How do you choose your stallions?

M

Malibu

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 February 2006
Messages
2,191
Location
In the Saddle
Visit site
As some of you may know, My family and I breed dogs and there are many opnions on studs and how you choose them. We as a stud choose stud dogs that can improve the bitch ie bitch has loose feet so a dog with tight cat like feet and a known history and offspring history of tight feet would be a consideration but there are also so many other aspects to look at such as the pedigree so we tend to look back many generations and also look at offspring and how the sire has stamped various offspring from different bitches of different breeding and shape.

So after all that my question is to all you studs and those that breed, is your theory of breeding the same or do you pick your favourite stallion because he is what you like and you hope to get a mini version or do you research and maybe choose something that is not winning so much etc but will in theory produce a winner (hopefully)

Thanks for reading
 
I know im not a stud or a breeder, but when i was looking for a stallion for Bloss i spent ages going through them all. I looked at progeny - so what sort of foals they throw, what traits/conformation they pass on etc. Then i looked at Bloss's faults and tried to find a stallion that would compliment them
smile.gif
 
I bred my first foal this year. I was very critical of my mare, tried to balance her faults with the stallions strengths, his type and temprement. For example my mare is hot, so despite there being several stallions that suit her in type and faults/good points, they are also hot so I wouldn't put them to her. I'm aiming to produce good all round sport ponies with temprements for adults and children.

Things like good feet are essential to me.

I also looked at the results of his offspring that were competing affiliated and photos that showed their athleticism.
 
I found this article of interest.......

Just how much influence does a breeders match making have on the resulting foal.

http://www.hanoverian.com/ludwigherit.html

The attention to selection for the correctness of limbs, in particular forelimbs is only 16% and hind limbs 18% and considered insignificant.

The significance of the correctness of gait is also relatively low, whilst jumping ability is at 40% equalled with the head..

The quality of trot seems to be the most significant of the three gaits cnater a little lower and walk the least significant.

The saddle position also seems to be relatively significant.

Anyway food for thought..
 
There are those who would say that breeding is very complicated, in order to make themselves seem very clever. In my opinion it's not, but you've got to start off with a good mare. Put a donkey to an expensive stallion, and you'll get an expensive donkey. Use the best stallion that you can afford. Do your research and find out how successful he has been as a stallion, don't believe any old bullshit, do the background and educate yourself.

In choosing a stallion , personally I would never use a stallion I'd never met. That's easy from France, and I'm sitting at Zangersheide writing this now, so I have better access than most admittedly.

Do you like the stallion? If your eye is attracted to him, then there's a start. From there you have to decide if he suits your mare, but if you like him then you'll find that yoru decision is virtually made. From there, you need to have made sure that your eye is in, by seeing as many stallions as you can. If you have limited experience of viewing stallions, then your eye will be limited.

Suitability concerning the mare is a whole other thread and discussion. But I'd be surprised if any breeder here had used a stallion purely for what he'd do with the mare as opposed to really liking him.
 
[ QUOTE ]
But I'd be surprised if any breeder here had used a stallion purely for what he'd do with the mare as opposed to really liking him.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is very interesting, we have used studs previously that I have not been that keen on as in the "bigger picture" and have not done that well in the show ring but..... if we look at the finer points such as bone, head, eye colour then we have ended up with a stud that has all the attributes but I may have just not liked as a whole, we have done this several time and produced champions from this method.

Opie, will have a good read of the link when I get home.
 
No matter how much I liked the stallion if he did not suit the mare, I would not use him. It would also depend on what I wanted the end product for. I spent a lot of time researching the latest stallions. Not so easy when I bred my earlier horses. But I would always stick to approved stallions, Ben Ross was approved by the ID, (he died early). His daughter ex of my unreg TB mare was described as outstanding by the HIS judges at Malvern. She has gone on to produce decent competition horses & a very nice filly by Shaab who evented. He was a young stallion so difficult to see what was on the ground. She is graded as was her dam. Another stallion I used on a PBA was an AHS premium AA who had proved himself from Racing to hunting. Had produced many show winners & the resulting offspring beat some very well known prefixed horses at one of the Masterlock qualifiers. She never stopped XC or SJ's, & was as honest as the day was long. The 2 today are by very different stallions ex of very different mares. It is early days to assess how good they will be under saddle. Both stallions though are well bred ex of decent mares. One never got the commerical promotion he deserved IMO. The ISH I also feel would have been better produced by a professional, but I expect his owners pockets are not quiet deep enough! The grnd sires of both these stallions were commerically produced and I think it does make a difference.

I have been lucky with what I have bred todate because they have been an improvement on the dams, which at the end of the day is what it is all about.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But I'd be surprised if any breeder here had used a stallion purely for what he'd do with the mare as opposed to really liking him.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is very interesting, we have used studs previously that I have not been that keen on as in the "bigger picture" and have not done that well in the show ring but..... if we look at the finer points such as bone, head, eye colour then we have ended up with a stud that has all the attributes but I may have just not liked as a whole, we have done this several time and produced champions from this method.



[/ QUOTE ]

Very interesting. Like Ken I would find it very hard to use a stallion I didn't really like, however much he might suit the mare. But a friend of mine recently used a stallion that she does not particularly like in himself, purely because his foals from mares very similar to her mare are outstanding. The breeding worked beautifully - she got a super foal.

Another friend advised someone to use a certain stallion on one of her mares. I made a remark in conversation assuming that she must like the stallion in question, but she said 'oh no - I don't like him that much, he's not really my type, but he was perfect for that particular mare'. Again, she was right - the foal was very nice indeed.

But then I am sure there are just as many stories where objective calculation of suitability came after and secondary to 'I love that stallion' and the breeding worked equally well!!
wink.gif
 
Both stallions I have used on B, whilst I like them, I would not say I thought they were the bees knees themselves. These 2 stallions are wildly different in type, one being a TB, the other a more old fashioned WB. The reason for selecting H's sire, was based on his progeny performance, his ability to consistently sire correct offspring and I really liked his bloodlines for an event sire. Matilda's sire was chosen as I think that he improves upon himself in his foals (a trait I am not unfamiliar with in racing) and also the reports of the temperaments of his offspring being so amieniable. The fact that he is homozygous for colour was a bonus - a very good one, but also a HUGE gamble, as there is nothing like a badly marked coloured and I think my gamble paid off in that respect. If I were to breed from her again, I know I would look more towards the KWPN or Z line stallions, as I simply find these types aesthetically pleasing and also the sire reports are awesome. That said, I would not be able to register the resulting foal KWPN....... and there is little point in B papers as already discussed on here recently.
 
Given that I'm only likely to breed for myself from a much loved mare, I pick stallions whose character I like and who I believe will compliment the mare's personality and type.
We got a very nice foal a couple of years ago this way and she is exactly what we wanted (bar being a she, not a he!)
 
I think I am more like SN. Sometimes I may use a stallion that wouldn't be the one I want to see in my own stable, but because I like what he produces and can see that he stamps himself in a certain way that works with that mare.
There are a few stallions out there that I absolutely adore, they give me goose bumps. But I havent bred to them yet, nit been the right circumstances, and I want to make sure when I pick the right mare, the cross really works. Some of those goose bump stallions are not very commercial so I have to be aware of that as I breed to sell.

Back to the OP's question. It's a whole combination of things, including offspring, performance, pedigree, conformation and sometimes colour. As I like coloured horses I try and look at as many coloured stallions as I can before deciding which one will be the best match for a particular mare. With maiden and young mares it is harder as I dont know how prepotent she is herself, with my old girls its a little easier in some ways. With mares that I know the mother line very well its easier again as I know what will and wont work with her
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top