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RE: Re: [RC] Re: [RC] [RC] Spanish Mustangs - heidiI don't believe that "breeders" should be licensed, but we should take some note of "licensing" individual horses to breed standards. Like 100 day stallion testing, and conformation judging. Unfortunately, this practice has proved to be very limiting to gene pools as well, with some disasterous results for some breeds. No matter how well-intended the "judging" is, it is still done by human beings with their own subjective ideas about what makes a good horse, and it also leaves out of the equation the fact that some sorts of crosses make outstanding performance individuals but inconsistent animals in the breeding shed. The lines that create the crosses still need to be preserved. The best protection for any breed is still a core of independent breeders who really care about what they are doing, and are free to make judgment calls. I'll give you a case in point from my own herd. I have a mare whose dam missed a selenium injection prior to her birth, and she was born with severely contracted front tendons. She spent her first two months in splints. She is pasture sound but is not rideable, nor would she pass any sort of rigorous conformation inspection. However, *I* know that the problem is not genetic--it is the result of environmental factors. I owned her sire and know his background, and know what else he produced. His sire was the leading sire at Cal-Poly in the Kellogg days, and his dam has likewise produced athletes in both the sport horse arena and on the endurance trail. I bred her dam--her sire was a good endurance horse, as were both his sire and dam--and her dam is the dam of an AERC Hall of Fame horse, a top Arab race horse, a top Show Hack horse who in turn sired some of the endurance greats, etc. I bred this mare for the first time in 2006, and last year she had a colt that is a real stand-out and should be a top performer on either the e ndurance trail or as a sport horse. This mare is a genetic treasure--even though she would never pass an inspection or a performance trial. There is a lot of skill and intuition (as well as experience) that goes into successful breeding--and having outsiders that do not have the vision of a given long-term program come in and make judgment calls is often counterproductive. That doesn't mean that it doesn't pay to have others who you respect come and critique your horses from time to time--that is often helpful. But the BREEDER is the one who needs to decide what to do with the input--not some outside licensing or examining agency. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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