion, as I did with Dream Rubina and Quaterback. That decision produced the licensed stallion Qredit, owned by Hilltop. With young unproven mares, I use significant, older, proven sires: i.e. Belissimo M., DeNiro, Diamond Hit, Don Schufro. Annalou: My father and I talk about this all the time—
we make our breeding decisions a little different than some breeders. For us it must be a gut feeling, like falling in love! We talk and talk, watch videos, visit the stallion and then we talk some more. But what is most important is not what is on paper, like the linear scores, but something that is hard to tell and explain. I see a stallion and it’s a yes or a no, I just
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know. The young, brilliant, unproven stallions can be more affordable and also we need outside blood right now in Holland. I liked Netto (Negro x Purioso) in Den Bosch and the young jumper Epleaser. (We’ve used the mirror-image cross, Inshallah de Muze, son of Nabab de Reve out of a For Pleasure dam). We’ve also used Don Tango, UB40, Lord Leatherdale and Dexter. I asked my father about going with an older stallion again for our Houston daughter—the proven stallions can be a more sure thing to sell the foal, but the drawback is, like with Jazz, that it is genetically a dead end here, because there’s nothing to breed her with anymore!
Annalou De Man and father, Henk. What percentage of your breeding budget
(which includes time, energy and available space as well as actual cash) will be spent on up-to-the-minute, trendy market breedings and what percentage will be spent on bloodlines you think will further long-term goals? Rachel: Eighty percent of the time I go with tried and true,
20 percent new and trendy—but they have to really wow me to be part of that 20 percent. I’m always on the lookout for what the buzz is about but I really trust my own opinion. You can’t go by what you hear or read on the internet — you have to make an educated decision for yourself. I’m super excited about my new young stallion Coronet D’Honneur (Comme il Faut x Dinard L), as he covers both bases for me! Scot: I only breed horses that I would intend to keep for our
program, so all of our breeding funds go to matches that I think will produce the next generation of breeding superstars. Judy: I ask mare owners ‘what is
Scot Tolman and his prize Totilas filly Galearites SSF.
your goal’? Horse breeding is hard enough already—you have to stack the odds in your favor. I know that people are breeding for the foal market instead of riding horses, both in Europe and the U.S. I would like to see American breeders put a lot of
thought into their programs and produce foals that are solid, full of charm and movement yes, but also with a deep pedigree, good physical structure and the potential to become a long- lived and successful riding horse. Abigail: For me, it’s more than breeding to a name or ‘the
best to the best.’ That method of breeding is risky. While I have contemplated trendy, I have chosen to take a step back in time and learn from history. I am constantly researching genetics and striking up conversations with breeders and riders of all sport-horse breeds and disciplines. I do all of the breeding work myself and I’m very lucky to have a partner who is a Dutch-born Grand Prix dressage rider, so I am not missing the rider-breeder communication. He was taught by Peit Oothout and Henk Van
Jenna Tetti
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