Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses. Furthermore, modern breeding management and technologies can increase the rate of conception, a healthy pregnancy, and successful foaling.
Terminology[edit]
The male parent of a horse, a stallion, is commonly known as the sire and the female parent, the mare, is called the dam.[1] Both are genetically important, as each parent genes can be existent with a 50% probability in the foal. Contrary to popular misuse, "colt" refers to a young male horse only; "filly" is a young female. Though many horse owners may simply breed a family mare to a local stallion in order to produce a companion animal, most professional breeders use selective breeding to produce individuals of a given phenotype, or breed. Alternatively, a breeder could, using individuals of differing phenotypes, create a new breed with specific characteristics.
A horse is "bred" where it is foaled (born). Thus a colt conceived in England but foaled in the United States is regarded as being bred in the US.[2][3] In some cases, most notably in the Thoroughbred breeding industry, American- and Canadian-bred horses may also be described by the state or province in which they are foaled. Some breeds denote the country, or state, where conception took place as the origin of the foal.[4]
Similarly, the "breeder", is the person who owned or leased the mare at the time of foaling. That individual may not have had anything to do with the mating of the mare.[2][5] It is important to review each breed registry's rules to determine which applies to any specific foal.
In the horse breeding industry, the term "half-brother" or "half-sister" only describes horses which have the same dam, but different sires.[6] Horses with the same sire but different dams are simply said to be "by the same sire", and no sibling relationship is implied.[7] "Full" (or "own") siblings have both the same dam and the same sire. The terms paternal half-sibling, and maternal half-sibling are also often used. Three-quarter siblings are horses out of the same dam, and are by sires that are either half-brothers (i.e. same dam) or who are by the same sire.[8]
Thoroughbreds and Arabians are also classified through the "distaff" or direct female line, known as their "family" or "tail female" line, tracing back to their taproot foundation bloodstock or the beginning of their respective stud books. The female line of descent always appears at the bottom of a tabulated pedigree and is therefore often known as the bottom line.[8] In addition, the maternal grandfather of a horse has a special term: damsire.
"Linebreeding" technically is the duplication of fourth-generation or more distant ancestors.[7] However, the term is often used more loosely, describing horses with duplication of ancestors closer than the fourth generation. It also is sometimes used as a euphemism for the practice of inbreeding, a practice that is generally frowned upon by horse breeders, though used by some in an attempt to fix certain traits.
History of horse breeding[edit]
The history of horse breeding goes back millennia. Though the precise date is in dispute, humans could have domesticated the horse as far back as approximately 4500 BCE. However, evidence of planned breeding has a more blurry history. It is well known, for example, that the Romans did breed horses and valued them in their armies, but little is known regarding their breeding and husbandry practices: all that remains are statues and artwork. Mankind has plenty of equestrian statues of Roman emperors, horses are mentioned in the Odyssey by Homer, and hieroglyphics and paintings left behind by Egyptians tell stories of pharaohs hunting elephants from chariots. Nearly nothing is known of what became of the horses they bred for hippodromes, for warfare, or even for farming.
One of the earliest people known to document the breedings of their horses were the Bedouin of the Middle East, the breeders of the Arabian horse. While it is difficult to determine how far back the Bedouin passed on pedigree information via an oral tradition, there were written pedigrees of Arabian horses by CE 1330.[22] The Akhal-Teke of West-Central Asia is another breed with roots in ancient times that was also bred specifically for war and racing. The nomads of the Mongolian steppes bred horses for several thousand years as well, and the Caspian horse is believed to be a very close relative of Ottoman horses from the earliest origins of the Turks in Central Asia.
The types of horse bred varied with culture and with the times. The uses to which a horse was put also determined its qualities, including smooth amblers for riding, fast horses for carrying messengers, heavy horses for plowing and pulling heavy wagons, ponies for hauling cars of ore from mines, packhorses, carriage horses and many others.
Medieval Europe bred large horses specifically for war, called destriers. These horses were the ancestors of the great heavy horses of today, and their size was preferred not simply because of the weight of the armor, but also because a large horse provided more power for the knight's lance. Weighing almost twice as much as a normal riding horse, the destrier was a powerful weapon in battle meant to act like a giant battering ram that could quite literally run down men on an enemy line.
On the other hand, during this same time, lighter horses were bred in northern Africa and the Middle East, where a faster, more agile horse was preferred. The lighter horse suited the raids and battles of desert people, allowing them to outmaneuver rather than overpower the enemy. When Middle Eastern warriors and European knights collided in warfare, the heavy knights were frequently outmaneuvered. The Europeans, however, responded by crossing their native breeds with "oriental" type horses such as the Arabian, Barb, and Turkoman horse This cross-breeding led both to a nimbler war horse, such as today's Andalusian horse, but also created a type of horse known as a Courser, a predecessor to the Thoroughbred, which was used as a message horse.
During the Renaissance, horses were bred not only for war, but for haute ecole riding, derived from the most athletic movements required of a war horse, and popular among the elite nobility of the time. Breeds such as the Lipizzan and the now extinct Neapolitan horse were developed from Spanish-bred horses for this purpose, and also became the preferred mounts of cavalry officers, who were derived mostly from the ranks of the nobility. It was during this time that firearms were developed, and so the light cavalry horse, a faster and quicker war horse, was bred for "shoot and run" tactics rather than the shock action as in the Middle Ages. Fine horses usually had a well muscled, curved neck, slender body, and sweeping mane, as the nobility liked to show off their wealth and breeding in paintings of the era.
After Charles II retook the British throne in 1660, horse racing, which had been banned by Cromwell, was revived. The Thoroughbred was developed 40 years later, bred to be the ultimate racehorse, through the lines of three foundation Arabian stallions and one Turkish horse.
In the 18th century, James Burnett, Lord Monboddo noted the importance of selecting appropriate parentage to achieve desired outcomes of successive generations. Monboddo worked more broadly in the abstract thought of species relationships and evolution of species. The Thoroughbred breeding hub in Lexington, Kentucky was developed in the late 18th century, and became a mainstay in American racehorse breeding.
The 17th and 18th centuries saw more of a need for fine carriage horses in Europe, bringing in the dawn of the warmblood. The warmblood breeds have been exceptionally good at adapting to changing times, and from their carriage horse beginnings they easily transitioned during the 20th century into a sport horse type. Today's warmblood breeds, although still used for competitive driving, are more often seen competing in show jumping or dressage.
The Thoroughbred continues to dominate the horse racing world, although its lines have been more recently used to improve warmblood breeds and to develop sport horses. The French saddle horse is an excellent example as is the Irish Sport Horse, the latter being an unusual combination between a Thoroughbred and a draft breed.
The American Quarter Horse was developed early in the 18th century, mainly for quarter racing (racing ¼ of a mile). Colonists did not have racetracks or any of the trappings of Europe that the earliest Thoroughbreds had at their disposal, so instead the owners of Quarter Horses would run their horses on roads that lead through town as a form of local entertainment. As the USA expanded West, the breed went with settlers as a farm and ranch animal, and "cow sense" was particularly valued: their use for herding cattle increased on rough, dry terrain that often involved sitting in the saddle for long hours.
However, this did not mean that the original ¼-mile races that colonists held ever went out of fashion, so today there are three types: the stock horse type, the racer, and the more recently evolving sport type. The racing type most resembles the finer-boned ancestors of the first racing Quarter Horses, and the type is still used for ¼-mile races. The stock horse type, used in western events and as a farm and patrol animal is bred for a shorter stride, an ability to stop and turn quickly, and an unflappable attitude that remains calm and focused even in the face of an angry charging steer. The first two are still to this day bred to have a combination of explosive speed that exceeds the Thoroughbred on short distances clocked as high as 55 mph, but they still retain the gentle, calm, and kindly temperament of their ancestors that makes them easily handled.
The Canadian horse's origin corresponds to shipments of French horses, some of which came from Louis XIV's own stable and most likely were Baroque horses meant to be gentlemen's mounts. These were ill-suited to farm work and to the hardscrabble life of the New World, so like the Americans, early Canadians crossed their horses with natives escapees. In time they evolved along similar lines as the Quarter Horse to the South as both the US and Canada spread westward and needed a calm and tractable horse versatile enough to carry the farmer's son to school but still capable of running fast and running hard as a cavalry horse, a stockhorse, or a horse to pull a conestoga wagon.
Other horses from North America retained a hint of their mustang origins by being either derived from stock that Native Americans bred that came in a rainbow of color, like the Appaloosa and American Paint Horse, with those East of the Mississippi River increasingly bred to impress and mimic the trends of the upper classes of Europe: The Tennessee Walking Horse and Saddlebred were originally plantation horses bred for their gait and comfortable ride in the saddle as a plantation master would survey his vast lands like an English lord.
Horses were needed for heavy draft and carriage work until replaced by the automobile, truck, and tractor. After this time, draft and carriage horse numbers dropped significantly, though light riding horses remained popular for recreational pursuits. Draft horses today are used on a few small farms, but today are seen mainly for pulling and plowing competitions rather than farm work. Heavy harness horses are now used as an outcross with lighter breeds, such as the Thoroughbred, to produce the modern warmblood breeds popular in sport horse disciplines, particularly at the Olympic level.
Breeding a horse is an endeavor where the owner, particularly of the mare, will usually need to invest considerable time and money. For this reason, a horse owner needs to consider several factors, including:
There are value judgements involved in considering whether an animal is suitable breeding stock, hotly debated by breeders. Additional personal beliefs may come into play when considering a suitable level of care for the mare and ensuing foal, the potential market or use for the foal, and other tangible and intangible benefits to the owner.
If the breeding endeavor is intended to make a profit, there are additional market factors to consider, which may vary considerably from year to year, from breed to breed, and by region of the world. In many cases, the low end of the market is saturated with horses, and the law of supply and demand thus allows little or no profit to be made from breeding unregistered animals or animals of poor quality, even if registered.
The minimum cost of breeding for a mare owner includes the stud fee, and the cost of proper nutrition, management and veterinary care of the mare throughout gestation, parturition, and care of both mare and foal up to the time of weaning. Veterinary expenses may be higher if specialized reproductive technologies are used or health complications occur.
Making a profit in horse breeding is often difficult. While some owners of only a few horses may keep a foal for purely personal enjoyment, many individuals breed horses in hopes of making some money in the process.
A rule of thumb is that a foal intended for sale should be worth three times the cost of the stud fee if it were sold at the moment of birth. From birth forward, the costs of care and training are added to the value of the foal, with a sale price going up accordingly. If the foal wins awards in some form of competition, that may also enhance the price.
On the other hand, without careful thought, foals bred without a potential market for them may wind up being sold at a loss, and in a worst-case scenario, sold for "salvage" value—a euphemism for sale to slaughter as horsemeat.
Therefore, a mare owner must consider their reasons for breeding, asking hard questions of themselves as to whether their motivations are based on either emotion or profit and how realistic those motivations may be.
Breeding a horse can be an expensive endeavor, whether breeding a backyard competition horse or the next Olympic medalist. Costs may include:
Stud fees are determined by the quality of the stallion, his performance record, the performance record of his get (offspring), as well as the sport and general market that the animal is standing for.
The highest stud fees are generally for racing Thoroughbreds, which may charge from two to three thousand dollars for a breeding to a new or unproven stallion, to several hundred thousand dollars for a breeding to a proven producer of stakes winners. Stallions in other disciplines often have stud fees that begin in the range of $1,000 to $3,000, with top contenders who produce champions in certain disciplines able to command as much as $20,000 for one breeding. The lowest stud fees to breed to a grade horse or an animal of low-quality pedigree may only be $100–$200, but there are trade-offs: the horse will probably be unproven, and likely to produce lower-quality offspring than a horse with a stud fee that is in the typical range for quality breeding stock.
As a stallion's career, either performance or breeding, improves, his stud fee tends to increase in proportion. If one or two offspring are especially successful, winning several stakes races or an Olympic medal, the stud fee will generally greatly increase. Younger, unproven stallions will generally have a lower stud fee earlier on in their careers.
To help decrease the risk of financial loss should the mare die or abort the foal while pregnant, many studs have a live foal guarantee (LFG) – also known as "no foal, free return" or "NFFR" - allowing the owner to have a free breeding to their stallion the next year. However, this is not offered for every breeding.