Consensus of Theories in Breeding of The Thoroughbred
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 2:42 pm
Here is some theories for those of you who are interested in the breeding of Thoroughbreds
Consensus of Theories in Breeding of The Thoroughbred
(1)The best bred mare, regardless of her racing performance on the track, provided she has not been kept in training too long and over raced, will be the most successful reproducer of superior progeny.
(2)The most successful race horse on the track is usually the best stallion, provided that he is of top-quality breeding, that he is a fine physical specimen of the desired conformation, and that he comes from a successful sire line. This can be stated another way: a stallion must have four credentials: first, successful racing performances; second, soundness of conformation; third, a healthy constitution and temperament; fourth, a pedigree of quality as to individuals, families, and transmittable ability.
(3)The collective success on the race track and in the stud of all the sires in the first three generations is more important than the aggregate excellence of all the dams on the track and in the stud in the first three generations. Said another way, this means that there is a significant correlation between consanguinity and performance, especially in the sire line.
(4)There is an important correlation between the performance of the ancestors and the offspring.
(5)The progeny of finely bred stallions will not be very stout and robust if foaled by a mare whose pedigree does not show much stout and sturdy blood for stamina (constitution).
(6)The dam’s pedigree should contain some inbreeding to both speed and stamina so that the sire with the desired characteristics may be selected to both transmit and fortify it.
(7)In nearly all mares , one of her first three foals will indicate her potentialities as a broodmare. This foal will be the guidline.
(8)If a mare who has not revealed her racing class does not produce an acceptable colt or filly who is successful on the race track among her first three foals, the odds are against her ever producing acceptable offspring.
(9)The second, third, fourth, and fifth foals of a mare have a much better chance of racing success than the first and any of the latter foals.
(10)Mares over 14 years of age do not produce foals as they did before this age. This correlation between the age of the mare and the class of her offspring is not absolute, but appears factual in about 75 percent of aged mares.
(11)It must always be kept in the breeder`s blueprint that all the primary characteristics of the sire and of the dam are transmittable ---- especially conformation, action, temperament, stamina (constitution) and soundness ---- and as a result of the balance of these characteristics, the ability to perform as a race horse and as a breeding animal.
(12)More emphasis should be placed on temperament , because the value of nearly a perfect horse will be greatly lessened if his temperament is unfit.
(13)The most ruinous act in breeding is to mate a stallion and a mare who possess the same fault in a marked degree.
(14)It is the best plan to select a stallion who is especially strong in the points where the mare is defective and vice versa.
(15)Soundness is especially desirable in a Thoroughbred stallion. Any kind of unsoundness in a stallion must be looked at with serious suspicion and studied carefully before the breeding contract is signed. Always view with alarm any stallion with a defect in wind, in eyesight, in diseases or abnormalities of the foot, curb, spavin, and any bony disease or malformation. Much depends on the severity of the fault , whether or not it is transmittable to the progeny, whether it is likely to predispose the progeny to unsoundness.
Consensus of Theories in Breeding of The Thoroughbred
(1)The best bred mare, regardless of her racing performance on the track, provided she has not been kept in training too long and over raced, will be the most successful reproducer of superior progeny.
(2)The most successful race horse on the track is usually the best stallion, provided that he is of top-quality breeding, that he is a fine physical specimen of the desired conformation, and that he comes from a successful sire line. This can be stated another way: a stallion must have four credentials: first, successful racing performances; second, soundness of conformation; third, a healthy constitution and temperament; fourth, a pedigree of quality as to individuals, families, and transmittable ability.
(3)The collective success on the race track and in the stud of all the sires in the first three generations is more important than the aggregate excellence of all the dams on the track and in the stud in the first three generations. Said another way, this means that there is a significant correlation between consanguinity and performance, especially in the sire line.
(4)There is an important correlation between the performance of the ancestors and the offspring.
(5)The progeny of finely bred stallions will not be very stout and robust if foaled by a mare whose pedigree does not show much stout and sturdy blood for stamina (constitution).
(6)The dam’s pedigree should contain some inbreeding to both speed and stamina so that the sire with the desired characteristics may be selected to both transmit and fortify it.
(7)In nearly all mares , one of her first three foals will indicate her potentialities as a broodmare. This foal will be the guidline.
(8)If a mare who has not revealed her racing class does not produce an acceptable colt or filly who is successful on the race track among her first three foals, the odds are against her ever producing acceptable offspring.
(9)The second, third, fourth, and fifth foals of a mare have a much better chance of racing success than the first and any of the latter foals.
(10)Mares over 14 years of age do not produce foals as they did before this age. This correlation between the age of the mare and the class of her offspring is not absolute, but appears factual in about 75 percent of aged mares.
(11)It must always be kept in the breeder`s blueprint that all the primary characteristics of the sire and of the dam are transmittable ---- especially conformation, action, temperament, stamina (constitution) and soundness ---- and as a result of the balance of these characteristics, the ability to perform as a race horse and as a breeding animal.
(12)More emphasis should be placed on temperament , because the value of nearly a perfect horse will be greatly lessened if his temperament is unfit.
(13)The most ruinous act in breeding is to mate a stallion and a mare who possess the same fault in a marked degree.
(14)It is the best plan to select a stallion who is especially strong in the points where the mare is defective and vice versa.
(15)Soundness is especially desirable in a Thoroughbred stallion. Any kind of unsoundness in a stallion must be looked at with serious suspicion and studied carefully before the breeding contract is signed. Always view with alarm any stallion with a defect in wind, in eyesight, in diseases or abnormalities of the foot, curb, spavin, and any bony disease or malformation. Much depends on the severity of the fault , whether or not it is transmittable to the progeny, whether it is likely to predispose the progeny to unsoundness.