Question for CISS .. BEF RULES

[Renee]

Hi CISS,

I joined this forum to read your comments on the BEF and I am not understanding the 'entry' requirements for the BEF British Bred Foals fully.

I understood entry to be open to only British bred horses, but last year I watched foals at Catherstone who were bred abroad .

By this, I mean that the competitor(stud) had bought the mares in foal from abroad.

Until purchased these mares were full resident abroad and 'not visiting the stallion' and not UK based.

Does this mean that as long as you foalout the mare in the UK that you can claim it was British bred ?

I notice that the competitor(stud) has bought two mares in foal from abroad and entered both of these foals in the BEF as British Bred Foals and has bought another mare from abroad, again infoal (due this year) .... Will this 2008 foal, when born later this year also be eligiable ??


I would like to enter my 2008 foals, but I am very confused by the rules.

Can I enter the progeny of the infoal mares that I have bought from abroad claiming them as British bred ??

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can you take a youngster (2 year old colt) bred in germany or not (I've been a little confused) or is it just bred in the UK

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry no, animals have to be British-bred, so unless he was foaled in Germany whilst his UK based dam was visiting a stallion in Germany then he is not eligible. OTOH, some horses registered with the BHHS, TBF or German studbooks are decribed as being bred by a German breeder even if foaled in the UK as these studbooks describe the owner of the mare at the time of covering as being the breeder but becuase they are foaled here they are eligible. IOW, it is animals imported in their own right that are not eligible.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[Ciss]

We accept foals conceived abroad and then actually born here as British bred becuase we wish to reward the breeders insight in bringing high quality mares into the country to form a permanent part of the national breeding herd. This we do even if the passport provided by a foriegn/daughter stud books indicates that the breeder was from abroad becuase German studbooks (and some others) specify the the breeder is the owner at the time of covering not, as we do, the owner of the mare at time of birth.

In case of any dispute as to place of birth we would ask for veterinary proof of foaling in the UK , but if a mare is bought in foal abroad and then allowed to stay abroad and foal down there and is then recovered before import I \have a feeling that we would have to say that it was ineligible and would not qualify as British bred (such a situation has not happended yet).

 

[Renee]

Thank you for your reply Ciss. While I can understand that the relatively newly formed BEF would like to 'reward' the 'insight' of British breeders for thier investment in purchasing these mares (I myself have purchased quality continental mares for my foundation herd)

IMHO I do find the idea of 'claiming' the expertise of the foreign breeders’ knowledge in complimenting/selecting a sire for what was at the time of covering 'thier' mare as British s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the facts.

These foals were conceived through the knowledge/expertise of the foreign breeder and not a British owner.

The final foaling location of these particular foals should not surely negate this.

Would “we” then not be guilty of robbing (failing to acknowledge) the ‘true’ breeder of their accomplishment?

[“we” = includes myself, as I am in this situation having purchased mares already infoal and I do have pangs of guilt in claiming the foals as British bred when I have not contributed to their conception]