The history of the horse and man have intertwined for thousands of years. The Stallion has long carried our imaginations and higher aspirations on his back as well as the weight of us in the saddle. But imagination should not influence your selection of which from the many
stallions at stud to breed your mare.
The idea of a "purebred" animal gained importance in Europe during the 19th century, but selective breeding between mares and various stallions at stud has occurred almost everywhere man has kept horses and the real goal of horse breeding is for each generation to be an improvement upon the preceding generation.
Historically the primary selection criteria are conformation, performance and pedigree.
A stallion's performance record and conformation, must be compared to that of other stallions at stud. There is evidence that most performance ability is in heritability. Of course a stallion may not be old enough for one to judge his performance ability. so while a young stallion with no performance record is at a disadvantage, you as a breeder may judge the stallion's pedigree and the performance records or near ancestors.. Some horse breeders over-emphasize pedigree selection , yet it is the best way to make decisions about young stallions at stud. Therefore, we at Horse Show Central include pedigree information in all Stallion Listings.
Pedigrees must be considered for future marketing but, rarely should the pedigree be given as much emphasis as the stallion's own performance record. Progeny test considers the performance merit of a stallion's foals to predict breeding value and this can be the most accurate selection method. With a large number of foals, you can rank stallions with near certainty. This is why, at Horse Show Central, we include performance information and progeny performance in our Stallions at Stud Listings.
Of course, selection via progeny performance may be biased by preferential treatment of certain offspring or culling of inferior ones. Then there is the mare's conformation, pedigree and performance to consider also. It is not true that a stallion will solve all of a mare's faults.
The mare's pedigree, especially in the first two generations, should represent families that are successful performers (sire/produce performers). Mares that have not performed or produced performing foals may not produce a world's champion from such mating, but may very well produce a foal that performs well.
All in all, the old adage remains true - " Breed the best to the best and hope for the best!
The
Stallions at Stud section of Horse Show Central is searchable and presented by breed,
