Dutch harness horse drama. Update major mare/ foal neglect Nov 2023 post 1782 Update Kate Shearer responds post 1930 Nov 25/23

[Kasheare]

That’s unfortunate. I would never do business with someone I know is participating in shady business practices.

[anon68314200]

That was my thought. If there is no foal guarantee then sure mare owners will try to get what they can out of what they get (from the SO.).

[roseymare]

@Warmblood1

That said, I do agree that sometimes we are chasing our tails trying to correct certain aspects of breeding. The long gaskins to produce extreme hock action is a trend that I really do not want to reproduce in WBs for example.

I am really behind on this thread but I just want to say it is refreshing to see someone dissect breeding trends down to their roots. So many people just spew vitriol and do not understand how certain breeds get to certain points. I am not advocating for trends just for understanding how some come about.

[fledermaus]

When I was eleven I cleaned out my horse’s stall wearing flip flops and he broke my toe. Like you, I said nothing about it to anyone. But I never wore flip flops in a stall again.

My criticism would be not that it is dangerous and unprofessional, which is all true, but that she was wearing them during an interview with major newspaper including a videographer. That bespeaks a level of unprofessionalism which would send red flags flying all over the place if I was considering doing business with her. We’ve all worn ill-advised clothing (I once dashed out of bed in the middle of the night because I heard a goat screaming – it was being carried off by a mountain lion – wearing nothing but muck boots). But not on camera for God’s sake.

[Pocket_Rocket]

Poor little goat

But if that had been me chasing after the mountain lion in nothing but muck boots - that critter would have been shocked to it’s core by what it saw and dropped the little goat post haste!

[Kasheare]

Lol! Do you have any idea how insanely busy that show is. Maybe an hour of sleep here or there. Believe me I could have cared less there was a reporter there as I was just trying to get through horses. And I was never informed of a camera until surprise it was there. You can ridicule my footwear choice all you want. It makes less than 0 difference to me. It’s comical though that out of 1000 comments you pop on here to literally talk about flip flops great take away from the conversation

[jvanrens]

@Kasheare

Guess you don’t deal with the warmblood registries then.

Nope. Maybe my avatar of me riding my appendix QH in a western saddle could have been a hint. I just find it interesting, since most breeds I’m familiar with (not just AQHA) need a stallion report for registerable offspring. I’ve never really felt the urge to dabble in breeding, especially the WB end of things. We gamble by buying horses already on the ground.

[roseymare]

@Old_Mac_Donald

Before I used to have a few boards to cruise around and read. Now… just COTH. Thanks, Facebook.

I hate that everything is going to the book of face. You cannot have a good discussion due to their algorithms. I am on one large hobby board that is quite active but my other hobby boards have migrated.

[Kasheare]

I totally get it. I’ve braided at stock shows for a decade it’s a totally different ballgame and the horror stories I’ve heard from trainers with certain stallion owners

[jvanrens]

Stick around here long enough and you hear horror stories about all types of breeds and the joys of breeding. It’s not special to stock breeds.

[Kasheare]

Oh I’m sure! And unfortunately im not a coth regular lol. Only here because it was about me lol! But being in the trenches all night at shows I’ve seen and heard a whole lot

[roseymare]

@Bristol_Bay

scoped for hind gut ulcers

Hahaha

[anon68314200]

I agree the flip-flop obsession is a pretty entertaining. You can be a man and shoot somebody & supporters rally around you but God forbid you’re a working woman wearing flip-flops around horses. Off to the guillotine.

[roseymare]

@DownYonder

In addition to the good information provided by EventerAJ, there has been plenty of discussion over the years that part of the reason JC is sticking with live cover is to help support the “small breeders” who have traditionally been considered the grass-roots of TB breeding. There are many, many small operations who stand a stallion, which helps support those operations financially. There is also a great deal of belief that this practice helps enhance the diversity of the gene pool. If JC allows shipped semen, then most breeders will start using the core groups of stallions standing at the big operations, and the gene pool narrows. The Thoroughbred gene pool is pretty narrow as it is, so I can understand that philosophy.

So much this. The small breeder in the Quarter Horses has suffered IMHO from the shipped semen. Which I believe has also led to the loss of smaller feeder horse shows.

[fordtraktor]

I totally disagree. Maybe if you stand a stallion…but should we be breeding substandard stallions? There are so many excellent ones with diverse backgrounds.

As a small WB breeder, I much prefer options. The irony of that is that I actually bred my mare locally (but only because I have really NICE local options!)

I am glad there are fewer random poorly bred stallions getting mares just because he’s in the county. That model feeds slaughterhouses.

[roseymare]

I understand your thoughts and agree with them but I would say it can be the other way around on both accounts in the much larger stock horse world. Some nice mares aren’t getting bred because of logistics. Those owners of one or two broodmares just don’t exist anymore. As a consequence we have stallion owners breeding more of their own mares- many of which shouldn’t be bred. And we have narrowed the gene pool although it is still much larger than other breeds. We just don’t see those fantastic outcrops anymore in stock horses. Which is basically what this thread is about.

[roseymare]

@fordtraktor

I am glad there are fewer random poorly bred stallions getting mares just because he’s in the county. That model feeds slaughterhouses.

This really wasn’t what I was talking about though. I wasn’t referring to people just breeding to something because it was down the road. I was referring to nice horses standing at nice facilities. They are few and farther between in the stock horses then they used to be. Obviously that isn’t all related to the acceptance of AI and ET but it has definitely played a role.

[Scribbler]

Well, I feel like racing TB folks have a big eye on proven performance so they will be as selective as they can, even on a small time regional basis, in standing or choosing stallions.

WB has a pretty rigorous inspection process, and back yard or very small time breeders who will never put together a full fledged breeding operation with stallion and broodmares can still piggyback off the big breeders work and order name brand sperm.

QH is a whole other scene because they are so common, and so common in rural areas, and the registry is not selective or performance based. It’s much more likely someone might stand or choose a very mediocre QH stallion locally. Even if it’s just a Colt with interesting color that never got gelded on schedule.

Edited to add: don’t know anything about quality QH breeding or the decline in regional quality stallions. Makes sense AI could impact this.

[roseymare]

I feel that definitely both of us can be saying correct things.
It is kinda like what is good for the individual is not good for the economy

[Kasheare]

If you admit you know nothing about QH breeding then why are you talking about it? Saying QH are so common? I know so many breeders that might breed just one or two a year and are very selective. Same in the warmblood market. Using a well known stallion does not make a breeding “operation” piggyback off others hard work. Essentially you are discrediting all small breeders with your words here in multiple disciplines and breeds. I have a friend that has bred three amazing foals by AYA over the years. She’s not piggybacking on anyone. The point of having a stallion and showing it is for business, to attract those mare owners. How you think this is piggybacking off someone else’s hard work is asinine.