Wisdom from the Breeding Shed: Great Expectations VS. Realities
By Mary Anne Morrison
In mid-March, lightning struck for the second year in a row! Our little homebred Arabian mare, Forget Me Not LD won the .85 Jumpers Stakes at the prestigious Seaside Del Mar Hunter/Jumper show, besting 22 much larger and fancier contenders! There’s an old saying: “Bumblebees can’t fly.” But of course they do, and so does she! Which leads me to the topic: Breeding: Expectations vs. Realities.
My experience as a breeder began with show dogs, some 50 years ago. Much can be learned about genetics from creatures whose gestation is only 63 days…and multi-parous (many babies) to choose from.
There’s an old saying: Bumblebees can’t fly. But of course they do, and so does she!
Horses, not so easy…11 months and a one-shot deal! But by 2007 I was ready to take the plunge. I’d known great Arabian and Welsh Pony breeders in my youth and had a template in my head. My first foray resulted in the birth of Lil Miss Perfect LD (Gold Hills Most Wanted x Aiming For Perfection) ++++, Legion of Masters. She was 2011 U.S. National Sport Horse Half-Arabian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and 2010 U.S. National Reserve Champion Half-Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Filly – the only pony cross ever?. I repeated the breeding three times resulting in incredible get, including multi-National Champion Dear Sweet Romeo LD ++// (Goldhills Most Wanted x HS Magical Miss). Other sibs were fantastic, Scottsdale and Regional winners, too. Predictable!
Thus emboldened, I made the next move: crossing a Showkayce daughter to a Grand Prix Holsteiner. The result was the multi-National Champion Jumper and fourth level Dressage mare, Miss Congenialty (Con Caletto x Swan Song DDA) +++//, now showing Prix St. Georges. She was 2023 USEF Horse of the Year for the second time (and I was awarded USEF Arabian Breeder of the Year 2022 with two horses of the Year. And then came multi-National Champion Syriusly Celestial LD++// (Celestin x Syriana VS), the only Arabian to win Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes in both Dressage and Hunter Prospect. He’s seven years old and showing third level with Hannah Finch.
So yes, these guys exceeded my expectations…but what about the others? Take, for example, Forget Me Not LD (Skyehawkk x KO Unforgettable!), the little purebred jumping bean mentioned above. Dad is a lovely halter horse, mom a Western Ladies Side Saddle mare. I foal out all my babies myself…and this one, oy! She looked for all the world like a brown paper bag! I mean homely! Out she went with the fancy pony babies at weaning, the year we survived the Thomas Fire. One morning, I looked out the window and saw her standing in the field. She’d been in the round pen. What? So I stuck her back in…moments later, there she was, back in the field. Texted Hannah Finch: ”I think I’ve got you a Jumper! She just jumped a five-foot fence from a standstill!”
Ask the horse! They will tell you what they love to do…and if they love it, they will excel at it!
The purebred Arabian mare, Forget Me Not LD (Skyehawkk x KO Unforgettable!), winning the .85 Jumpers stakes at the Seaside Del Mar Classic Hunter/Jumper show.
Syriusly Celestial LD (Celestin x Syrians VS ) is the only Arabian to win Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes in both Dressage and Hunter Prospect.
Lil Miss Perfect LD (Gold Hills Most Wanted x Aiming For Perfection) ++++ Legion of Masters, 2011 U.S. National Sport Horse Half-Arabian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and 2010 U.S. National Reserve Champion Half-Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Filly.
And, as much as we love those National Sport Horse Championships, it may be Forget Me Not’s wins at “A” rated Hunter/Jumper shows that do more for our breed in the long run. Our Arabians are famous for their versatility! Genetically, you never really know what might pop out! Just because it’s not a halter or western or big-time English horse, doesn’t mean it can’t jump or do dressage! Ask the horse! They will tell you what they love to do…and if they love it, they will excel at it! And you may just have to learn a new discipline!
Thoughts For Fledgling Breeders
- Have a vision firmly implanted in your mind’s eye. Is this foal for you personally? Are you breeding for the market? If so, is there a market? Remember that unless you’re showing in the upper one percent, nobody will have any idea your foal exists!
- It takes at least 10 years to develop a reputation in the horse business. Showing and advertising are essential ingredients and very expensive! Word-of-mouth probably sells more horses than other methods. Do not speak ill of others or gossip, just LISTEN!
- Mentors are key to a successful program. Find the very best people you admire in the industry and shadow them! Slave for them! Talk to their long-time clients, assistants and grooms about the horses they show, for example, “What was ‘Devi’s’ sire like? His dam?” I tear-out pictures, pedigrees and articles from old magazines and then track down the breeders and trainers who knew these horses and pick their brains! I highlight topics that come up repeatedly: Nasty, club-foot, super-sweet, great necks…
- Attend shows and sit ringside. Mark your catalog and then ask to see your mentors’ “placements and notes.” Go on Data Source and look up the number of get and produce of both stallion and mare, and their show record. If they have 100 foals and only one or two have show records…move on! Try and meet the stallion you wish to breed to BEFORE the breeding! If he is vicious, move on…
- Above all: Buy or lease the very best mare you can! The “tail-female” line contributes enormously, both geneticallyand environmentally! Resist the desire to breed to the most popular stallion, unless he meshes genetically and phenotypically with your mare and your vision. And be prepared to handle disappointment! That ”brown paper bag” may just be your key to the next Kingdom!
As always, I must thank so many breeders and mentors: Libby Belden (Arabs and Welsh), Suzanne and Perry Perkins, Carol Steppe, Doug Dahman, Sue Burkman, and the many trainers, grooms and old timers who’ve spilled the beans to me, just in the nick of time!
