H&C

26
Feb
2010

1 Comments

The ins and outs of colour and Mooiman shines

Alifra can not produce a chestnut foal

"Wednesday evening saw us setting off for the stallion show at Myerscough International Arena; having stallions training and competing at International level we have to limit the amount of stallion shows we attend. 2010 saw the introduction of the UK stallion Expo show, so a decision had to be made as to which event to attend.

We also hold our own stallion show every May - a concept we adopted from our European cousins: Each stud in europe hosts an event where breeders are offered hospitality and invited into the stud to see the facilities, meet people and the stallions at home, plus get the chance to not only see the prospective sires but their offspring out of a variety of mare lines - so with this event also on the calendar we had to choose one or the other of the two venues - the Expo or Myerscough - as attending both is not an option.

In 2009 Myerscough Arena provided a well organised friendly atmosphere with great importance on keeping costs to the producers to a minimum. They learned from this experience and made improvements accordingly. The 2010 showcase offered for a charge of just £15 per stallion including a stable, a mention in the event advertisment, provision of floor space for stud promotions and a detailed mention in the brochure.

The arena was packed to the rafters with not a seat to spare, which provided a wonderful audience for producers to present their stallions. The bustling crowd created a great atmosphere - 34 stallions entered and just eight withdrawals. With Mat providing informed captivating commentary, the stallions danced to up beat music to a great crowd as you can see from the video clip below of Mooiman hfd during his performance......I pay tribute to the organisers, the audience and the stallion owners - a great night for everyone!

Thursday brought a return of ice and snow. The stallions were tired after their trip out and were happy to rest and stroll on the walker; for once I had time to catch up on paper work and read the forum reviews on the stallion show.

One comment caught my attention: "Mooiman hfd was awesome and I don't usually do chestnuts," this interested me and provoked a response.

As a stud who embraces breeding values from the world's leading stud books for sport horses, we have to consider the old adage "a sport horse has no colour." The colour of a sport horse is not a consideration for inspectors when assessing mares and stallions for grading.

However there is an important section of the breeding public to whom colour is of significant importance. To this section of our industry, I advise consideration be given to the Homozygous status of the stallion rather than the colour of his coat.

It is quite common for a DNA tested stallion or mare with a black coat to have 50% red gene and 50% black gene, so despite the colour of the coat you still will only have a 50/50 chance of having a black foal. The same applies that a mare or stallion with a chestnut coat may have 50% red gene and 50% black gene, giving you the same 50/50 chance of breeding a black or bay foal.

If attention is not paid to the DNA status of your stallion or mare, your 11 month wait for your black mare to give birth to her foal sired by a meticulously chosen black stallion could result in your mare presenting you with a chestnut foal.

It is common for most breeding stations to DNA test their mares and stallions and include the results on the stallion's CV. For example, the KWPN stallion "Ampere" does not carry the red gene - this is included in his stud CV stating "he does not give chestnuts." We have a KWPN homozygous black mare - she will only have black or black bay offspring; this is included on her breeding CV. We also have a KWPN homozygous coloured mare - she will only have a coloured foal and this also is included in her stud CV.

On Saturday the frozen arena surface kept us in walk. All the horses, even the youngsters just being started, coped with light hacks around the arena plus a welcome call confirming a viewing for our two year old gelding "San Tropez" - Santana hfd x Rough Lad, scheduled for Monday.

As can happen, the viewing was postponed. Many reasons can affect a client coming to view a horse and we accept this as part of our work. Never the less you can't help be disappointed; much effort is put into making a horse presentable for a prospective buyer, especially in the deep mid winter and it is unfair to expect people to sift through hair and winter debris in an attempt to see their future sport horse..... Ah well, never mind, he enjoyed a good trim and a valuable lesson in being handled.

Wednesday and young stock advertising is on my mind! The photo is of the black mare - this is "Alifra" who is homozygous black. Here is the video of Mooiman from the stallion parade: