11/10/2024
Thanks Ryan A. Fleetwood for sharing this article ! A great read for all of us in the horse industry that reminds us where our focus and priorities should be !
๐๐ญ๐จ๐๐ค ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ
Within the past 15 years, the stock horse industry has experienced significant shifts due to new incentive programs and substantial prize purses for performance and halter events. These initiatives have undoubtedly heightened interest and investment in the industry, providing breeders, owners, and competitors with exciting new opportunities. However, these financial incentives have also influenced breeding decisions in ways that, at times, have shifted the focus away from foundational breeding principles and traditional nicking aimed at improving the breed long-term.
๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐
Incentive programs and large purses have turned financial returns into a primary factor for many breeders, fundamentally changing how earnings are viewed. In the past, earnings were used to prove the quantifiable and tangible traits of the horse. Poorly built and unsound horses were culled from the program. However, in recent years, instead of prioritizing characteristics like correct conformation and soundness which lend to athletic ability, some breeders now look primarily at earnings, before considering other traits, to base earning potential of the offspring when selecting breeding stock. For them, the profitability and โpotential marketabilityโ of offspring is often weighted more heavily than the horseโs conformation, temperament, movement, or overall ability to improve the breed.
The unfortunate side effect of this approach is a narrow focus on short-term financial gains rather than fostering a resilient, well-built breed. Earnings and specialization have taken over true versatility that the stock horses were known for. Breeders who prioritize earnings often select sires and dams based on their earnings or show results as a first criteria, regardless of whether these horses possess the qualities that would contribute to a strong, versatile, and enduring horse, and use their โearningsโ as justification of breeding quality.
If a horse in todayโs era has amassed $400,000 or more early on in their career, they are often considered better than horses of the past that earned less in total. The notion that the horses of yesteryear had to go down the road for many years to amass their lifetime earnings due to lower purses is often forgotten now that we have incentives that pay over 200K or more in one shot.
๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ
The influx of money-driven breeding practices has also altered the traditional "nicking" process. Historically, breeders engaged in careful, thoughtful pairing of conformation first, then bloodlinesโoften testing generations of crosses and analyzing pedigree compatibility to ensure offspring possessed a desirable balance of conformational, movement, athleticism, disposition and trainability traits. This meticulous process, built on trial, observation, and expertise, aimed to produce foals that excelled in performance, durability, versatility, and temperament, contributing to the long-term health of the breed. Those who didnโt meet the standards of quality were culled from the breeding herd.
With increased emphasis on earnings, many breeders now skip the diligent pedigree evaluation, replacing it with a reliance on "magic crosses" or "golden nicks" based on earnings reports. Some believe that pairing two high-earning horses will automatically create successful, or more โmarketableโ offspring, overlooking other critical aspects like conformation, structural integrity, the compatibility of physical traits, and the ability, desire, and financial means of a buyer to maintain the training and showing of the prospect to the highest levels of competition. This has led to an oversimplified view of breeding, one that undercuts the importance of a well-rounded selection process. Relying on earnings as a guiding factor to create breeding pairs has proven ineffective for preserving key traits that make stock horses both versatile and durable. It has also led to heavy linebreeding which has doubled up on recessive traits and increased the instance of genetic diseases within the stock horse breed.
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐
๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
One of the most noticeable changes in the industry is the diminishing emphasis on conformation as a priority in breeding decisions. Previously, conformation was a cornerstone in determining an animalโs breeding value. Good conformation is essential for durability, soundness, and performance, impacting everything from a horseโs balance to its longevity in demanding work or competition.
However, as financial incentives have encouraged a results-focused mindset, many breeders now look at earnings reports or competition success as more valuable indicators than physical attributes. Horses with questionable conformation, and obvious conformation flaws which might historically have been culled as breeding stock, are now often selected due to their lifetime earnings, or high-earning progeny. This trend is worrisome, as poor conformation can lead to soundness issues, limiting a horseโs career and compromising the overall health and functionality of future generations. One of the leading pedigree analysts of her time, Susan Larkin, once stated, โ50% of any given bloodline isnโt breeding quality based on conformation alone. Thereโs a lot of high earning horses out there that are built very poorly, and have soundness issues, but advances in veterinary medicine, deep pocketbooks, and achieving dreams keep the horse in the show pen and earning money, often to the detriment of the horseโs well-being and soundness.โ
๐๐จ๐ง๐ -๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก
In the long run, this trend of breeding that focuses so heavily on financial incentives rather than for breed improvement has a detrimental impact on the stock horseโs future. Breeding decisions focused on immediate financial gain have compromised essential traits like soundness, temperament, genetic health, and structural integrity. Without careful attention to these core qualities, there is a risk that future generations will lack the versatility and resilience that define stock horses. Are we really creating โbetterโ horses or are advances in veterinary medicine and training keeping conformation traits that breeders of the past would deem mediocre โpopular.โ
Over time, the breed will continue to see increases in physical issues such as joint and hoof problems, kissing spine, osteoarthritis, juvenile arthritis, OCD lesions, and more, often exacerbated by poor conformation and structural weaknesses. This not only shortens individual horsesโ careers but also imposes physical limits on their capabilities and health, weakening the breed as a whole, but not before they have a chance to earn a large sum while they are young. Additionally, a shift in breeding priorities has reduced genetic diversity, as popular high-earning lines are overused without consideration for broader genetic compatibility. Many people donโt understand how to make a true outcross, and are scared to even try, citing โdecreased marketabilityโ as their reasoning. One only needs peruse social media groups to find an abundance of queries of people looking for stallions with X amount in earnings that will be a โmarketableโ cross for their mares.
While incentive programs and large purses have brought new energy and investment into the stock horse industry, they have also redirected the focus of many breeders from building a stronger, more resilient breed to short-term financial outcomes. For those committed to the betterment of the stock horse, it is crucial to prioritize conformation, soundness, and compatibility in breeding pairs and to remember that the true legacy lies in preserving and enhancing the breedโs defining traits for generations to come.
