Where did you start?

B

Bounty

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Just wondering where all of you guys that are stud owners/managers got started?
Have you always been involved in breeding or just picked it up as you've gone along?

As you all probably know (and are sick of hearing about!) I'm breeding from my mare. It'll be a first foal for both of us, but to me it seems like I'm a million miles away from ever being as knowledgable as you guys... and could never imagine being responsible the successful breeding of other people's mares.
(p.s. - I have no plans to try running a stud, I'm just pondering about whether my ignorance will fade!
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Not a stud owner/manager but I started like you - wanting to breed a foal from my mare. The YO's were breeders and had lots of experience and helped me out a lot, I got v neurotic with my 1st foaling lol. 2nd a lot better but as there mare was a proven broodmare I wasn't worried and it went extremely well. I've learnt loads and being on here helps too. Try not to worry too much, get advice from people who know and you'll learn loads and eventually you'll be fairly knowledgeable. I think you never stop learning anyway, no matter how many foalings you've had.
 
well it started in the Jura hills of Switzerland, many many years ago, with not speaking the language hubby contacted a number of breeders in the region on my behalf and asked if they needed any help with their horses... after a few calls one old farmer eventually agreed to meet us... We drove to the farm one Sunday afternoon and I was just dumfounded at the beauty of his mares and foals, anyway shortly after weekends were spent at the farm, working with all the youngsters, he had some lovely horses but had no idea how to turn out so put my grooming skills into operation in preperation for the festival of the Horse at Lausanne held each September.... the quality of the horses hadn't changed but the presentaion was much imnproved.. and his horses started doing better and better as time went by winning the second year with Paloma......... anyway, he introduced me to pedigrees, we toured the annual gradings held in the villages every October, attended all the stallion Gradings, crossed the border into France and Germany and that is really when breeding became far more interesting than pony club camp........ never thought I would ever breed myself that was in a different land at a different time, anyway he offered me a gelding at a seriously reduced rate who after 7 years together developed COPD horses dont get much turnout in wointer in Switzerland, so I went back to him and bought my favourte mares first filly "Quinine" shortly after he died from his son.. we then moved to Swiss Germany and I stabled her at Stall Kronwall, we were only a stone throw away from the National Haras so my enthusiasm for breeding continued... Quinine was presented for her sport performance tests under Rudi Wallerbosh and he saw her potential so started to compete her... however living in Swiss Germany was not an easy culture to adapt to, so found myself heading to Scotland a further five years down the road along with Quinine..... I decided to breed her one year to have a year off from competition and she produced Chiquita......... and the day then that I delivered her was the day I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing this but never thought I would ever be in a position to do so... my passion and determination has pushed me to the limits to be able to do what I really love and could quite easily become the eccentric old wifey living on a hill and could well do without all the brava brava that goes with the industry
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well you did ask.......
 
Aww Opie that was fastinating reading!
My first homebred was from Molly my T/B mare who i rescued from a dealer yard, i then got her graded with the Hannovarian society and she has had 3 beautiful foals for me. My auntie used to work at Ian Baldings race yard and she was in charge of the broodmares and my passion for foals and breeding started there when i was a kid, i am still learning and have big dreams in my head for the future, only trouble is i havnt got pots of money lol
 
Opie, that was such a brilliant story of your experience, really inspiring! (And I think that there are a few of us who are in danger of turning into the eccentric old woman living on a hill - in fact, I think I probably already qualify!)

I'm just beginning, like you Bounty - we have just bred our first foal, and the post-birth period was NOT easy, with his mother very upset and refusing to let him feed at first, but he is a little superstar, and I'm completely smitten with the whole thing. I'm a complete beginner, but have benefitted so much from having someone helping who has worked on a stud, and really knows how to handle foals and educate them ... I'm learning so much, and so enthusiastic about the whole thing, from choice of stallion to birth of foal and beyond, that we have bought another brood mare, and expect 3 foals in 2008 at our little stables! The key thing for me is to have other people to support and teach you who know what they are doing, and can give you confidence. Also, learnt from bitter experience this year - always choose a vet who is really experienced in stud work, and knows what they are doing when handling newborn foals and maiden mares!
PS Oh - and be prepared to worry! I think that I worry much more about our foal than I ever did about my daughter when she was little!!!
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awwwww. thanks everyone, glad I didn't bore ya all to tears.......

Yes your right rufus, you learn all the time, there is a wealth of knowledge out there and have been very lucky that many of my teachers are very old have been in the industry for a very long time, have seen and done things and can offer so much! An open mind is the key to success - I think LOL
 
god well i bred my competition mare when i moved to my farm - we had no sand school and id just started work in teh city she bred a lovely bay colt called Sox who is now 2 yo - after seeing what she produced i let her have a year off and then put her to balou du rouet - then i was lucky enough to be offered a dressage mare with amazing breeding lines so got her this year and put her in foal and my other mare had a lovely bay filly called Phoenix !! I intend to put my mare into work caryy on breeding the dressage mare then buy a nother brood mare next year !!

It really facinates me and i love researching breeding lines and different stallions !!
 
Thanks all for your replies, maybe there is hope for me after all. An ignoramus forever I might not be! To be honest though, I think I might possibly not have been able to face breeding from Tills if it wasn't for the wealth of knowledge and help from HHO. Breeding for the first time is daunting enough as it is, without trying to do all by yourself!

Opie - such a romantic story. Do you still have Quinine?

Rufusbluemoon - Sounds like you've been bitten by the breeding bug then! Luckily my vets are quite heavily into their breeding and have been fab so far. Also, I'm surrounded by breeding buffs here (*cough* HorseGroupie, AndyPany, bbmat...!), the stud which we used is 10mins away and one of my neighbours breeds arabs; so if we get into difficulties I have a few people to come to my rescue
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But yes, I expect I will worry! At the moment I'm too busy trying to get everything foal proofed
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Thanks Bounty... Oh yes I still have her, she is 16 years young and my absolute numero uno of them all .. and I still have Chiquita... and Chiquita's' first filly Achanenna. Chiquita has since had three foals having a well deserved break this year and Nenna will be bred for the first time next year...
Quinine is a mother to five foals, one born in Switzerland before I bought her, then Chiquita, Aquenna, Bequinna, and Cinquenno... her first colt and fifth foal...I wish I could do as much with our other mares as she has acheived but alas the boys come first.....

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Oh wow! She is GORGEOUS (don't know why I am surprised, having seen other pics you've posted!). So lovely to know that you still have your founding mare and that she's made such an impact on the way your life is turning out.
Just out of interest... what do the names of all those that you've mentioned translate as?
 
We decided to put my coloured 3 year old by Centyfield Nico in foal when I discovered I was pregnant, and then decided to buy another broodmare to keep the baby company. As the family had just acquired this farm we decided as we had the room that we would add another 2 broodmares which we did, one of which was already in foal for that year.

Meg foaled down and when Joey was born that was me hooked! The following year our four mares foaled down - and then because I was pregnant again it slotted into place to put them infoal again too!

Now we have several more broodmares and are getting much more into the AI side of things which has opened up endless choices of stallions. It becomes a way of life and it's one which I love - even my non-horsey other half almost enjoys it!!
 
what do the names of all those that you've mentioned translate as

No translation......... As all of our foals are regsitered KWPn we have to follow the letter ruling, so from the start we had the letter "A" "B" and this year C" We try to choose the first initial of the mare and all Umenno's colts end in "nno" and the fillies nni or nna..

simple really, Chiquita.. Achanenna Bachinno
Quinine : Aquenna, Bequinna, Cinquenno,
Velita, Bavarnno
Zermie: Bazinno
Edwina, Amenno, Buenno, Chelanno,

every year is definitely a challenge! and now McJonnas is also "NN" so its almost becoming like a stud prefix...
 
What a super thread! Loving all the stories, especially Opie's!

I've kinda gone about this the wrong way round - starting with a stallion rather than a mare! My first horse was an unbroken 4yo Arab stallion (yeah, I know, really sensible choice for a novice owner)! He covered a few mares, but was really more a performance horse (affiliated eventing, sj, dressage plus hunter trials, drag-hunting, etc.). When he died I was so devastated that I ran away from horses completely for about 13 years.

When I finally came out of mourning, last year, I set out (armed with a big royalty cheque from my first bestseller, and advice from a top Arab breeder) to find my ideal Arab colt. Trailed all over the UK and Europe searching, then saw and fell instantly in love with the 2yo H Tobago, in Wales. (I didn't 'discover' him or anything: he was already an international in-hand champion.)

Only problem: he was not for sale. I begged and pleaded and eventually persuaded his owners to let me buy him - I think they realized they would know no peace until they gave in lol!

This must be a classic example of totally undeserved 'beginner's luck', as he has now become the most popular first-season Arab stallion in the UK - with an unprecedented number of mares, and champion Arab breeders in the UK and Europe putting all their best mares in foal to him!
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But I can't even call myself a 'breeder', as I have no mares of my own. I'm just a typical besotted novicey one-horse owner....with a rather special horse!
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Well, I suppose if you are going to be 'just a typical novicey besotted one-horse owner' as you put it, then you might as well have a horse worth being besotted about, and I think everyone will agree that he is gorgeous (and I don't do arabs!
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You're a very lucky lady to have been able to persuade his previous owners to sell... they must be pig-sick now!
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Do you intend on getting your own mares at any point?
 
Similar to Rollestone I bought a 3year old mare when I was pregnant except she wasnt in foal, justloved the blood lines and she picked me! When pregnant with my second child we decided to put her infoal. Then we just got hooked and were offered some nice mares so kept going.
My first mare was amazing to us she had 6 foals one grade A Stallion, One Advanced mare (dam of Weston Justice) Two intermediate geldings and two brilliant hunter type mares to carry the line on. Sadly we lost her foaling her 6th foal, I still miss her now but do see some of her in some of her grandchildren.
 
Well my husband has worked in TB breeding for over 10 years, we met and following my competing, I have always wanted to breed sportshorses - so we decided to combine our skills!
Our own business really is in the fledgling stages right now, as we only moved to our premises this year, but we've been living on big studs for years now, so no shocks in store for us!
 
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Well, I suppose if you are going to be 'just a typical novicey besotted one-horse owner' as you put it, then you might as well have a horse worth being besotted about, and I think everyone will agree that he is gorgeous (and I don't do arabs!
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You're a very lucky lady to have been able to persuade his previous owners to sell... they must be pig-sick now!
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ITA he is stunning!!! I dont "do" Arabs either but he is something else, can we have some big pic's of him up please
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Well, I suppose if you are going to be 'just a typical novicey besotted one-horse owner' as you put it, then you might as well have a horse worth being besotted about, and I think everyone will agree that he is gorgeous (and I don't do arabs!
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You're a very lucky lady to have been able to persuade his previous owners to sell... they must be pig-sick now!
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Do you intend on getting your own mares at any point?

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Thanks Bounty - that is really sweet of you!
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Tobago's previous owners are the loveliest people on the planet. Seriously, the family are top international Arab show judges and trainer/handlers, but very soft-hearted, and they really love 'our' boy, as they still call him.
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They only let me buy him on condition that they be allowed to keep and show him for another 6 months - at no charge to me. There was nothing in this for them financially (quite the opposite), they simply couldn't bear to part with their boy so soon, bless them.

Their little farm in Wales isn't really set up for a big stud operation, so they knew they would eventually have to sell Tobago, but it was hard for them cos they adored him. I had a text from them shortly after he came to me, saying that there was "a big Tobago-shaped hole in our lives now". It made me cry.
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But we keep in touch, and they still come to see him and regularly send messages asking after him. The son, Mark, is still Tobago's show trainer and handler, and one of my most trusted advisors. He says they couldn't have wished for a better owner for Tobago - isn't that kind of him?

I would love to have some mares of my own, but I'm not quite ready for that yet - still got too much to learn! For the moment, I'm happy to let wiser and more experienced breeders use my stally - and I try to learn as much as I can from them.
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with all the expertise around you I think you should be tempted
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you will never look back, but next year will be a fab year for you when all the news pics and updates start pouring in, its better than Christmas!
 
I have a similar relationship with the lady I bought one of my mares from, she keeps in touch regularly. My mare is now living on borrowed time due to various problems, and I complied an album of photos of our time together to give to the previous owner. She's a tough cookie, but when she turned around and said that she couldn't of found a better home for Cybele anywhere, I was in absolute floods of tears. It really means something coming from her.

Might be just as well that you're waiting a while before getting your own mares - coudl take some time to find some that are truely worthy!
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really sorry your mare doesn't have much time left Bounty that is very sad, it is something I have not yet had to face but know the future inevitably has in store
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The album will be a lovely keepsake for you to cherish forever.
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It is heartbreaking. She's only 9 and is crippled with arthritis and various muscular issues from where she's been compensating for the joint pain. If I can get her through the winter and have her come out no worse than she is now then I will possibly breed from her, but at the moment I think it would just be unfair to even try. Taking it day by day. She's my horse of a lifetime.
 
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