mare lines/long

[tjones@COINET.COM (Todd & Toni Jones)]

Might be boring for some, hit the delete or page down... :)

Heidi wrote:
>As much as I admire *Witez II, a great deal of his success as a sire has to be
>shared with the many wonderful mares to whom he and his sons were bred.  We
>get so wrapped up in what some of us euphemistically call "The Cult of the
>Sire" that we all too often overlook the very important influence of mare
>lines.  (We need to take a lesson from both the Bedouins and the modern
>Thoroughbred breeders, both of which were/are almost fanatic about looking at
>mare lines...)  

I agree with Heidi. Successful breeding programs of any breed (or animal)
have to include looking at the mare lines, and performance and progeny testing.

Another example of looking at mare lines would be to look at the Hungarian
breeding programs from last century (and before).  It's something to think
about. In the case of the Shagya-Arabian breeding program (other Hungarian
breeds followed similar formats depending on what they were breeding for)
before a newly imported desert stallion would be introduced to the state run
program he would be bred to 30 mares each year for 3 years. These would be
10 of the very best quality mares, 10 of medium quality, and 10 of the least
quality. Keep in mind that the 10 "least quality" mares were still good
enough to meet their strict standards, i.e. had been performance tested and
were producers of cavalry horses. At the end of the 3 years the 90 offspring
and stallion were evaluated by the breeding committee. If even ONE did not
meet their rigid standard, the stallion and the entire 90 offspring were
eliminated from the breeding program.

If they passed that test they still had to be performance tested. Mares were
subjected to the same tests as the stallions. After being broke the horses
were sent off with Hungarian cavalry officers for a series of tests,
including a 480-mile ride in ten days across plains, forest and mountains;
two-mile sprints and long distance driving. They were also sent to the
headquarters of cavalry regiments near established hunt clubs, officers
would ride them in the hunting fields. A careful record was made describing
each horse's jumping, speed, condition, disposition and how good a "keeper"
the horse was. Those not up to standard were not used for breeding. In the
case of the stallions only about one in thirty made the grade. The standards
were just as high for the mares. To the Hungarians the value of their
breeding program was in the mares. 

As a side note many of the desert-bred Arabian stallions used for Shagya
breeding can also be seen in old purebred Arabian pedigrees today,
especially those from Janow Podlaski Stud in Poland. (Shagyas are recognized
today as a separate breed of Arabian and have their own registry.)

I've enjoyed the Witez II posts and related stories on bloodlines and how
the offspring, even though great or great-great grandchildren share many of
the same attributes. Although a lay person (I've bred dogs in the past) in
the area of genetics, I've always had more than a passing interest in the
subject. The more I read, observe and learn I find that whatever end product
you are given on the genetic scale, you can only do so much with what you
are provided with. Environment does play a factor, but genetics most always
seems to come through in regards to athletic ability, "easy keeper"
attributes and disposition. So being able to look back on the successful
bloodlines we are enjoying today makes us realize that they "just didn't
happen". Somebody thought about it at some point back in their breeding
programs and bred for it. Much the way that many of the CMK breeders (and
others) are breeding these proven lines for tomorrow.

Just my opinion.

To all those that have requested the article on Lazslo Monostory, consider
them mailed. :)

Toni Jones and Shagya O'Biwon
Central Oregon
Prineville Ridge Riders
Prineville Ride
Bandit Springs Ride