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How to be a Consummate Equine Breeding Professional

Equine breeding relies on both natural and scientific techniques to produce the best kind of offspring. To succeed in the equine breeding industry, it’s important that aspiring equine breeding professionals understand the history of equine breeding and the impact of irresponsible ownership on equine stock.

Goals in Equine Breeding

People involved in equine breeding are generally determined to improve the following characteristics of prospective sires:

• Appearance – Equine breeding professionals are aware that better-looking horses always fetch a higher price.
• Conformation – Any standards set for a particular breed must be convincingly met by offspring
• Speed – Equine breeding professionals place a higher value on horses that possess exceptional speed and agility, a quality which will definitely count in races
• Endurance – Equine breeding professionals place importance on endurance when they’re breeding workhorses

In the old days, however, the objectives of equine breeding were more geared to lightening the burden of work on man. As such, equine breeding professionals centuries ago bred horses according to the type of work the animal would perform: farming or plowing, war or battle assistance, hauling or riding, traveling in wintry climates, or merely serve as carriage horses.

Essential Roles in Equine Breeding

• Stallion – Also called the sire in equine breeding pairings
• Mare – Also called the dam in equine breeding pairings
• Donor Mare – A mare that donates its embryo to another mare

History of Equine Breeding

The business, or the art, of equine breeding has been around for centuries. The roaming Bedouin tribe in the Middle East is famous for its long-standing involvement in equine breeding. Bedouin equine breeding professionals take pride however in their expertise in perfecting the offspring of Arabian horses. Mongolian warriors had also been known to practice equine breeding because of the significant role that their warhorses played in their victories.

Equine breeding not only depended on the purpose that the horse would serve but also considered cultural factors as well. In the Renaissance era, for instance, equine breeding professionals focused on producing horseflesh that could help athletic noblemen perform better in exclusive riding competitions.

It was in the 18th century that a nobleman, James Burnett, realized the significance of parentage and its expected effects on its offspring. On the next century, focus in equine breeding moved from producing war and competition horses to carriage horses.

Equine Breeding Selection: How to Choose the Right Mare

Equine breeding professionals who are truly serious about what they do must not even consider quibbling when it comes to paying the stud fee. Remember the golden rule in equine breeding: the best mare deserves the best stallion.

A mare chosen for equine breeding must have desirable qualities such as a fine form, a handsome appearance, speed, agility, spirit, and endurance. Equine breeding professionals shouldn’t forget to check the performance and health status of the mare.

Equine Breeding Selection: How to Choose the Right Stallion

Before selecting a stallion, make a list of qualities that your mare needs genetic improvement or enhancement. Concentrate on finding the perfect balance when creating a equine breeding pair instead of trying to mate two superior but obviously incompatible horses.

It’s imperative that the equine breeding professional is already aware of what the future offspring would later be involved in before matching horses.

How Embryo Transfer Works in Equine Breeding

Embryo transfer is a modern and hotly debated technique in equine breeding. This method uses a one week old embryo from a mare that’s specifically chosen because of its desirable qualities. The embryo is then transferred to another mare. Transfer may be done immediately or after a certain period of time, and which would require the embryo to be kept in a frozen state.

Embryo transfer in equine breeding is prevalent in North America and other breeding grounds for horses. This particular equine breeding technique however is not applicable for all types of horses. Cost, limited resources, and ethical issues are the major factors that prevent this equine breeding technique from flourishing.

Ethical Concerns in Equine Breeding

Besides the expected ethical concerns related to artificial insemination, the art of equine breeding itself is beset with moral doubts. Pricing is one aspect which ethically concerned equine breeding owners wish to improve on. Stallion owners should exercise more control on the mares they pair their animals with. If they allow their stallions to mate with just any mare, there are more chances that the population of poor stock would simply increase.

Although the ethical aspect of equine breeding is troubling, people should only take a leaf from the German equine breeding market to know what to do next.

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