Breeding season
Fiona Gilles, Breeding Director at NZPH, talks to David Kirk about the 2009/10 breeding season.
David: So, Fiona, it must be a relief to be at the end of another season?
Fiona: Yes it is always a relief to end another successful season.
David: How many seasons have you been in charge of the breeding at NZPH now?
Fiona: This has been my 15th breeding season at NZPH, gosh how time flies!
David: Things must have changed a fair bit in that time. What have been the biggest changes from the early days?
Fiona: Probably the quality of the mares and the foals we are now producing and of course the number of mares we now have in the system. We started with less than 20 mainly thoroughbred mares and we now have just on 40 mares that are mostly European bloodlines - French, Dutch, German and so on. We still have the thoroughbred lines there but they are 3 generations back now.
David: Let’s talk a bit about the 2009/10 season. First, what was the weather like leading up to the start of the breeding season and what difference does it make?
Fiona: We had a good winter and all the mares came into the season in good condition which is a big help. We had very early spring like conditions in August and the mares were cycling early but stayed in season for quite some time. This is quite normal at this time of the year and I don't tend to use these cycles for insemination. I prefer to scan them through to ovulation and then bring them back on a week or so later by injection.
The weather plays a huge part in the cycling of the mares and in September we had quite a few southerly storms which brought cold, wet weather and the mares tend to shut up shop when this happens. October brought a couple of weeks of more settled weather and this is when the pregnancies started to show through, November was again a fickle weather month which made things more difficult but December was a cracker with hot warm weather.
David: Quite a roller coaster then. How many NZPH mares did you inseminate this year?
Fiona: We had a total of 37 mares to inseminate this season, all with frozen semen.
David: How many were young horses breeding for the first time?
Fiona: It is our policy to take the best 3 year old mares into the herd each season and this year I chose the best 10 fillies from a selection of 16.
David: Is iI more or less difficult to get the young mares in foal?
Fiona: I seem to have a good strike rate with maiden mares and this year again achieved 100% on the 3 year olds.
David: 100%! That’s incredible. Turning from the young mares to older mares. Did you drop any mares out of the broodmare herd this year and why?
Fiona: Yes there are 5 mares leaving the herd this year, these are 4 and 5 year old mares who generally only have one or two foals and then go back into work and go showjumping.
David: What is the point of this?
Fiona: It is a good way for us to get genetic gain without ending up with a heap of older mares later on.
The 4 year old year for most show jumpers is just education and maybe going to a couple of local shows for an outing. I think it’s just as good an education for these mares being scanned and inseminated and having a foal and going through the whole process as it is being worked a bit and then turned out. I also find it matures their brains as well. All the mares that enter the broodmare herd have been broken in, ridden and jumped, so after their foals have been weaned it is just a matter of picking up where we left off.
David: What about when you let an older mare go? One that has been with you for some time, perhaps many years. How do you feel when you do that? Are you sad to lose them from breeding?
Fiona: No I'm never sad as I try not to have favorites! It is great to see the young mares out competing, especially the likes of Nicalette NZPH who has competed successfully at World Cup level this year. She had two foals whilst in the broodmare herd and for me confirmed my decision to keep her an extra year for breeding, although she didn't produce the filly I had wanted! I think the broodmares have a great life but they are also valuable as competition horses as well.
David: What about the older mares though? The ones too old for showjumping. What happens to them when they retire? You don't send them off for pet food do you?
Fiona: Pet food! They are too valuable for that. It all depends on their age. As the young mares end up replacing their mothers in the herd these days almost all of them will go out and compete or we might sell them as a broodmare. The odd one also stays to baby-sit mobs of young horses.
David: Okay. Back to the 2009/10 breeding season. You had 37 mares to inseminate. Here's the money question. How many did you get in foal?
Fiona: Well I ended up with 31 out of 37 this year, which I was pretty pleased with as the weather certainly didn't help me at all this season. If you had asked me back in November if I would get that kind of result I would have said not a chance - but my persistence paid off I guess.
David: Wow, an 83% success rate. That’s a very high success rate, isn’t it?
Fiona: Yes it is well above average compared with other breeding programs worldwide, especially considering it is all using frozen semen. 80-90 % is where I aim to be every year and with good management and a bit of luck I usually manage to get that result.
David: Do you have any new stallions this season?
Fiona: Yes we have a whole group of new stallions this season which is very exciting. They are from excellent European bloodlines. We have moved away from just the French lines of the past.
Orlando who has Heartbreaker on the sire side and Darco on the mare side, Consul de la Vie Z is a young stallion by Clinton out of a Heartbreaker mare. He is a stunning looking stallion and his first crop of foals have been well received in Europe.
Jokus Latour is back again this year. His oldest foals in NZ are 5 year olds and are showing that they have plenty of talent. He's by Contender and leaves them with a very athletic jump. Non Plus Utlra III is by Nimmerdor out of a Corrado mare. He's a lovely type and should add a bit of size.
Quool Du Bois Margot is another young fella by L'Arc de Triomphe with a French mare line. The L'Arc de Triomphe horses have amazing scope and a great technique. Untouchable M is a lovely grey stallion by Quick Star out of a Corrado mare, a great type and pretty too. I'm looking forward to seeing these stallion’s foals arrive next season.
Of course we still have the old faithfuls like Cabdulla du Tillard whose progeny have been very successful in NZ and Mr Blue who is world-renowned and has left us with amazing foals in the last few years, including our own young stallion Touche NZPH. Not to mention Calvaro Z, who died late last year in Europe, and Fetiche du Pas who's progeny are always well received.
David: And what about on the mare side? Are there any new young mares that are bringing a new bloodline to the broodmare herd this year?
Fiona: Good question! So many people focus on the stallions but I think the mare line is probably even more important, especially for consistency.
Yes, out of the 10 young mares I selected for breeding this year, 8 of them are by Mr Blue - for me they would rank as some of the nicest young mares I have bred. They all have exceptional dam side pedigrees with I Love you, Cabdulla du Tillard, Barbarian etc on the dam side, and Mr Blue is such a fantastic stallion, he leaves them a great brain. They are always very rideable and the jump technique is outstanding. It would be an understatement to say that I'm a little excited!
David: Tell me about a particular mare and stallion cross that has you excited?
Fiona: One that comes to mind is the 3 year old mare, Tempo NZPH, who is in foal to Orlando. She is by Mr Blue out of the I Love You mare, Jazz NZPH.
David: Why so excited about this particular foal on the way?
Fiona: Well, what a pedigree this foal will have. Jazz NZPH progeny always have great movement and tons of scope. Mr Blue gives them a good brain for competition and Orlando should add a bit more size and beauty with great conformation. With a pedigree like that the jump should be out of this world!
David: Now tell me about something that frustrated you this season. What went wrong, or at least not as well as you would have liked?
Fiona: Probably the unsettled weather was the most frustrating thing this season but you can't help mother-nature and you just have to roll with the punches.
David: Okay. So when did you finish up? When did the last mare scan positive?
Fiona: The last one scanned positive mid-January which will mean a pre Christmas end to foaling next year.
David: And you started right back in September, right?
Fiona: Yep she's a busy few months!
David: So that's nearly five months for the breeding season. But the breeding is not the only thing you do during this period is it?
Fiona: No. Scanning and insemination is only a small part of the process. With such a large number of mares, foaling is pretty continuous during this time and broken sleep becomes the norm for me as all births are attended.
Then you have post natal care of the foals - leg correction etc - when it's required, then the whole process of getting them in foal starts over again. I compete as well with my young NZPH mare Rumors NZPH and try to get to a few local shows during this time. I also have young horse handling to try and keep up with and I do a lot of the breaking in as well, so there's never a dull moment at the NZPH breeding farm!
David: Whew! I get tired just listening to it. You mentioned the new babies, the 2009 foals - we’ll have to talk about them sometime but we are out of time today.
Thanks for your time. It has been a fascinating insight to the breeding program. I am sure the readers will have learned a lot.
Fiona: You’re welcome. It’s fun to talk about it.