BBMay

FEATURE - ARTICLE
HOW TO
BREED AN
EVENTER
Future Illusion, Julia Hodkin’s homebred
AES Approved Stallion.
Eventing has undergone a number
of changes since the long format
was dropped, one of which has been
the increase in non-Thoroughbreds
competing at the highest levels.
Eventing breeders probably have the
hardest job in breeding for the highest
levels of the sport as the best eventers
have to be proficient in so many areas,
and that talent can be harder to spot
at a young age.
An eventer does need dressage talent
with good basic gaits, with essentially
a great canter otherwise they can be
at a distinct disadvantage after the
first day. Very flamboyant paces may
mean high dressage scores, but this is
at the disadvantage of the horse then
usually having the incorrect mechanics
to really gallop, so a balance must be
found.
Then horses must also be careful
enough in the show jumping phase and
have the courage, tenacity and gallop
to shine in cross-country. On top of this
they require soundness and good health
to enable them to get to the top of the
sport.
In addition to trying to combine this
cocktail of skills into one horse,
eventing breeders also face additional
challenges when marketing their stock.
Some riders believe it is not possible
to breed a purpose bred eventer,
or hold on to the view that a 4-star
champion can be picked up for peanuts
as a racecourse reject. To further
complicate matters, most eventers do
not want to take the risk on buying
a foal or a youngster but want an
eventing prospect that is already under
saddle and at least showing an aptitude
for both the show jumping and crosscountry
elements.
If all these obstacles have not put
you off, how does a breeder go about
selecting the right mares and stallions
to breed from. The World Breeding
Federations’ annual publication of
the top sires in eventing, does not
at first glance prove to be as useful
a tool as it might be for dressage or
show jumping breeders. Many of the
stallions at the top of the list are dead
and no longer available to breeders:
42 | BRITISH BREEDER
some are Thoroughbred, some show
jumpers, some traditionally Irish, and
some Warmbloods with very little blood
in their own pedigrees. There are
even some out and out dressage sires
creeping into the lists.
British Eventing (BE) also publishes data
on the top competing stallions, young
horse sires and overall leading sires.
BE aim to promote and incentivise
knowledgeable breeding of event
horses for all levels. The highest placed
British based stallion in the BE 2017 sire
rankings (BE points only) was Ramiro
B, also currently the world number
4. In the number 2 spot in the World
Rankings belonged to the British based
Jaguar Mail, an Olympic show jumper
with a high proportion of Thoroughbred
blood. Both these stallions are now in
their 20s but are still actively breeding.
We then have to drop down to 32nd
place to find the next British based
active stallion – William Fox Pitt’s great
partner Chilli Morning.
We spoke to a number of breeders,
from small breeders looking to produce
a good competitive ride for themselves,
to commercial studs aiming to produce
4-star competitors - to discover more
about their breeding philosophies and
also the challenges they are facing.
Hannah Iddeson
Hannah Iddeson bred the 2017 BEF
Futurity Champion Eventer, Buddy B
Good (Ramiro B x Hamlet). With a keen
interest in breeding and the heritability
of genetics, Hannah set herself key
benchmarks that had to be met when
selecting a stallion. These included
functional conformation and longevity
plus offspring with a good performance
record in the sport. Choosing to breed
rather than purchase gave Hannah a
distinct advantage; she would know
everything there was to know about
her youngster, and so would not be
inheriting any bad habits caused by
incompetent handling. By starting
with a quality mare with good jumping
genetics, she felt that choosing a
sire who was proven to produce top
eventing stock, would give her the best
chance of breeding that elusive top
level eventer.
Buddy B Good - Photo Kevin Sparrow