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Sir Sinclair offspring - backs?

I own a Sir Sinclair mare (damsire is Consul) who is very typey from what I’ve seen. She looks just like her sire, and has lots of the good characteristics I’d associate with the bloodline (good temperament, trainable, capacity for piaffe). That said, she doesn’t have the best back and neck. Long story short, there is some arthritis in the facets of her low back (so, not kissing spine) and also C6 in her neck. We’re managing all of these things as she progresses through her performance career, and are currently in the no-mans-land between 3rd Level and PSG.

I’ve thought about breeding her because there are quite a lot of good characteristics, but I’m not particularly serious about it at this point. That said, does anyone here know if this kind of back issue is prevalent in these bloodlines? Would this kind of arthritis make her a poor candidate for breeding for fear of passing it on?

If you wouldn’t want a carbon copy of the mare, then don’t breed her. :slightly_smiling_face: You’d be better served buying something already on the ground, IMO.

As far as lines - every horse has dam lines. It’s hard to say for sure if this is a trait being passed upon generationally without seeing a full pedigree. I would be more concerned about the loin in Sir Sinclair offspring than necessarily the back.

Assuming her arthritis is from undesirable conformation: You could breed her, but you’re taking the risk of passing the exact same traits on to the offspring, assuming you can get her in foal and don’t have any complications with the mare and her foal. Breeding already has its risk and I’m afraid adding undesirable conformation is just too much risk.

Do you have any conformation pictures?

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I’m well aware of the adage about not breeding unless you want a carbon copy of the mare. No one I’ve talked to, including my very highly regarded sporthorse vet, thinks that her back issue is because of a particular conformation flaw. She has other flaws that I’d need to consider, obviously, but that’s the way it is with breeding.

What I’m wondering if back issues are known in this bloodline. I’m probably unlikely to breed her for a number of reasons completely unrelated to anything specific to her (not sure I want a baby horse, risk to her, cost), but I was curious about the Sir Sinclair bloodline.

Thanks!

What is the other half of the pedigree? Why only the focus on Sir Sinclair?

I have not heard any negativity about his back, but I have heard about him needing a mare with correct forelimbs. However, he has been at the top of the USEF stallion list for a long time. Again, this is a world caliber stallion with hundreds of foals on the ground. There are going to be castoffs and wastage that may or may not be inherited.

Arthritic facets in the spine and neck are prevalent in WBs including those with desirable conformation, so it really is not a matter of poor conformation in many cases. Some of it is congenital, some inherited, and some related to the degree of work (collection).

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Consul is the damsire. I’d have to dig out her papers to get the other 1/4 of her pedigree.

I guess she’s so typically Sir Sinclair that its what I focused on first.

I agree with Beowulf, I really think you need to go by full pedigree and the conformation of the mare versus strictly sire line.

Most athletes get arthritis at some point. If this was a young horse, I would be concerned, but given the workload and wear and tear associated with that workload, I don’t think I would be concerned about it being inherited.

We have a Sir Sinclair out of a Consul mare. He’s 14 now and did his first Grand Prixs last year. we’ve had him since he was 4 and he is conformationally a little weak thru his loin area.

We do believe he had some trauma to the area before we bought him as he was quite crooked as young horse. We do regular monthly chiro and yearly back injections to manage him and I’m sure the dressage has kept him straighter and sounder then he would have been without straightness being the primary focus.

Hope this helps and I’d say manage your mare the best you can and just keep working at it! If she’s anything like our boy the work ethic and trainability will get you there.