H&C

INTRODUCING HOLDEN FOLD STUD

Angela with Mooiman and her dogs

"At Holden Fold Stud, the mares and stallions are all in work - especially Mooiman HFD. With the first part of his qualification for the World Equestrian Games complete, we have to make a decision about his availability for the 2010 breeding season. We have enough frozen semen for all the stallions, but most breeders prefer fresh or fresh extended. A stallion's competition CV is of great importance, just one of the dilemmas for the fast approaching breeding season

Throughout Christmas, I found myself multi-tasking. Once Mooiman's morning work out is complete, I slipped into the role of 'Stud Administrator', meeting advertisement deadlines, approving artwork and scrutinising the final details for the fast approaching 2010 breeding season. A mistake here could mean a whole month's stud promotion is lost. Horse Deals have managed our stud promotions for several years and we have built up a good working relationship. They know the stallions and they know me; this makes my job much easier.

On Christmas Eve, with the last of the Christmas mail came the covering certificates for the Oldenberger passports and the FEI registration fees for stallions who will compete internationally in 2010. Ah well, we'd been frozen solid for a week by this point, enforcing an unscheduled break for the stallions, breeding mares and youngsters in work. The horse walker kept them all exercised so Brian decided to crack on with catching up with his paper work and the covering certificates were at the top of his list.

The New Year brought a very interesting email from a man called Gotien Sipsma, a breeder in Holland enquiring if we still had the broodmare, Ilana. He bred the mare, and sent us photos of a son of hers competing in Holland at level 4 (similar to UK Advanced Medium). Wow! The mare is 20-years-old this year and he has traced her to us here in the UK on New Year's Day. I'd say this is a good start to the new decade!

January brings a flurry of breeding enquiries. The Connemara stallion we stand, Scottsway Stormy Sunset, has his first breeding enquiry from Coilltedubh Connemara Ponies in Ireland, so his owner, British Dressage Judge Rosie Dugay, will be pleased. We've also received the first of many foaling liveries, with a booking for a special pony mare bought from Germany in 2009 who will be a first time mum. The owner's stud, Sports Pony UK, are taking no chances with her precious foal.

We also received a complex enquiry; one of our clients is shipping frozen semen to us from America and needed advice on the information she has received concerning a quote for 50 insemination doses of semen. She urgently needed us to confirm how many doses per cycle she would use, what size of straws are recommended (5ml or 0.5ml), is there a cost difference in the two sizes, which straws are easier for shipping and how many straws fit into a single shipper. Brian is becoming very busy answering these queries!

The latest snow and ice is relentless; we can't get the broodmares out of the stable block. The older mares will be okay; they occupy the huge 20 x 15ft foaling bays so they can move around enough. The younger mares have to be patient. We can still get the youngsters and stallions to the walker, but digging a trench through the snow each morning at 6.30am is getting tiring for Brian, so we are grateful that we are not yet scanning and collecting or we would have to pull something special out of the hat."

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