11/09/2024
Something serious to ponder as you begin to research your breeding choices for the upcoming breeding season. We all have different goals, but in a way, all our goals are the same. Longevity and health of our breed as a whole. To continue on for generations.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬
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.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
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 “potential marketability” of offspring is often weighted more heavily than the horse’s 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 “earnings” as justification of breeding quality.
If a horse in today’s 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.
𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬
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 bloodlines—often 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 didn’t 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 “marketable” 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.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲
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 animal’s breeding value. Good conformation is essential for durability, soundness, and performance, impacting everything from a horse’s 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 horse’s career and compromising the overall health and functionality of future generations. One of the leading pedigree analysts of her time, Susan Larkin, once stated, “50% of any given bloodline isn’t breeding quality based on conformation alone. There’s 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 horse’s well-being and soundness.”
𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝’𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡
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 horse’s 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 “better” horses or are advances in veterinary medicine and training keeping conformation traits that breeders of the past would deem mediocre “popular.”
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 horses’ 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 don’t understand how to make a true outcross, and are scared to even try, citing “decreased marketability” 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 “marketable” 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 breed’s defining traits for generations to come.
