[QUOTE=Kyzteke;5679813]
This makes perfect sense, but since so very, very few mares are trained to GP, doesn’t that limit your selection down to, say…4 horses?
Seriously, you can look at the pedigree of the mare, but even if a mare produces a GP horse in her first foal, she will still be well into her teens before you know that.
How do you approach this?[/QUOTE]
Well, in the beginning - we didn’t breed our mares until they were in their teens and had had careers. 
And while it ‘wasted’ years - it was the best way we had to evaluate what that generation had given us…nothing quite like 10 years at FEI to figure out what you want to tweak! Our homebred stallions started breeding back in '79 and so we were generally riding full & half siblings from both sides of the pedigree for several years and honestly - there really is nothing quite like riding 3+ out of the same mareline on a daily basis. It gives you an absolute clear window into what traits come down through the generations…*see below for what I mean.
Now we generally keep 1 older model - mare/gelding/stallion - train it until age 6-8 assess potential, see what needs ‘improving’ and then cross our fingers for a full sibling filly that is breeding quality. If it’s a mare that is kept back we like to pick the better phenotype and breed her first (hopefully she is the older sibling) and the other is brought along again. If we are not satisfied with the results from the phenotype filly’s produce - then we know that she is going back in the riding pool to be sold or if she produces a knockout - she’s a career broodmare. If the produce was not what we wanted, we may opt to breed the full sister to see if she is the better producer. (whew…that was a lot of if’s)
If it’s a gelding older sibling that is retained, we go by phenotype, then he’s a window into a slightly less temperamental (no hormones) version that ‘should’ compare in the training process, so we bring him along, decide what needs improving and pick the appropriate stallion.
If it was a stallion, we generally invest the training to bring him along regardless and retain a full sister for breeding to outside stallions so as to assess what might be good bloodlines to mix in for the stallion and hopefully a future stallion prospect - by him or out of his full sister.
So since this is OT - here goes-
I am riding 3 full siblings currently
Atreo, Avebury, Alexis and then 2 half brothers that are out of that mareline Wyatt and Don Wiliam.
I rode the 3 A’s dam, her full sister and the 2 full brothers. The full sister trained up to GP between 11-13 and was the first horse I did from the absolute beginning (first rider on her back) to GP. The granddam of DW & W was my 2nd YR’s horse and a half sister to the 3 A’s dam - she was a GP horse for my sister. I rode both her daughters and their full brother. I rode the granddam’s full brother until he passed away at 16. We sold a colt out of W & DW dam’s full sister (by an R line Celle stallion). He is a lovely horse at 7 and getting ready to show 3rd level for his owner. (I can link to pedigrees or the mareline itself if that would make it easier to understand who is where…)
Every time I throw a leg over any of the horses above - I am riding the SAME horse. It might be a different color, degree of sensitivity may vary a bit, the height, slightly different shape and it may have a quirk or 2 (the Weltmeyer particularly) but believe me - it is the same(!!!) horse. Same training program to bring them along, same challenges, same solutions to advance their training and keep them happy. If I mess it up as a rider - then it’s on me, not the horses, but hopefully, I learn as I go what not to do and don’t make the same error twice. And FWIW some of them have gone on in the hunters, jumpers and eventing. These horses are very good, careful, scopey jumpers (with only 1 exception - the Weltmeyer).
Every time I get on a Waldaire - it is the same but from the other side of a pedigree. I am riding him clothed in the mare’s phenotype. For kicks I’ll get on him once in a while and check back on the ‘original model’ and, yep, it’s the same. As a rider - the consistency is what makes my job easy(er)…but IMHO you have to really like a horse to breed it. :winkgrin:
There is another damline here on the farm that the offspring are comedians and do not suffer fools. Super smart, thinkers and very athletic…not necessarily a horse for everyone or mares that can be bred to just any stallion.
But all of this means one thing - inventory and an in house rider/trainer team to bring them along, raise them and assess daily what’s going on with each horse. I strongly encourage people (MO’s, riders) if they are in the area to come sit on a few of the horses before they breed. It doesn’t have to be one of the stallions but if they are looking to breed and are riders - they should sit on a relative…there is no better way of being sure you ‘like’ a stallion than to ride him/his offspring. Honestly.
Hope that helps some.
