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Perfect Match - Matching mares to stallions
Mare’s credentials: 15.2hh, 8yo, ASH. Slightly busy temperament, as was initially bred for polocrosse. Aiming to breed to a quiet ASH or Riding Pony for showing, with big movement.
Assessed by: Adam Wellington
Adam Wellington of Wirrum Park is an experienced and successful breeder, producer and competitor in the Stock Horse show ring and certainly knows what it takes to produce quality stock.
“My first impressions of this mare is that she is reasonably well put together and quite pleasing on the eye.
“The focus is to select a suitable stallion that will complement any weaknesses the mare may have in order to produce a potential show horse. I would be looking for a stallion that is strong in the following points: He would need to have a quality well set front, set high up out of a good sloping shoulder, with an excellent length of rein. He should be clean through the gullet and have a quality refined, chiselled head.
“The mare is a little short in the rein and her neck is a little lowset and tends to show towards having an under neck and heaviness through both the neck and gullet. She appears to be quite straight in the shoulder. In profile her head tends to look a little heavy from the eye down to lower jaw region and there is not a lot of tapering down to the muzzle area. The length of her head is nice and short with well set ears and eyes, however it is not the most feminine head for a show animal.
“It is hard to tell from the photo about the mares front legs, as in the photo she looks to be slightly over at the knees, however there are a number of reasons why they could appear that way in the photo, but if she has any major offsets in the front legs or feet issues etc, the stallion will need to be particularly correct in those areas to try and counteract any conformation faults.
“I think this mare’s strong points are from the wither back. She has a good reasonably short back, good hip and hocks with enough angulation to her hind legs. Therefore these areas should not be the main focus in selecting a potential stallion.The owner has mentioned that this mare has a slightly busy temperament and wants to breed a foal that is quiet, so again this needs to be an important consideration in any stallion selected.
“The preferred height of the progeny is also an important consideration in selecting a stallion. I think it’s important to look at as many progeny by the stallion as possible before making your final decision, to make sure he is pre-potent in the areas required. Just because he himself is strong in the desired areas, doesn’t necessarily mean he stamps his stock with these same traits. Please remember that the mare has a very high final say in the conformational outcome of the resulting foal (most knowledgeable people would say over 50% and up to around 70% or even more). So please keep in mind that stallions are not miracle workers if the mare carries some poor conformational traits, particularly if these faults are also found in her lineage background (Dam / Grand Dam etc).
“In closing please also remember that breeding horses is not an exact science....sometimes all the homework in the world may not result in the type of foal you were dreaming of, however more times than not it should minimise the chance of disappointment. Good luck!”
Mare’s credentials: 12yo Thoroughbred Mare by Zariz. She was a successful racehorse winning 5 races. She was nothing but a true professional on the track and was a real trier. She is very quiet and was nothing but honest, but could be a little hot (busy). Looking to breed a racing prospect but with potential for a career after racing.
Assessed by: Michelle Lang-McMahon
Michelle and her husband Peter are successful showjumpers, both with International competition experience, and together run the now famous Kolora Lodge racing establishment in Qld.
“This is a beautiful looking mare. What I love about her is she has good bone and strength in her conformation. It’s a bit hard to see her legs from this angle, but looks very correct and not behind in her knees. She is nice and short in her cannons (hock to fetlocks), with a great hindquarter. This is where the power is generated from. I don’t normally like the conformation on a horse if they are long in that area. What I would like to see with her is maybe more length of rein as she is a little bit short for me, even though she comes out of her shoulder correctly.
“With a stallion for her I would like to see one that is quite scopey and athletic, with a good length of rein.”
Mare’s credentials: TB mare, looking to breed a large galloway Riding Pony type.
Assessed by: Kerry Dunstan
Kerry and her husband Paul are long time breeders and exhibitors of Riding Ponies, under their Malibu Park prefix. The stud has experienced great success at all major shows around the country.
“In my opinion, when deciding to breed a show horse/pony, the conformation, temperament and movement of the parents are three things which should be taken into consideration. Without these three elements the progeny may not be suitable for the show ring. Breeding to Riding Ponies has improved the quality and refinement of show animals tremendously over the past 20 + years, so to be competitive in the show ring it is becoming harder every year. The mare and stallion should be selected carefully, as not every horse with a uterus or testicles is suitable to breed from.
“To critique a mare for breeding from one photo is a difficult task, as the photo does not demonstrate temperament or movement. A photo can either be flattering, or alternatively detract from the true quality of an animal.
“On first impressions this mare looks like a quality animal, although because she has her head down, it appears as though her neck comes out from her chest quite low, making her look like she doesn’t have a good lay of shoulder. While she may well have a good lay of shoulder, I can only comment on the photo in front of me.
“She has a good length of rein, a fine gullet and an attractive head. She has reasonable depth of girth, but looks to taper slightly towards the flank area. As the photo is taken slightly front on, it does not portray a flattering appearance of her hindquarter. Her hindquarter appears to taper, which may just be from the angle of the photo, and her tailset is not visible. She appears to have a good hind leg, not curvy through the hocks, and her front legs also appear to be correct.
“When deciding on a suitable stallion it would be beneficial to know what the mare’s sire and dam look like also. Breeding a Thoroughbred mare to obtain a large galloway Riding Pony type would require her being bred to a Riding Pony stallion who is 13.2hh +. Having said that, one can never guarantee the size of the progeny, as there is such a huge gene pool of mixed blood in the Riding Ponies. Full siblings from TB/RP cross can vary in size and quality. Breeding a TB mare to a 13.2hh + Riding Pony stallion one would expect to breed a galloway, but again, there are no guarantees.
“I feel a suitable stallion for this mare would have a small pony head to counter the larger head Thoroughbreds seem to have, correct conformation, short coupled, a good backend with a high tail set (not like an Arab though), a great mover, and also have the temperament suitable for trainability. A good lay of shoulder would also be desirable.”
Story from Horse Deals Magazine June 2017
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