Dressage Stallions Available to North American Breeders and Research

I've just spent the last two hours dutifully re-researching every KWPN-approved stallion available to North American breeders via fresh cooled or frozen semen.  If you don't have a membership to the KWPN or haven't paid for access to the KWPN Stallion Data Base, it's worth it.  There isn't a stallion available that I haven't either researched before, seen in person, and/or attended his foal inspection, but my OCD won't allow me to make my breeding picks until I've reloaded the available data into my somewhat addled brain.

The good news is that there are more stallions available to us than ever.  The bad news is that the fresh-cooled options are still woefully lacking.  The issues remain the same:  Good KWPN-approved stallions are expensive; expenses to import, campaign, market, and maintain a stallion are prohibitive; and, the breeding base is still to small to warrant this kind of investment for all but the uber wealthy. There are some short-term and long-term approaches we could take to rectify this.

Our jury has already taken one of these steps by licensing a new dressage stallion for us, Gaspard de la Nuit DG. Although I'm not crazy about the mareline on this horse, at least the pedigree is interesting and we have another fresh-cooled option.  From what I can tell, he should bring suppleness and a super canter to his foals.

Carol just asked me what I'm writing about.  Her response, "Ooh, don't diss people with stallions!"  I'm not.  I swear.  We Americans are so over-sensitive about our horses.  I've just spent two hours reading honest, published descriptions of approved stallions, their plusses and minuses during testing, the strengths and weaknesses of their mothers, and the positive and negative effects they initially presented through their foal collections.  Unless we adopt a similar pragmatic, honest approach to the evaluation of our breeding stock, North American breeders will always be behind our Dutch counterparts. There is no one more critical of my horses than me.  Of course, there's also no one more enthusiastic about my horses than me.  It's this kind of dichotomy that allows me to keep our program growing and improving.

Another step our organization could take to help this situation is by doing something that, at first, may seem counter-intuitive to providing more fresh-cooled options.  At the end of each keuring season, our jury could identify one or two traits that need improvement in our breeding population, then the organization could facilitate the bulk purchase of frozen semen from a stallion that reliably contributes what we're lacking.  By making one or two stallions available to North American breeders at a reduced rate, we would systematically improve our breeding population and, in the long term, have a better chance of producing more approvable stallions.  In Holland, the theory is that the KWPN responds to the needs and wishes of the breeders.  As I've quoted before, Wiepke Van de Lageweg says it the breeders' job to set the direction for the KWPN, not the other way around.  We're not in the same position as breeders in Holland, however.  We don't have the broad knowledge base, access to venues where we see horses competing every weekend, nor options for genetic diversity.  We need our organization to lead more in this area. I'm not advocating that the KWPN-NA become a frozen semen broker, but there are ways our office could facilitate more options for us. Why couldn't our Stallion Owner Committee partner with its Dutch counterpart and help provide this?

We could also have our own "Erkend" system in North America.  If our jury and directors were to work with the KWPN to evaluate all Grand Prix competitors approved in other studbooks in North America, and already available via fresh-cooled semen, with the purpose of finding two or three that could contribute to our breeding population specifically, we could end up with two or three more fresh-cooled options.

Of course, my favorite option is still a co-operative venture similar to DBNA or WBNA through which breeders with a vested interest in improving not only their own programs but the strength of the breeding population as whole get together and invest in leasing, buying, and investing in stallions and stallion prospects. Now that the Euro is plunging, the timing is better than ever for this kind of venture.

January Thoughts and Happenings

2015.  When did that happen?  And, thus, I begin my 17th year writing this journal.

I have high hopes for this year--not only this year, but the future in general.  The older I get, the more optimistic I get about life, purpose, horses, and the connections among people.  Perhaps, it's the counterpoint to such atrocities as ISIS, school shootings, and Ted Cruz's appointment as chair of the Senate subcommittee in charge of NASA. Seriously,  though, I believe in people more than I have at any other time in my life.  There is peace in Existentialism--it's just taken me half a century to start to actualize it.

On the horse front, we have a super exciting year ahead of us:

Gazania, our Bon Bravour mare, arrived safely in the USA this weekend.  I can't wait to get her home and get to know her better.  All reports are that she is as sweet as can be.  She's our first mare to foal this year, and I'm like a little-kid-on-Christmas-morning excited about this foal.  I've already picked out his name! And, if the equine forces of the universe present us with a filly instead, her name is also all set.

While on the subject of foals, all eight are our breedings are exciting. Knock on wood all goes well, we'll have the first Eye Catcher, Governor, and Fairytale foals in North America, plus three more of our beloved UB-40s, and our first Mini foal!

And, of course, this year's breedings...you all know how obsessed I've been with these picks since the end of last breeding season, so there's probably no reason to recount all of the waffling, video viewing, and pedigree analysis I've put myself through over the last four or five months--but, let me just say, I'm exhausted! Stallion picks for 12 mares!  Who has the time, energy, or will for that kind of obsessive compulsive commitment?  Yeah, you're right.  I do.  Let me repeat my mantra:  Think multiple generations, not just the next one.  What is it I want to accomplish over the long haul of our breeding program?  That's way more important than breeding to a popular stallion in order to sell a foal. UB-40 is still my guy.  I'm going old school on a couple choices just to make sure I keep the balance and substance I want in a dressage horse.  I'm going super modern on a couple choices to bring the type and suppleness I want consistent in our program. And, I'm planning one, if not two, really out-of-the-box breedings.  So, those are the four prongs of my approach this year:  consistency, balance, suppleness and type, and thinking a couple generations ahead in a way that no one else probably will.  My biggest conundrum? They're almost all chestnut stallions on mostly chestnut mares. Hopefully, other people like chestnuts as much as I do.

Speaking of chestnut mares, we're really hoping that our Charmeur x Santano mare, Hyacintia, has the same kind of success her big sister had last year. If we have another mare make the National Finals, I'm going to be in Ermelo for it!

While I'm on the subject of keurings (I realize my transitions are becoming a little redundant), Zaz Putnam and I have applied to host a two-site keuring this year, which will probably be partially closed to outside horses just due to stabling issues.  Before anyone gets the wrong idea or his or her feelings hurt, this is not meant as a slight to other New England breeders.  I love our keurings and get togethers, but attending someone else's keuring costs us thousands of dollars and puts extra stress on our horses.  This year, potentially, we have seven babies to present, four or five IBOPs to be ridden, and a couple of horses to present for studbook/ster/keur eligible.  That's a total of 20 horses to prep, transport, and pay for.  We just can't physically move and manage that many horses safely and effectively.  The plan is to use Zaz's great facility for the adult classes and riding tests.  She has an indoor, a dressage ring, and a jumping ring, all with fantastic footing--but she has very limited stabling in addition to her own horses, with no place to put temporary stalls.  We'll do all festivities and foals at our farm, which is 20 minutes away. People could certainly work out of their trailers, as everyone does in Holland at a keuring, but we're just not going to have additional stabling.  We do have some options for off-site, overnight stabling, but that would still mean people have to work out of their trailers at the keuring itself. Of course, the KWPN-NA has not made its decisions yet about who's hosting what, so this may be a moot post, and I may be only taking a couple horses to someone else's keuring--but, if we do get it, I wanted other New England breeders to know my thought process.

Now, really speaking of keurings, the STALLION SHOW!!!!  It's only two weeks away.  Two weeks from tomorrow night, Michaela, Keagan, Jackie Cartesio, and I will be getting onto a plane at Logan and about to pop a sleeping pill.  We'll be joining three tables full of friends and fellow KWPN breeders for my favorite weekend of the year!  I haven't decided if I'm writing a full report this year or not.  Now that there's live streaming and so much information available online, it seems unnecessary.  Nonetheless, I'm excited.

On the good news front and continuing the positive slant of this post, on Thursday, I successfully (knock on wood--we won't know for sure for three months) went through heart surgery to correct an arrhythmia caused (we think) by the chemo I had to go through a few years ago.  The doctors tried to control it with drugs, but they didn't work, so surgery was the next step. In preparation, to give myself the best chance possible of its working, I've lost 40 pounds, upped my exercise frequency and intensity, and given up alcohol.  My 96-year-old father remarked the other day that I had really lost some weight.  He asked me how much, so I told him.  He then replied,

"Really?  You don't look as if you've lost that much."

Always something to keep you humble!